Hamsters

All Lumps Aren't Lovely

nobody@vox.com(b ë я ĸ) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:04:44 -0700

Last night, I heard Miles' wheel squeaking while I was writing checks at my desk.

I rushed into his bedroom in hopes of catching him in the act.

Per usual, he stopped the moment I arrived.

(he used to be such a little show off)

*shrug*

Anyway, I reached in an' nabbed him to treat myself to a lil' lovin'.

As I was rubbin' under his neck, I felt a lump.

At first, I thought maybe his pouch was just packed full of food.

But this felt different than usual.

It's soft ... and about the size of a gumdrop.

Afraid of possibly causing him to choke (if it was food), I put him down and decided to take another look the morning.

[fast forward to 6:00 AM]

Luckily, he was awake.

Just as he was moving out of his den to get a drink of water, I swiped him up again and took a second look.

It's definitely a lump.

I ran into Bruce's vet (Dr. Karnes) several months ago ... and she asked how I was doing.

(it was the first time I'd seen her since I put my boy down in Jan '07)

I let her know about my new buddy and she told me they treat small animals too.

I thanked her, but never really thought I'd be taking her up on her services.

Saturday morning, I'm ironing a shirt with a pocket and takin' my (other) boy to the vet.

I've Googled everything under the sun today about hamster health ... and all signs point to a simple cyst that needs to be drained ... or cancer.

Oh no!

: (

Wish us luck ... and I'll keep ya posted.

MUG

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Oh my gosh. Yukimo, you're a boy?!

nobody@vox.com(Lauren) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:18:28 -0700

"Yuki-Sleeping"

About four months ago, only a week or two after I wrote about Yukimo becoming sick, I was completely caught off guard by a crazy discovery.

Yukimo *gulp* is a boy. Yuki is not a girl like I had thought for over a year and a half. No, Yukimo decided to play the trick of all tricks on me by changing sexes (er, genders?). Oh Yukimo, what will you do next?

Here's what happened. While I continued to worry about the "womanly bleeding" (chuckle, chuckle) that Yuki was going through, I noticed that her slower movements were changing into what she used to be like when I first bought her; she started running around her cage and in her wheel with the energy of a young, baby hammy. I'll admit that I was really happy that Yukimo was finally coming around and turning into her old self. I had my doubts for a while though-- usually little happy moments like this don't last for long. I figured that she was just getting a second wind or something. I was wrong though.

One day, while holding Yuki and checking to see if she was still bleeding down there, I noticed something extremely odd about her lower "womanly parts." Something else was there instead-- something manly. At first, I became worried and thought her intestines might be falling out (seriously, hammies are too unpredictable for that not to happen), but on a closer look I realized that Yukimo was, indeed, a boy.

Tucked Under

When thinking back, I'm positive that Yukimo was once a girl. Not only was she in the girl hammy cage at the pet store (where workers at pet stores often make mistakes with this kind of thing), but I made sure to check a lot over the months she was with me. I had mistaken other boy hammies for girls when I was younger, but the reality of the situation always became evident after just a few weeks of them living with me. Yukimo was with me for too long for me to not notice. I just know she used to be a girl; it's a feeling.

Here are my thoughts on this unexpected discovery: the old Yukimo must have passed on (er, died) and this version of Yukimo was reborn. Back when she was sick, Beth kept telling me that I should probably start to think about letting go of Yuki. She exhibited too many signs of old age and sickness to think otherwise. We've experienced the loss of small pets before and it's better to come to terms with death instead of ignore it. I started to think about it more but I had to stop when I realized that Yuki was suddenly full of life again.

Yuki: Like a Baby

Yukimo must have gone through some sort of reincarnation in her sickness. Either that happened, or she's a hermaphrodite hamster (meaning she has both male and female parts). I wouldn't put this odd happening past Yukimo. She's a crazy trickster who loves to mess with peoples' minds!

Since Yukimo's rebirth, she's been just as lively as when she was a baby-- even at the old age of over a year and a half. Also, the bleeding has completely stopped. (Yay!) I really do think there's a connection between the discovery and the bleeding, but I can't quite pinpoint what happened. I'd like to talk with a hammy specialist sometime.

I'm still in shock over this whole thing. Every time I see Yukimo running her little heart out in her wheel, or jumping up on the bars because she wants attention, I can't help but be grateful for this huge extra amount of time that I'm being given to spend with her. I had hammies when I was little and none of them ever lived such a long, happy life. Not like Yukimo.

I've decided that even though Yukimo has revealed this secret, I'm still going to refer to her as a girl. I tried replacing all my uses of "hims" and "hers" and "he's" and "she's" but it was too difficult to break the habit of referring to Yuki as a girl. I figure that I'm at least acknowledging this discovery by telling people about it (and how amused I am by the whole thing), but for now, Yukimo will remain a "she" when I'm talking about her. ^__^

She's the best hamster I could have ever hoped for-- and definitely the trickiest!

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Timing

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:30:04 -0700

I was videoing Tyrone tonight, and my finger must slipped and I accidentally started recording when I hadn't meant to...I stopped recording just about as quickly as I started...but the timing was perfect, because it caught the cutest little pause in his water drinking!!! :-D

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On a lighter note

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:55:16 -0700

I think Tyrone is calming down in his older age! :-D

Last week, he actually just sat on me - no running around all over me - for at least 10 minutes! You don't understand...this has never happened for more than like 30 seconds at a time!

It hasn't happened again since that night...but, tonight he sat on my lap and gave himself a bath! It was so cute!! He didn't sit still for much longer than that...except for after he was done, he stood up on his hind legs, with his front legs tucked in at his chest, and just looked up at me for the longest while. It was to. die. for. adorable! :-D

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Oh no...

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:06:25 -0700

Tyrone's wheel is situated against one of the walls of his cage, but he sometimes squeezes his body between the wheel and the glass...I don't think much of it - I've read that they like to burrow, so I just chalk it up to him enjoying the squeezing between things. Tonight though, I passed by his cage several times and noticed that he hadn't moved from his spot against the glass in quite some time. Thinking he may be stuck, I pulled the wheel away from the wall, and he immediately sprinted into his hut.

When he came out a little later, I noticed an white dot on his face...after taking him out, and getting a closer look, it appears the fur is completely gone from that spot on his face. :-( The mother in me is worried that her child is hurt...what happened - what did he do to himself? Is there further damage that I can't see?? :-(((((((( Poor guy....

*sniff*

Missing fur

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QotD: Pet Names

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Sat, 31 May 2008 18:18:00 -0700

What are the goofy nicknames you have for your pet? Bonus points for sharing a picture of him/her.
Submitted by Papi Chulo.

Mostly I call him Tyron-ey.

...and often "lil' doggie". When I come home late at night, after he's woken up and is running a marathon on his wheel, he stops dead in his tracks when he hears me. His cage is visible from the door, and he literally freezes, not moving a muscle as his wheel swings back and forth from the sudden halt of spinning. I always respond to this with an exaggerated "What's UP lil' doggie?!" This results in more staring. And more staring...I think he may be sensitive to my comments about his size. *shrug*

Frozen

Digging in bedding

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My Baby

nobody@vox.com(toopredictable) — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:40:08 -0700

My Baby

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QotD: Pet Names

nobody@vox.com(b ë я ĸ) — Wed, 28 May 2008 07:01:57 -0700

What are the goofy nicknames you have for your pet? Bonus points for sharing a picture of him/her.
Submitted by Papi Chulo.

"The Milester" ... "M-man" ... annnnnnnd "Emmers" (as in M-ers).

Here's our most recent shoot:

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My guy...

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:52:52 -0700

...is too adorable! He's with Patti right now - she was taking care of him while I was in Nashville, and then she asked if she could keep him this week even though I was back home, since I'd need her to take care of him this weekend also while I'm in FL. I miss him, and am definitely looking forward to bringing him home on Monday!!!

She sent me some photos yesterday...

Wakin Up

Lazy...from the top

"What?? This makes perfect sense!"

Wavin'

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Springtime, finally!

nobody@vox.com(Halo) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:23:27 -0700

Pixi had her first ever adventure outside in the grass yesterday. She smiled. She ate clovers. She walked all kinds of funny. She had fun.

I realized I probably worry about this little creature too much. She's a little over six months old and still looks too small to me. If she sleeps too much I worry that she's sick. I worry that she doesn't eat enough. I feel her belly constantly for lumps of any kind. I'm always checking her butt to make sure it's clean and dry.

Then yesterday I watched her and Bean play outside in the sun together and realized I have nothing to worry about. She's the happiest and most loved (and most spoiled) hamster I've ever seen. I appreciate the little creature.

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