hamster issue

Question
I recently knew someone who lost a hamster. The hamster had diarrhea, seemed bloated, and it's penis was inflamed and protruding. The owner tried to clean the penis, but it only bled and pussed.

What caused this? Can it be cured?

Answer
Hi Lisa,

    So sorry to hear about your friends hamster.
    It sounds like the hamster had 2 problems. One, being impacted, and the other a very bad urinary tract infection.
    The diarrhea was probably from having hard stool that he couldn't pass, so only the loose stool was passing through.
    Urinary tract infections, hamsters do get, but not really sure what actually causes it.
    Both of these are curable, but a visit to the vet is needed in a case as bad as this one was.

Thank you for writing and again so sorry.