Old Ham

Question
Hi Heather
I noticed that my 25 month old ham Bart seemed uncomfortable the other night when he was grooming. He seemed a little hunched over a few times. I was watching him and he also seemed to be having trouble peeing, and would squeek when trying. I took him to the vet right away and we're trying a course of antibiotics for him. He's still eating and his weight is stable but he's not drinking as much water, so I added a little fruit nectar to it to make it more tastey. Anything I've read suggests that a hamster with an infection drinks excess water but I can't find anything that states when they drink less.  The vet said it's either an infection or kidney break down. Just wondering if you've had a similar experience, where a hamster starts drinking less? He seems a little more comfortable when peeing and did not squeek last time, so I'm hoping the antibiotics will do the trick. He seems so well otherwise. He's a big guy at 170 grams, a real gentle giant :) It's only day 2 since his meds...keep your fingers crossed. Thanks for your time.  

Answer
It's hard to say. Hunching usually means to me constipation. Since diarrhea usually leads to drinking excess water, constipation could mean less water consumption. Are his stools normal? If it were a problem with his kidneys I would suspect that his urine would have changed color (darker) or there would be blood in it. I still wouldn't rule out an infection, but perhaps not in the kidney. Either way the antibiotics would clear it up. If those don't help, he could be in pain because of a tumor pushing on an organ. Lets hope it isn't that.