The vet’s diagnosis was good and bad. Good in a sense that DH didn’t have cataracts, it was merely his eyelid that folded over his eye, giving that white cloudy look; bad in a sense that his overall condition was deteriorating because most likely he was old. The vet explained to me straightforwardly that it was almost DH’s time & that his body would eventually give up. What relieved me was knowing that DH was not in pain, but he was merely uncomfortable.

At the end, it was not easy for me to have DH put to sleep. As usual, I always wondered whether it was the better choice in comparison as to giving him another chance or letting him take his own time.

Here are some photos of my last moments with DH at the animal clinic:

DH was sleeping throughout the vet visit

His fur was always so soft

He is laid peacefully on this beautiful rolling hill where some of my hamsters are currently resting.

On a more positive note, I was surrounded by dogs during my 2-week vacation:

Walking alongside the Sg river & Tinky stopped by to smell the flowers (or another dog’s pee)

And we saw a monitor lizard bathing on the rocks

Joey getting older & becoming a sleepy head

Not to mention I also stopped by House of Chinchillas, a pet store specializing in chinchillas that is located in Serangoon! Even though it’s a small store, it houses lots of cute & fluffy chinchillas! To my surprise, these chinchillas (that were all born in the tiny island) are considerably smaller than the ones (of the same age) who are born in the US. According to the storekeeper, it’s because they don’t need all the excess fat to keep them warm because all they’ve known is the tropical weather. Well, that’s a logical explanation .. But when I ask her whether they are of pet or breeding quality, apparently they are all of pet quality. At least I now know where to buy chinchilla supplies as they stock Mazuri & chinchilla housings (& maybe more chinchillas hihihihi!).

When I returned to State-side, it’s good to see the chinchillas and the one & only hamster (Pinky) I have left are all healthy. More posts on them later

ps: sorry for the poor photos, they were all taken by my phone as my camera is too bulky to carry around.

After DH’s eye was cleaned, the vet inspected the eye, which looked healthy. That’s when the vet suspected that it was folliculitis (inflammation of the hair follicle, specifically inflammation of the hair follicle surrounding DH’s eye). DH was prescribed with an eye ointment (the same one that was prescribed to Baby Hamster for his cysts) to be applied twice daily right on the eye, for 7 days. During those 7 days, I could see that DH’s inflammation was getting better. I also had to continually clean his eye with wet cotton bud.

Fast forward 2 weeks to today, this is how his right eye looks like (warning: graphic photo). Obviously it doesn’t look good. I’m going to make a vet appointment right away for tomorrow & I’ll be updating on how DH is doing.

ps: DH is about 2.5 years old, so I’m just hoping that this is a symptom of ageing & it won’t affect his entire well being.

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.

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!!!!

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.

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 scratching herself

Peacefully sleeping

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.

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 ….

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:

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

Ok, enough venting for now.

I’m not sure if this is an improvement. I felt that the area & it’s hard (feels like a scab), but at least it’s clean & there’s no more blood.
I know that in the picture she looks really dirty, I think it’s because her bottom side keeps rubbing against her flying saucer, which she always pees on no matter how many times I wash it.

I talked with the vet over the phone & he said that there are 2 possibilities: (1) that it’s a scar tissue, or (2) it’s a tumor.
He told me to keep an eye on her for a couple of weeks to see if the scar gets smaller or not. If it gets smaller, that means it’s a scar tissue, if not I will definitely bring her in to have the tumor removed if the vet thinks that she can handle the surgery.

Just last week, I noticed that the abscess has returned & it’s bigger. I cleaned the area again, applied more aloe & waited for a couple of days to see if it would get better.

Since it didn’t scab up, I took her to the vet today. Vet suspected that it’s skin tumor because he felt a lump. He wanted to be conservative, so he just prescribed Joy with some antibiotic cream. For a week, I’m supposed to clean the area twice a day with hydrogen peroxide & subsequently apply the antibiotic cream. If that doesn’t help, vet said that he could surgically remove the skin tumor & it won’t be a difficult procedure as the tumor is in the skin layer, no need to open her up.

So we’ll see how she’ll do with the antibiotic cream for a week.

Last month, just as the robo girlies were finishing up on their mites medications, I noticed that Daddy Hamster’s skin was a little dry & flaky. He is all good now, but poor DH has also been attacked by the mites since the robo girlies’ cages are below DH’s cage. When I brought DH to the clinic, vet said that the mites on DH were still at the early stages, which was good. As for DH’s Ivermectin routine, his doses weren’t as far apart as the robos’ (the robos had to take their mites medications 2 weeks apart), DH’s medications were 8 days apart because he is a larger hamster.

The new year has started on a healthy note!