What's wrong? My hamster is weak, not eating, and has a wet tail.

It is very concerning that Camilla is too weak to eat or drink - I would recommend consulting with your local veterinarian who prescribed her medications, as she needs to be evaluated again. She should have improved, or had her signs resolve, by now and she may need to have her medications switched. Hamsters can lose weight very fast, and can also dehydrated quickly, without food and water. You can use a small syringe to try to provide her with water, however please go slowly as it is very easy for hamsters to aspirate water or other materials into their airways and lungs. The discharge around the eyes can be cleaned with a warm, wet cloth. This may be occurring because she doesn't feel well, or it may be that she has an infection going on as well. For food, your veterinarian can provide you with a powdered food that can be mixed with water and given to Camilla. I hope that gives you a place to start, and I hope that she feels better soon.

Thanks for reaching out about Chewy. A lower respiratory problem is more likely, such as pneumonia. But heart, liver, renal and other illnesses can lead to respiratory congestion. If doing this poorly, a veterinary visit is recommended ASAP. Good luck.

Diarrhea in hamsters is an extremely severe condition, most hamsters will not recover from it, you need to take him to the vet urgently if you want to try and save him, he will need fluid therapy as well as antibiotics.

Thanks for reaching out about Hammy. You can wipe him with a warm, moistened clean towel. If recurs, a veterinary visit is recommended to assess and provide a diagnostic/treatment plan. Intestinal parasites or infections, metabolic disorders (liver, kidney), ingested foreign bodies, exposure to toxins and other conditions can cause a soft stool. Good luck.

Wet tail, or Proliferative Ileitis, is an extremely serious gastrointestinal disease and Hamsters can die from it very quickly. it is caused by a bacterium called Lawsonia intracellularis and hamsters get infected when contaminated feces get on their food and they then ingest the fecally contaminated food. If the hamster is stressed it exacerbates the condition. Since this is an emergency you will need to have your hamster seen by a vet immediately. Treatment usually consists of antibiotics, anti-diarrheal medications and subcutaneous and oral fluids to combat dehydration. In addition to that you need to thoroughly sanitize his cage to prevent re-infection and make sure your hamster is kept clean and warm.

I am so sorry to hear that tour Syrian hamster is not well. It sounds like he is possibly in pain and may have an infection. Unfortunately with prey animal species like hamsters, they do not tend to show signs of being unwell until they are actually very sick. They tend to hide signs their body is not well longer, then other species. For this reason I would advise taking your hamster to your veterinarian. It is very likely they will be able to provide medication, such as antibiotics to try to help him recover. The vet will also be able to provide medication for pain relief and healing. Best of luck to you both and please feel free to ask as many questions as you may have here on the forum. We want to support you through this time.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This is a quite generic but concerning presentation. Differentials are many, from gastrointestinal diseases (infection/inflammations often dietary related) to any disease that can spread systemically (causing lethargy for example) like infection, and anything that can cause pain/discomfort. A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is immediately essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!