2010 Calendars

17th January 2010

A bit slow on my part, but my hamsters have been featured on this year’s calendars :-D

The calendar comes in 2 colors: pink & blue.

In the pink one, Almond & Joy are featured on my birth month; in the blue one, Baby Hamster is featured in the month of January.

I’m so happy that Baby Hamster is featured. That way, even though he’s gone (& missed much), I feel that he has been commemorated by being featured on the calendar.

With that being said, I’m going to a professional printing shop to print both of the calendars & have them laminated :-)

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War Against the Bloodsuckers

9th January 2010

Has been won by the hamsters!

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!

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Good Night Kat

4th January 2010

Earlier last month, I brought Kat to the vet again because the lump that was removed from her bum had became much larger (WARNING: graphic image). At that point, blood was coming out of the lump, but not a lot (like when Brain was bleeding), more like droplets. The vet explained that the lump was definitely cancer & the bleeding was because the cancer cells needed more blood supply. The vet was hesitant about surgically removing the cancer as he had previously done so. It would be futile if Kat were to undergo a second surgery with the risk of the cancer coming back again. So I brought her home & pampered her, knowing that her days would be outnumbered. The occasional bleeding was treated with antibiotic cream (as instructed by the vet) & she was still very active up until her very last day.

My 2009 didn’t end so well. On 31st of December morning, I found Kat lying outside of her nest. Her body was already cold & stiff. I saw that this time there was much more bleeding & that could be the cause of her death. I called the same funeral service that had cremated Baby Hamster & Brain & they were nice enough to pick Kat’s body up from my place that very same day. I wish that Kat could have held out a little bit longer & celebrate 2010 with me. But considering her condition, she held out long enough.

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I Found DH

23rd December 2009

Just in time for the holidays!

DH Christmas09 2

All the furries & myself wish all a happy holiday (only DH is featured this time because the others were sleepy during the photoshoot, which was held during broad daylight).

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Where’s DH?

22nd December 2009

Did the grinch steal Daddy Hamster away from me?

DH Christmas1

I finally have some free time & decided to make a DIY wreath. Cost: $0.

DIY wreath

ps: don’t mind the ugly beat-up door.

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Evil Weevil

19th December 2009

Found in Daddy Hamster’s cage:

DH weevil

I had just cleaned his cage a couple of days ago, so I suspected that the weevil came from the food! I hope that I don’t have to discard the newly opened bag of food :-(

Vet said that these weevils are harmless. Nevertheless, since then, I have cleaned DH’s cage with bleach & threw away his cardboard hideouts.

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Bloodsuckers

14th December 2009

Are invading the hamsters!!

At first, it was Almond the roborovski; there was some fur loss around her cheeks & her back, some scabbing on her back, & some flaking on her bare skin. Initially I thought it was because Kat & Joy had overgroomed her or they had been fighting. When I removed Almond to be in a cage by herself, even though the original scabs, there were more scabbing not long after. At that point, I suspected that she was scratching herself so bad to the point that she scabbed herself.

Last month, vet scraped some of Almond’s skins & placed them on a slide .. sure enough the vet saw lots of mites & mite eggs breeding on Almond. Euw!  She’s now on Ivermectin (medication for mites), 3 doses of 0.01 ml given 2 weeks apart. Ivermectin is a very strong medication & it had to be diluted for Almond’s dosage due to her small size. Besides, 1 dose is not enough to kill all the mites as mites have successive breeding stages, that’s why they are given 2 weeks apart.

I thought it was strange that only Almond was infested with mites since she had shared a cage with Joy & Kat. Well, a couple of weeks after Almond was discovered with mites, I saw the same symptoms on Joy & Kat: excessive scratching to the point that they bruise themselves & flaking. Off to the vet they went on the 9th of November & now they’re also on 3 doses of Ivermectin.

The vet said that they could’ve gotten mites either from the bedding (I read that people bake their bedding to kill mites, but I don’t want to use the oven that I cook with in order to kill bugs) or from the petstore (it’s just that the robos have always been asymptomatic until now). I’ll just have to stick to the medications & hopefully by the end of the third dosage, all the mites will have been killed. Vet recommended that I clean the cages & the toys in 39 part water & 1 part bleach. Afterwards, air dry them as any remaining chlorine will evaporate.

Almond fur loss

Almond before the vet visit; fur loss around the cheek area; if you right click  & “View Image,” you can see flakes in her ear

Almond mites
Almond after the vet visit; vet had scraped off some of the mites from the skin; Almond’s skin is dry because it’s exposed to Aspen bedding & I’ve been applying olive oil on it once every 2 days

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Violated!

8th December 2009

WARNING: this post contains adult material that may be considered offensive.
You may choose not to read this post if you are easily shocked or offended or
if the standard of your community do not allow for the viewing of
sexually mature chinchilla materials!

Tubby was violated .. 4 separate times:

Tubby fur ring1

21st of October 2009

Tubby fur ring2

22nd of October 2009

Tubby fur ring3

1st of November 2009

Tubby fur ring4

5th of December 2009
Since I hadn’t cleaned Tubby’s penis in awhile, this fur ring is quite thick

A common problem in non-breeding male chinchillas is fur ring, which is when fur is caught inside the sheath of the penis making it uncomfortable for the chinchillas. I noticed that one day, as Tubby was cleaning himself, there was a black-looking thing around his penis. I suspected fur ring & in order to confirm my suspicion, I had to (literally) violate him: I had to hold him still, retract the sheath of his penis, & pull his penis out. I sure did find a thick fur ring (1st picture). It must have been super uncomfortable for Tubby.

The next day, I again noticed a black-looking thing around Tubby’s penis has he was cleaning himself. He wasn’t happy when I had to clean him again; fur was slipping everywhere as he was trying to escape my grip & by the end of it all, I was covered in grey fur. The second picture shows a dirty-looking fur ring because I had to use petroleum jelly. Just as male humans may need lubricants to prevent dryness, chinchillas do too (sorry to be candid, haha!).

After the second try, I did not want to bother Tubby anymore, for fearing that he may distrust me (chinchillas can easily distrust their owner, especially after experiencing two horrible, traumatizing incidents). I noticed that his penis was slightly red (the skin was probably raw from all that cleaning) & I wanted to give him a break .. which only lasted for a little over a week, when I had to clean Tubby for the third time (3rd picture).

Not all non-breeding male chinchillas have fur rings. For instance, I have never noticed fur ring on Winnie. And some chinchillas are just better than others in cleaning themselves, while some are hopeless & need help from their human companions. As the weather is getting colder, chinchillas’ fur are becoming thicker, so fur rings may be unavoidable.

The following third party video is a guide on how to remove chinchilla’s fur ring (except it doesn’t tell how to handle a super hyper chinchilla like Tubby).

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Good Night Baby Hamster

2nd December 2009

I was away for Thanksgiving & terribly missed my animals.

Sadly, I came home only to find out that Baby Hamster had passed away in his sleep. Even though my animals were left in the care of someone I trusted, I just kept thinking that maybe I could’ve comforted him during his last moments, and the fact that I went away makes me feel that I was the wrongdoer.

BH rainbow bridge

I brought his body to the only pet cemetery around here and the funeral director was very understanding and kind. He understands that there’s a different type of pet for everyone, not just the traditional ones (i.e. cats & dogs). Baby Hamster and Daddy Hamster were the first hamsters I’ve ever owned and I think that they, especially Baby Hamster, will set the standard for all other hamsters I own in the future. Baby Hamster is one (Daddy Hamster being the other) of the softest, cuddliest, & friendliest hamsters of mine. Despite his old age (I originally thought he was about 1 year & 8-9 months, but his sudden death made me suspect that he’s older than that), he still loved to run around & can tackle my whole apartment if I ever let him. His love for freedom is apparent on the many scratches found on his Habitrail cage; if he wanted to be let out, he’d let me know by scratching endlessly on his plastic cage.

The funeral director was sweet enough to have this done for me:

BH paw prints

It’s BH’s paw prints on clay. I think that I will have this done to all my hamsters from now on while they’re still around.

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Lumpy Lump Lump

22nd November 2009

Near Kat’s bum bum.

On the 28th of October, vet surgically removed it. At this point, the lump feels like tissue mass & still benign, but that doesn’t mean that it cannot develop to something more aggressive. On 9th of November when Kat was supposed to have her sutures removed, guess what? She played doctor & had already removed it herself! Felt like my trip to the Animal Clinic was pointless … what the hey, the Animal Clinic is like my new hangout place already (when I call, I don’t even need to tell the receptionist my name, & all the staffs already know me!).

All I can do now is keep a close eye on Kat & hope that the lump doesn’t grow again.

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