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....

No way would I spend upwards of £300 on a hamster
Then I really hope you don’t have one. Or indeed, any animal.

I think you should call around and get the hamster pts.
Poor thing sounds very poorly

Given that you can borrow the money you should be in the vets now ! Poor hamster

You clearly have no empathy either so you're no better.

You’re letting your poor hamster suffer. It’s a living creature, obviously in pain and you’re wanting to leave them to suffer even longer so you can save on vet fees!!! 😡

Disgraceful.

Don’t have pets if you’re unable to afford pet insurance or emergency vet bills.

People die in a and E from waiting so long. Anyway diarrhoea is hardly an emergency. Antibiotics will take a day to kick in - if it's that bad it won't survive in any case

Most people wouldn't spend that in a hamster outside the Mumsnet world.

Take the hamster to the vet.

don't get any more pets, you don't deserve them.

Would you leave your child like that all night ? Or a relative?

As it's suffering I feel you have a 'duty of care' basically to get it treated / euthanised.

I have at 2am with my dog... vet and vet nurse were brilliant and no waiting in the carpark.

It did cost a fair bit more than £270.-, it's also a family joke because the bloody thing had a bad case of bloat, confirmed by some very expensive x-rays.

Please take your hamster, it's never a wasted journey or wasted money whatever the outcome.

I’m afraid that is bollocks , people who care about their pets do spend money on vet care and a hamster is no less deserving than a cat .

I really hope you get her seen OP.

I remember waking up one day and noticing 2 large lumps on my hamster. Rushed to the vets. Cost me £120 to find out my hamster was actually a boy and not a girl

@LuckySantangelo35

if she wasn’t concerned about the animal she wouldn’t have bothered to post on here about it would she?

Interested to know how you think a post on here stating as I quoted OP concern for her own guilt and her child's upcoming birthday party indicates she is concerned for the hamster?

The OP said "she is hunched over, lethargic, making sort of coughing
/raspy noises and her eyes are all puffy." That's much more than a bit of runny poo. And it isn't about whether the hamster will survive or, it is about leaving a living creature suffering and potentially in pain.

Yep... it is a short lived animal that is cheap to buy... so therefore ok to let it suffer because the vet bill costs more that the £15 you paid for it.
Disgusting way to view pets.

I knew someone who took her goldfish to the vets to be PTS.

That doesnt sound like emergency OOH fees.

My vets are £45 for a consultation and about the same for small animal euth.

The OOH vet is £200 to get through the door, then inflated prices for anything they actually do.

I had the same happen to me, but it was a cat. Rushed our "male" cat to the vets... was writhing, seemed to be in lots of pain. Turned out he was actually a she, and was in heat!
Still can't live it down 😂

@XenoBitch my late mother took the goldfish to be pts . We’ve called vets for all manner of things .

Oh that made me laugh!! I mistook my stick insect being a stick for it being dead as a kid, luckily it came to life as I popped him into the neatly dug hole in the garden!

I wouldn’t say the owner is lazy, selfish or negligent. They have sought veterinary advice from the veterinary practice and a friend who is a vet nurse.

£270 is a lot of money to many of us.

OP is not deserving of the nasty pile on she is getting IMO

@XenoBitch 🤣🤣🤣 I was sooo embarrassed. It came up on my Facebook memories the other week, I still laugh when I see it🤣

would it actually be worth it or is the likelihood of her being saved very minimal at this stage?

She needs to go to the vet regardless. If she can't be saved, she needs to be euthanised to get her out of pain. I would phone around a few different vets - you might find one with a lower fee.
I understand it is a lot of money, I really do, but the thing is, if you keep animals you must have access to the financial means to care for them, whether that's insurance, savings or an emergency credit card.
We choose to bring these animals in to our homes. They don't ask for it.