Codie Wilkinson and PDSA senior vet Lianne O’Brien with Beth the hamster
Tiny Beth had to undergo surgery at PDSA’s Sunderland Pet Hospital to amputate her foot and part of her leg after her owners discovered an inch-long piece of wire caught around it.
Victoria Wilkinson, 38, from Washington, said she had noticed Beth had become withdrawn and off her food but wasn’t showing any other problem signs.
She said: “Beth wasn’t coming out for her food so we picked her up and, to our horror, we found this piece of wire which seemed to have gone around her foot and up her leg.
“I tried to have a closer look and Beth started to squeal so we took her straight to PDSA.”
PDSA Senior Vet, Lianne O’ Brien, from Sunderland Pet Hospital, said after inspecting the injury the decision was taken to amputate Beth’s foot and part of her leg.
She said: “It’s not something we take lightly as it’s high risk to put a small animal like a hamster under anaesthetic, but we realised we had no choice but to amputate.
“We warned Beth’s owners that it would be a risky operation but thankfully everything went well and Beth has gone on to make a full recovery.”
Victoria said herself and her daughter Codie, 13, were extremely grateful to PDSA for the treatment Beth received:
“We were so worried about Beth. It was Codie’s birthday on the same day and she actually postponed her party until the evening as she wanted to make sure her hamster was ok first.
“Codie and Beth have a really close bond and are always together. Codie donated all her pocket money and even asked for an advance to make a contribution to PDSA for the cost of the operation.
“Beth is doing great now and she can do all the things she used to before the accident and still loves going in her wheel, even with just three legs.”
Victoria said they are still stumped as to how the metal ended up in Beth’s cage: “We’ve got other hamsters and some rabbits, so we often buy hay bales for bedding. The wire must have been inside there, that’s the only explanation we have for it.”