| How to Treat Wet Tail in Hamsters Posted: This hamster is recovering from wet tail, on his own private beach! Wet tail (proliferative ileitis, transmissible ileal hyperplasia) [1] is a bacterial infection that impacts hamsters. Wet tail results in severe diarrhea, with the droppings being very soft and watery, leaving the tail very wet. Hence the name. If you think your hamster has wet tail, here is what you need to do, quickly. Steps - Check for signs. The following signs indicate wet tail in a hamster:[2]
- Tail end and sometimes abdomen are wet, matted
- The wet area is soiled and smells bad due to excessive watery diarrhea
- Failure to groom
- Dull, sunken eyes
- Abdominal discomfort
- Lethargy
- Irritability, discomfort, hunched posture
- Protruding rectum caused by straining
- Loss of appetite, and low energy levels.[3]
- Rush to the vet with your little friend. The vet will prescribe a course of antibiotics, something to cure diarrhea and administer fluids. And rush means nothing else than rush. In other words: timing is key.
- Prior to seeing the vet, remove all food. The gut needs to rest for 24 hours.[1] Your vet will provide further advice.
- It is likely that the vet will prescribe antibiotics to be given as drops or in the drinking water. Follow the instructions with great care. In addition, you may be given anti-diarrhea medication and fluids to rehydrate the hamster orally.[2]
- Isolate the sick hamster. Wet tail is contagious. And since your hamster is not feeling well, he or she might like to be left alone anyway.
- Reduce stress. Wet tail is believed to be a stress related disease.[4] Therefore stress is the last thing your buddy needs.
- Remove any source of distraction or upset from the room where the hamster is resting, including other hamsters, barking dogs, inquisitive cats, bright light, and anything that is noisy.
- Do not change the usual food unless your vet advises you to. This can cause more stress.
- Keep the hamster warm.
- Try not to move the hamster around again once you get him back home. Transportation is a source of stress.
- Keep the hamster well hydrated. As said before, wet tail is very much like diarrhea. As with diarrhea, there is a risk of dehydration. Make sure your hamster has access to drinking water.
- Practice good hygiene at all times during the nursing and care period. This is especially important when you have more than one hamster, to avoid contamination.
- Wash your hands.
- Keep food bowls away from other hamsters and pets.
- Keep everything clean. This means the cage, drink bottle, food dish and toys. Clean the cage every 2 or 3 days. Trying to clean it any more often can result in additional stress, which is not good for the hamster's recovery.
Video Tips - If you have more than one hamster, ask someone else to take care of the healthy hamsters, so you can concentrate on the sick one. This reduces stress for yourself and for your hamster.
- The most easily affected hamsters seem to be weaned baby hamsters up to the age of 8 weeks.[1] This means giving new hamsters time to adjust to their new surroundings before handling them too much (thereby creating stress). Give new hamsters about a week to settle in before handling them often. It is also a good idea to isolate them during this time, as wet tail can be incubating for 7 days before the symptoms appear.[4]
- Other sources of stress include transportation, changes in diet, surgery, overcrowded cage conditions, and weaning.[2]
- Dwarf hamsters can get severe diarrhea but they do not get wet tail.[5] Long-haired teddy hamsters seem to be the most prone to wet tail.[2]
Warnings - Hamsters can die from wet tail! Take your hamster to the vet as soon as you see the symptoms; death can occur within 24 hours of the symptoms first appearing if left untreated.[1]
- Disinfect everything the hamster has touched during its sickness before using it for another hamster; doing so will help to avoid transferring the disease. A pet-safe disinfectant is available at pet stores.
- Throw away anything that can not be disinfected.
- Hygienic practices are for your own benefit too; exposure to wet tail can place susceptible humans at risk for Campylobacteriosis, which causes diarrhoea (frequently bloody), abdominal pain, cramps, fever, and vomiting.[5]
- Tetracycline or penicillins (any antibiotic ending in "-illin") can kill your hamster; do not use any of these as treatment.[5]
Things You'll Need - Transportation to and from vet
- Quiet and clean place for rest
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| 8 Ways to Recover from a Broken Engagement Posted: Getting over a broken engagement is never easy - your dreams, hopes, and future wishes are all completely dashed in a moment. The bridal magazines sit around, the suit or dress might even be hanging in the wardrobe, and invitations remain unsent... This article suggests ways in which you can begin to emerge from the shock and start to forge a new and different future for yourself after a broken engagement. Instead of saying "I do" to marriage, you can choose to say "I do" to accepting the challenge to move on and find your feet in the world again. Steps - Realize that no matter what led to this event, you remain a good and worthy person. For whatever reason, it is an outcome that has forced you to see a different future. And while right now it is hard to see a path ahead, there is one, and likely it is one that includes the right person coming along when the time is right. Do not begin to think that you are never going to find someone "as good as him/her" again. You will, it just doesn't seem like that right now. And resist the temptation to find yourself unworthy in any respect. It is a situation of two people not working out rather than you as an individual not working out.
- Remove reminders. Anything that reminds you of your ex-fiancé needs to leave your surroundings. This is important so that you can move on and let go. That means either throwing it away (if you cannot bring yourself to return it) or putting it in a box out of the way. Get someone else to return items of value and sentimental interest to your ex-fiancé if you cannot face seeing him or her right now; this is kinder than junking it. Be the strong one.
- Let out your emotions. Cry if you see fit and perhaps wallow in your sorrows for a few days. It is OK to feel rotten; this is life-dashing stuff you are experiencing. However, set yourself a deadline to pull yourself up and get ready to make a new life for yourself. Every ending has a new beginning, that is the way of life, the world and the universe.
- Let others know. After you have a good grip on yourself, inform anybody that was aware of the wedding (if a date had been set) that one will no longer be held. The sooner this is done, the better, so that airfares can be redeemed, accommodations canceled and gifts returned. If you already have gifts, be sure to send them back promptly with a kind "thank you" message.
- Spend time with people who care about you. Go and spend time with friends and family to get your mind off your broken engagement. You need to be around people who support, love, and cherish you right now. And you never know, during times like these, you often find one person who has been through just what you're going through right now. Let them reach out to you; they'll have good advice to share, as well as being living proof you'll get through fine.
- Take that honeymoon. Even if you hadn't yet booked one, it is a really super idea to grab a friend or even go it alone and take a break somewhere away from your hometown. Go and do something different, something wild, something unique. The difference will do you a lot of good. And while you're away, remember to relax and totally pamper yourself. If you want that gold bracelet and triple decker chocolate ice cream, now is not a time for holding back.
- Learn, forgive and grow. An engagement is made of two people. Trying to see fault on either side is a situation that will feed resentment and hold you back. You might want to see him or her as being at fault but it is more likely that both of you saw signs along the way but chose to plow on regardless. Analyze a little but don't over-analyze. Accept that both of you might have done things differently but that perhaps this is a sign that it was not going to be a match made in heaven and it is better to know now than later. Be grateful you have had the experience, wish the other side well, and work on letting your forgiveness override blaming either yourself or the other party.
- Give him (or her) the engagement ring back. If you have one, this is not only fair but wise. You don't want to hold onto it, and if you sell it, you may feel rotten.
Tips - Watch out for the rebound. If you are really emotionally fragile, steer clear of intimate relationships for a while until you are stronger and your judgment is no longer clouded.
- Do not be embarrassed that your engagement has ended. It is a time of celebration. Think about the results if you had married this person and later on the incompatibilities caused divorce-worthy rifts?
- Take care of yourself but also consider others. To stop yourself wallowing too much, get involved in volunteering - you'll see there are many people with hardships and yours is but one. Although a significant setback, a broken engagement is not a reason to give up on living life to your best ability.
Warnings - If you feel a lack on interest in friends and family, cry constantly, and have trouble motivating yourself, you may be suffering from mild depression and should seek the advice of a therapist.
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