To wait till morning to get hamster seen at vets

[ChitterChatter1987]

I found our little hamster seriously unwell in her cage this evening....she is only 9mths old and belongs to my daughter.
I think she has 'wet tail' as that area is wet, her chest is wet, she is hunched over, lethargic, making sort of coughing
/raspy noises and her eyes are all puffy.

My gut feeling is it's not looking good.
I worry we have found her too late.

I don't want her to suffer but the out of hours vets want £270 just for consultation, not alone any treatment or dare I say it euthanasia if it came to it.
We really don't have that sort of money lying about .I could borrow it from my mum if needed, but (and I don't want to sound cruel here) would it actually be worth it or is the likelihood of her being saved very minimal at this stage?

I spoke to my friend who is a vet nurse and said it doesn't sound good..
The out of hours vets said often small animals don't come through things like this....but if I wait til the morning to go to our own vets and she dies I'm worried I'll feel so guilty that maybe she could have been saved, and it's my youngest daughters birthday tomorrow.....really don't want my oldest having her hamster (who she only got on her last birthday) dying on her sisters :(

Oh please help me know what to do....

You have a responsibility to do the best for your pet.

Take her to the vets now.

If you are a decent human being then you have no choice

My out of hours vet euthanasia was actually cheaper than I'd been quoted by my regular vet. Strangely.

I'd try and get her in. Wee soul.

Phone some other vets. £270 out of hours is a lot. We are £100 out of hours for consultation. See if anywhere is cheaper. She does need medical attention though, which it is our duty as owners to provide, no matter the size of our pet.

If it is wet tail she is most likely a pts, she is suffering. However try the charity vets, PDSA and whatever others are in the UK. You might get one willing to see you OOH and treat her cheaper

I had a similar situation with mine I took him to the vets but I don't think it was anything like £270
They gave us some medicine and painkillers for him sadly he was died 2 days later. But he was 2.5.
I think it was about £90

That's why people get pet insurance, to help with large expenses like this. Just because it's smaller doesn't mean it should be left to suffer. I would take it to the vet asap. Even if it can't be saved it's wrong to leave it suffering

Pets at home do a medication for wet tail, you could make a quick run up there, I think they're still open.

Hamsters do recover from wet tail but you do have to act quickly. I wouldn't leave her until morning. It's just one of those things when you have pets, they always get ill at inconvenient times and cost you a fortune. My hamster had her own credit card for situations like this.

I'd wait until the morning, keep the hamster warm and comfy and see how it is in the morning.

This. I can’t imagine watching an animal suffer and doing nothing for hours.

Where are you that it would cost £270?

It sounds like shes is suffering.

I think you need to ring the vets now and take her if that is what they advise.

Can you contact your local RSPCA hospital? or at least ring round a few out of hours vet services. It seems horribly cruel to leave it suffering like that .....

Phone around and find a cheaper emergency vet OP, ask if it's cheaper just to pts if you think the hamster looks too unwell. It's not about the chances of saving it, it's about not leaving it to suffer a long painful death. The kids birthday 100% does not come into it. It's a living animal not a toy running out of batteries.

Once you take on responsibility for a pet, you have a responsibility to take the animal to a vet if it gets ill. You need to contact the vet now.

We are in the SE and it’s about £300 for an ooh consultation at the OOH vet that we use . Our vets used to do it in-house but they just can’t recruit enough vets anymore .

her chest is wet, she is hunched over, lethargic, making sort of coughing
/raspy noises and her eyes are all puffy.

Would you leave your own child in this state overnight if you had to pay? Why don't you have pet insurance? Please get the poor animal help- now!

Hope you are reading this OP you need to get that little hamster seen

If I could afford it I would go to the vets. If it was a struggle financially I wouldn't. I didn't think there was much they could do for smaller animals.

He needs to be seen asap 😞

Please, please take this poor little hamster to the vets. You wouldn’t leave a dog or cat in this state and I’m sorry to say this but if you can’t afford to care for the hamster you shouldn’t have bought it in the first place. It’s your responsibility and I don’t see how you could sit and watch them suffer…

I suspect the next we'll hear is she's taken him to the vet and he's been put to sleep.

I doubt that will be the truth though.

Have any of you been to the emergency night vet? OP will be sat for hours with a number on a car park waiting to be called in. The hamster will suffer more by going. Unfortunately you can only try to make him comfortable at home.

I suspect you are right but I really hope she has read all these posts and is taking the poor creature to the vets at the moment.

If she is still sitting at home while it suffers, then she should be ashamed of herself and of the example she is setting her children.

This has made me quite angry, I get the money thing (honestly, low income, dog, big vet bills) but you have a responsibility to make sure it is not in pain or suffering. It is a living thing.

Literally none of you have been to an emergency night vet, have you?