Oldest Chinchilla!

13th July 2010

I know this is quite old, but as of 2008, the oldest chinchilla on record is Bouncer, who passed away at the age of 28. According to a British rescue group dedicated to chinchillas:

Bouncer was born on 1st July 1977 on a chinchilla ranch in Nottingham owned by Mr. Sweeney. [The owner] purchased him when he was 12 months old. He has had quite an uneventful life (perhaps this helped towards him living to such an incredible age). He has moved house with [the owner] twice and coped well with the upheaval, and he has never been to the vets. This caused .. some problems with his record attempt, it was difficult to prove his age as no vets had any details of him. Bouncer is not so fast on his feet as he used to be and no longer lives up to his name but apart from a cataract he is still fairly healthy. His secret to old age could be down to the fact he has never been overly pestered or over fed, he eats his routine pellets and hay and gets a treat of a couple of raisins most days. He has always been very good natured and handles well too.

Chinchillas4life (bottom of the page)

I do believe that pets are part of your family and I do hope that Tubby & Winnie will live up to ripe old ages of 20-somethings. S0000 I guess I have to cut down on their treats & they’re going to hate me for it!

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Pinky Was Red ..

26th June 2010

.. with blood :-(

On the night of 15th June, I noticed that Pinky was bleeding from her rear. I couldn’t figure out whether it was from her rectum, vulva, or from her tail. At that point, I couldn’t do anything until the next morning. I only changed the Aspen bedding to paper towel because I didn’t want the Aspen bedding to irritate her behind.

The following morning, I was lucky to be able to schedule a vet appointment for the same day. The vet felt her tummy and couldn’t feel any lump. Upon further inspection, the vet determined that the blood came out of her vulva & that cancer was a possibility. Since Pinky is a dwarf hamster, it’s possible that the lump could be as small as a grain of rice & that’s why the vet couldn’t feel it. If the lump was that small, it may also not show up on an x-ray. The vet prescribed a medication that’s labeled as “SMZ/TMP Ped Susp” (0.03 ml twice daily for 10 days).

That was on a Wednesday. Because that same weekend I was away, Pinky was boarded at the vet’s clinic. Upon picking up Pinky the next Monday, she was doing a lot better & the vet technicians informed me that they didn’t see anymore bleeding!

Since Pinky came home, she’s been sleeping a lot more than usual. I think that she is getting older. She was brought home in August of 2008, which makes her almost 2 years of age by now.

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Good Night Joy

8th June 2010

*sigh* Another roborovski went away.

On Friday, the 21st of May, I saw that Joy would not stop running around in circles (warning: I find this video rather disturbing & you may too). I couldn’t see the vet until the following Monday. Throughout the weekend, I know it was a struggle for Joy to get around in her cage, not being able to control her movements & everything. I had to make sure she was eating & drinking, I occasionally syringe-fed her with water because I could tell she was losing weight.

On Monday when I finally saw the vet, the vet explained that the tumor that was previously removed from Joy’s tummy most likely came back & it had spread to her brain, causing her to experience vertigo. At that point, the vet recommended putting her to sleep as Joy would eventually die from wasting her life away, not being able to eat & die a slow, painful death. I really wanted to give her a second chance, so the vet said that there’s another possibility as to why Joy was running in circles: a bacterial infection. There was no way to test whether Joy had cancer or a bacterial infection, because to test for that would require a blood sample & having blood drawn from such a small creature would be deadly. Joy was prescribed with Enrofloxacin (0.05 ml for twice a day) & the vet told me that I should see an improvement within a couple of days (no improvement means that her illness was definitely cancer).

Unfortunately, Joy passed away in her sleep on Tuesday, the very next day after the vet visit. I guess the cancer has progressed too far & the fact that she was getting older also didn’t help.

It’s really sad to see that most of my hamsters pass away because of cancer. Yes, I know that by purchasing some of my hamsters from the petstores, I have contributed to the inbreeding of hamsters because of consumer demand. I know better now & I don’t want to repeat my mistakes; seeing these hamsters in pain while in your care is not fun, nor it is fun for the hamsters to die this way.


Joy sleeping in the digging tower

Joy in her glory days, while still sharing a cage with her sisters & still fat

I started with 4 Roborovski hamsters, now I don’t have any more Robos :-( I’m very sure that it’ll be awhile before I bring home another Robo hamster.

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Wet Poo Poos

21st May 2010

The bad pet owner that I was gave in to that cute begging face of Winnie’s & gave him apple skin. Not a good idea. The next day (this was the beginning of last month), Winnie had diarrhea .. really bad diarrhea!

Winnie diarrhea

Compare the above picture with a picture of normal poop. Because chinchillas poop constantly, Winnie kept stepping onto his own poop & smeared the wet poop everywhere; it was such a mess.

When the vet performed a gram stain on Winnie’s poop, the vet said that the ‘bad’ bacteria outnumber the ‘good’ bacteria; the ‘bad’ bacteria have always been present in Winnie’s stomach, but because of the apple skin, Winnie’s stomach got upset. Here is a detailed timeline:

  • 5 April: started on Baytril (0.2 ml twice daily for a week) & Bene-Bac (a pea size, approximately 1 gram, once daily for 2 weeks).
  • 7 Apri: I started to syringe feed Winnie with Critical Care because the Baytril reduced Winnie’s appetite.
  • 15 April: no improvement, so the Baytril was discontinued & Winnie was prescribed another medication that’s labeled as “SMZ/TMP Ped Susp” (0.25 ml twice daily for a week), which didn’t help much.
  • 19 April: started on Doxycycline (0.2 ml tiwce daily for a week), which was given alongside the SMZ/TMP. Winnie’s poop improved considerably.
  • 26 April: the course for Doxycycline & SMZ/TMP was over, but Winnie still continued on the Bene-Bac.
  • 9 May: Winnie finally finished his course of Bene-Bac & was diarrhea free!

I always made sure that after being in contact with Winnie while he was having diarrhea, I would wash my hands before touching Tubby. But I guess that wasn’t enough, Tubby eventually fell ill too; I have a feeling this was a parasitic infection that was easily transferred from my clothing because I didn’t change my clothes after being in contact with Winnie. Tubby’s poops were soft, but not as wet as the photo above. Tubby saw the vet on the 28th of April. Because Tubby’s poops weren’t as bad as Winnie’s, the vet didn’t want to prescribe Tubby with antibiotic that would kill the ‘bad’ AND the ‘good’ bacteria. Instead, the vet wanted to try a more ‘natural’ approach, by encouraging the ‘good’ bacteria to multiply. Tubby was prescribed Diarysanyl (a pea size, approximately 1 ml, twice daily for 5 days) & Bene-Bac (a pea size, approximately 1 gram, once daily for 2 weeks). Unlike Winnie, Tubby’s initial recovery as much faster. But the strange thing was that Tubby’s poops would get better one day & the nexy day he’d revert to soft poops. This continued even after his medication course was over. Tubby didn’t return to the clinic though, I just kept an eye on him & eventually the soft poops didn’t return.

*sigh* The troubles my animals went through just because I gave 1 chinchilla a fruit treat .. I’ve learned from my mistake & I no longer give in to those sad-looking eyes that seem to say “Puuhhhllleeeassseeee give me something sweet!”

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Skin Tumour .. Gone!

16th May 2010

Earlier this year, I noticed that Joy had something that looked like an abscess on her tummy. After conservatively treating the area with antibiotic & Hydrogen Peroxide, the lump wouldn’t go away. So on the 19th of April morning, Joy went in for a surgery to have it removed. The procedure wasn’t too life threatening because it was the surface of Joy’s skin that was being operated on. The surgery was a success; Joy bounced back fast & managed not to chew on the stitches. The vet explained that operating on such a small creature requires some improvisation. For the Oxygen mask, he had to cut the tip of a small syringe; the cut syringe tip was placed over Joy’s face, secured with a small piece of latex cut from a latex glove. I think it would’ve been neat if I could have watched the operation :-)

Joy went home later that afternoon & acted as if she didn’t have the surgery at all. 2 weeks later, she returned to the clinic to have her stitches removed. Today, she is herself and is tumour free!!!!

Joy skin tumour free

I know Joy has no fur on her chest & on her belly, I think that’s because she constantly pees on the wheel & her chest & tummy rub against the wheel. At least she looks much better now than she did a month ago.

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Good Night Almond

9th May 2010

I haven’t posted in awhile because it’s been hectic. Not only that both chinchillas are sick (more on that later), Almond had passed away on the 28th of April, late at night.

I noticed that a couple of months before Almond left forever, the fur around her legs were almost gone, exposing her skinny legs. I knew that she was getting older, but I expected that Roborovski hamsters could live up to 3 years of age. Besides, Almond was still super active, running on her wheel all night like. My other Roborovskis passed away early because of illnesses, so I was hoping that Almond could make it until she’s at least 3 years old. Almond was brought home in May of 2008, so she was a little over 2 years of age when her body gave in.

In general, Roborovski hamsters are super timid, but Almond was the one who was not scared to sit on the palm of my hand; Almond wouldn’t run away when I tried to pick her up, nor would she jump off when I held her. I rarely blog about Almond, but she’s one silly girly who happens to not be camera shy:

Almond wheel1

Almond scratching herself

Almond sleeping

Peacefully sleeping

Almond sleeps in wheel

Almond tired herself out & fell asleep on the wheel

I had her body cremated. This time around, I went to another funeral home because I personally don’t like the funeral director at the funeral home I was previously a patron of. Of course I had to have her paw prints done.

Almond rainbow bridge1

The poem reads:

I know that it must be different, now that I am no longer here.

I realize how much I was loved, and how all of you did care.

I know it will be hard at first, when you look around for me.

Expecting to find me in my bed, or beside my favorite tree.

Some days you will begin to see, although it’ll take some time.

The happy times you shared with me, the memories are yours and mine.

I’ll remember you my family, and how much you meant to me.

So please don’t grieve and be sad, it was just my time to leave.

Author unknown~

I started with 4 Roborovski hamsters, I can’t believe now I’m down to 1, Joy (who just underwent surgery, more on that later). The place is quiet without the sound of Almond’s wheel ….

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Bored Winnie ..

8th May 2010

This is what he does when Winnie is bored:

Winnie bored

Winnie rests his chin & hands on the hammock & just stare into space for the longest time.

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Edible Chinchillas

29th April 2010

Don’t let the title scare you!

Earlier this month, there was a birthday (not mine). I had 2 sculpted cakes custom ordered to look like none other than:

Tubby cake

Winnie cake (small)

Tubby & Winnie!!!

Winnie & Tubby cakes

This is the only time that the 2 of them can be seen next to each other ^.^

Not only that they look good, they taste good too! Tubby (the cake) is a chocolate rum cake with Swiss meringue icing, and Winnie is a chai tea cake with Italian meringue :-) In real life, the Tubby cake is more realistic looking than the Winnie one. But I like Winnie’s pose better :-D

Tubby cake 2

Winnie cake 2

As you can see, the Winnie cake is rich with icing (too rich for my taste).

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Severe Overgrooming

18th April 2010

In the middle of last month, I noticed that Pinky’s backside was completely bald:

Pinky fur loss

According to the vet, the exposed skin looks healthy, no flakes to indicate dryness or possible mites. I initially suspected ringworm or mites because during a mites breakout last year & all of the hamsters, except her, were affected. So I thought that maybe it’s her turn to contract mites.

The vet thinks that it’s a psychological issue, mainly that she’s so bored that she overgrooms herself. She can’t groom anymore than the lower back of her body because that’s as far as she can reach.

I don’t understand how she can be bored because she has a lot of things in her cage: a wooden hidey house, a relatively large wheel for her size, plastic & cardboard tubes, ledges to climb on. I’ve since added more stuff in her cage & given her some chewable sticks that I have for the chinchillas & a 42-puzzle playground (that she NEVER goes into even though I hide treats in it!) to the point that there’s little walking space in her bin cage. The vet also suggested that I give her foods that are rich in good oils to encourage fur growth and more toys to keep her entertained. She doesn’t like the plastic ball because it scares her so I’ve only put her in the plastic ball a couple of times when I first got her.

Well, fast forward to today (about 4 weeks later), Pinky has certainly stopped overgrooming herself:

Pinky fur grown1

Pinky fur grown2

Lesson learned? Pack your hamster’s cage with tons of toys!

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Venting

12th April 2010

I was watching a video about Gohan-Chan (a hamster who was supposed to be a meal for a zoo snake, but snake decided to befriend it) on Youtube. Youtube has a list of related videos on the right side of the page, so I clicked on one. Not good! It happened to be a video of someone’s pet snake eating a dwarf hamster (one that looks like Brain mind you!). The instant the snake attacked the hamster, I was grossed out. What’s even more disturbing is that there are more amateur videos of other pet snakes having hamsters as meals :-( In my opinion, these kinds of videos are not funny nor they are entertaining. I really enjoy watching documentaries, especially ones about animals & I don’t mind watching (with 1 eye closed) a lion attacking a baby elephant because even though it’s cruel, it’s recorded for educational purposes & that is how mother nature balances order in the wild. As for pet snakes, I am sure that pet owners do have a choice on what to feed their snakes. I used to keep 10 piranhas and despite popular beliefs, feeding them frozen mice or feeder goldfish isn’t always the healthiest thing for them (not to mention the cleanups I’d have to do). In fact, that’s how diseases are transferred from one species to another.

Ok, enough venting for now.

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