DOES MY HAMSTER HAVE TUMOR OR JUST DIARRHEA?

Question
HELLO I'M HEATHER. MY FEMALE SYRIAN ORANGE-COLORED HAMSTER DAISY HAS HAS
DIARRHEA FOR THE PAST FOUR DAYS. DURING THE THE FOUR DAYS, DAISY HASN'T BEEN
DRINKING MUCH WATER,AND HAS A SOME-WHAT LOSE OF APPITIE. WHEN I PICKED HER I
NOTICED HER PINK TAIL WAS NOW WHITE AND FATTER.ALSO,DAISY HAS BEEN SLEEPING IN
THE MORNING AND NIGHTIME,SHE BARELY GOES IN HER WHEEL,AND I HAVEN'T SEEN HER
URINATE EITHER.I WENT TO THE VET AND HE SAID THAT DAISY HAD A LUMP ON HER
STOMACH AND IT FELT HARD,THE VET AT FIRST THAT IT WAS HER BLATTER BUT HE SAID IT
WAS TO BIG TO BE A BLATTER. A FEW MOMENTS LATER,HE SAID THAT HE THINKS DAISY HAS
A TUMOR AND WOULD NEED A 1,550$ SURGERY OR WE COULD EUTHANAUSIA HER =[.BUR I
THINK SHE MIGHT HAVE INTESTIANAL DISEASE OR BLADDER STONE..I HOPE IT'S NOT A
TUMOR..IF SHE HAD A TUMOR WOULD IT LEAD UP TO THE SYMTOMS I SAID ABOVE?PLEASE
HELP THANK YOU=]


Answer
Hello Heather,
aside from the tumor the symptoms clearly point to a disease commonly known as wettail and I'm not sure if the vet gave you some antibiotics but he should have as this is a very common disease that hamsters get. Wettail is a bacterial infection in the intestinal. Your instinct is right and I must say that a tumor may cause something like this but i've never heard of a tumor mimicking the signs of wettail. I have known wet tail to cause some hamsters to have a bloated stomach that feels hard. Here is more information about wet tail and treatment. I would give it to the vet as well. Good luck and keep me posted.
http://peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=18&cat=1799&articleid=622