Posts Tagged ‘robo hamster’

Good Night Joy

June 8th, 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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Posted in Hamster health, Rainbow bridge | Comments (0)

Good Night Kat

January 4th, 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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Posted in Hamster adventure, Rainbow bridge | Comments (1)

Lumpy Lump Lump

November 22nd, 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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Posted in Hamster care, Hamster health | Comments (2)