Hammy is feeling bad

[BamaHam]

Don't know if this life threatening but he has not been himself since yesterday. He lays around and will not come out of his cage to run around. Yesterday he would sit up and lick his private parts and lay down with his butt in the air. He played a littl but today he will not let me go near him. He comes out of the box and just lays on the platform and will not come out of the cage at all. I gave him some Baytril yesterday but I can't get anymore in him . He will not let me. I also gave him cranberries. I don't know .... could UTI or kidney stones be the problem. He doesn't eat much and drinks water. I haven't noticed him peeing. He pooped little rice size pellets. Today I haven't seen him lick his private parts at all. Any advice.

[island rehabber]

How old is Hammy? It is mating season now, full tilt.....could be related.
Keep trying to get him to take fluids. Sweeten some water with a bit of apple juice; most of them love that. If he is dragging himself and if his pee has an odor it may be a UTI, and you really do need to get the Baytril into him.

[BamaHam]

I thought that mating season is the problem. I put him in outdoor cage during the day and I noticed a young female coming and crawling around the cage, they smell each other, and then she plays around the tree, that is near the cage, by herself and pounces around. Also Chipper comes around and crawls around the cage and they smell each other. I figure he has licked himself (and other things) and has given himself a UTI. He is 3 1/2 years old. I just stuck my hand in the cage box to pet him and he loved it. As I pulled my hand away he grabbed it and pulled back as if saying "pet me more". I saw him yawn and stretch so maybe he's on the up swing.

[BamaHam]

OK...now he is on the windowsill looking out and eating a stale biscuit he had hid somewhere. I thought I threw it away. He still looks big around his genitals but no redness. He lets me rub his belly now. No complaints. He's still just being quiet and low key.

[BamaHam]

My question is how do you know if they do have stones and does calcium cause them? I saw once before on one of the forums but I can't find it.

[Charley Chuckles]

Give Hammy some skrithes from me
I am not sure how you tell a UTI without blood work?
I do know CC use to get constipated when he was in his manly mode and I ended up giving him mineral oil during that time, but a uti I gace him baytril I believe works well for that...and I gave pure cranberry with water to dilute it, I got the cranberry from the health food store

[farrelli]

Try to get him to pee on something white to see if the urine is discolored. What do you feed him? Are you supplementing calcium and that's why you're concerned about stones? Have you gotten more ABs into him? Pushing fluids and giving cranberries or REAL cranberry juice (not Ocean Spray) can also help UTIs if that's what it is.

[pappy1264]

Too much calcium can cause stones, but stones are usually very painful and many times will even stop them from peeing, so you would know if that was it. Usually, with a UTI, you may notice more drinking, and peeing or straining to pee. May notice a stronger odor (although I have noticed in my males during breeding season, their pee seems to be a bit stronger than usual), or you may notice leaking urine (underbelly may be wet. But again, some boys are just lazy and not great on grooming, so that is not always from UTI.) UTI's are usually found w/urine sample, as they will find lots of white cells, and many times, minute amounts of blood as well, which will be seen under a microscope. Since you found that stale biscuit, wondering if he had a stash he ate that maybe was not great and he has a tummy ache?

[BamaHam]

OK....he's fine now. I didn;t see him pee for a long time so that is why I thought blockage or stones and why he wouldn't let his genitals touch the floor when he would lay down. He was sensitive and would lick himself. I did notice wetness a few times on his belly but now I think he was marking territory and peeing everywhere. No odor to it. He had stolen a bunch of pecans and a couple of pistachios. Constipation, gas, belly aches....who knows. I did put a capsule of cranberry powder in his water and fed him cranberries. He's worse than any of my "other' children.....gets into everything. NOSEY little booger. I'm watching him closely.

[Charley Chuckles]

OK....he's fine now. I didn;t see him pee for a long time so that is why I thought blockage or stones and why he wouldn't let his genitals touch the floor when he would lay down. He was sensitive and would lick himself. I did notice wetness a few times on his belly but now I think he was marking territory and peeing everywhere. No odor to it. He had stolen a bunch of pecans and a couple of pistachios. Constipation, gas, belly aches....who knows. I did put a capsule of cranberry powder in his water and fed him cranberries. He's worse than any of my "other' children.....gets into everything. NOSEY little booger. I'm watching him closely.

Glad to hear he is doing well now They sure can worry us so much