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....

I don't eat animals, so not quite the 'gotcha' you think!

One of our hamsters (years ago now) had ‘wet tail’ - my sister wrapped him in her jumper and took him straight to the vet. Sadly nothing could be done - so PTS.The vet was lovely with him and my sis.
We all cried- he was gorgeous
I’ve cried over a poorly gecko and my rabbit; it doesn’t matter how small they are, they still have a place in your heart ❤️

Those of us who care about our pets do.

Don't get a pet if you can't afford one then!

That's not the same...the op has chosen to take responsibility for the hamster. She made a commitment to her when she bought her, and that commitment means appropriate vet treatment when required, even if that is euthanasia to prevent suffering.

If I came across a sick or injured wild animal in my garden, I would contact a vet or wildlife centre to seek advice and take it to a vet if needed

I think you have to take it in, OP, but don’t get another hamster until you have saved enough for emergency euthanasia. Obviously treatment is the best in an ideal world where we can afford it, but an emergency visit to put our pets out of their misery really is the very least we should do.

Not worth going for a hamster

then don't get hamsters or any other pet that you don't consider worthy of your time/money.

I do think that's a fair take home message. I would not be replacing the hamster with another one in OP's shoes.

Well yes, exactly.

Hamsters are seen as an "easy" option for families and they're not, most are treated appallingly by people who don't want to put in the time or effort.

But it makes no difference to the animal whether it's a "beloved pet" or "just a mouse"! The major difference is that the beloved pet has probably had a lovely safe, comfortable life up to this point.

i don’t think OP will be back. got to be honest I’d seriously consider not going to the OOH vet at £270. I couldn’t afford that myself at the moment.

You’ve repeated this sentence several times. I think you’ve made your point.

Financial situations and responsibilities change.

Situations do change but if it was a dog this wouldn't even be a consideration.

But the animal doesn't know any of that. The animal doesn't know whether it's a pet or whether it's a pest!

I love my pets, I look after them well, including pts when the time is right. I've cried over a gerbil. But logically it makes no sense for strangers on the Internet to be getting so worked up about something that realistically happens every minute of every day (a small rodent dying a non-medicated death)

Humans are specists. Not all animals are created equally. Some you condone torture for because they’re walking meat for your dinner plate. Some cause you to look at other cultures with disgust for doing the same to their meat animals, because you think of those animals as ‘pets’. Some are small so therefore worthless.

@CabbagesAndCeilingWax

How completely irrelevant.

People can't 'be there' for every wild creature that exists,

it's entirely different when you take an animal for a pet, you take on the responsibility for its health & welfare, you don't just abandon it when it gets sick.

Also irrelevant.

if you take on a pet, you take on the responsibility for its health & welfare. It matters not what else you could spend the money on

I don't think a hamster would even want to go on a European mini-break.

If you can't afford food & healthcare for your pets, then don't get pets. It's not complicated.

Veterinary fees seem to have exponentially increased since I last used one.

Just out of interest how much would the consultation and treatment be for a normal hours appointment

At this moment it seems that OP ( who is probably not coming back) doesn’t have this money. I have never had hamsters but would never have anticipated that the emergency fee would be £270 for a hamster.

When I took my guinea pig for emergency treatment (last year) it was about £60 for consultation and medicine. And my cat about 10 years ago £100. £270 is extortionate. And I wonder how much the same vet would charge during the daytime

So much judgement on this thread. It really sounds like the hamster won't make it through the night, and putting it on a hot water bottle / stroking it may be the best option.
Taking it out of familiar environment, waiting likely for ages at the vet, having it put to sleep probably minutes before it would pass naturally just sounds wrong to me.

Here is in old mumsnet thread on the same topic:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/other_subjects/110364-advice-needed-regarding-sick-hamster-dying

Responses couldn't be more different.

2005 and one of the comments was agree, let it die and do you know how many new hamsters you could get for thirty quid?
Thank fuck people have more compassion 20 years later

Only on MN. There's a slug in my garden that's looking a bit lethargic. Should I get the emergency vet out. Unbelievable!

The person I know who took her goldfish to the vets was not on MN. She had it cremated too (she had a whole cabinet of aches of various pets).

There was a thread on here where OP was after a pet sitter to look after a garden snail when they went on holiday. Her DD has seen it the garden and put it in a jar.