R
RainbowBrite
I hope you will still have more time together. She is so beautiful and how lovely you can hold her. You have a beautiful bond.
Hello!
- Thread starter Eriathwen
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She still hasn't eaten over night, I left some baby food in for her but no. I honestly was expecting her to have gone this morning but again, no! She has done quite a 180, very fiesty and tried to nip my hand when I went to pick her up. She does however have very clicky, crackly breathing so I have a vet appointment for her in an hours time. Fingers crossed some antibiotics will see her right.
R
RainbowBrite
That is very puzzling for you. I hope the vet appointment goes well. She is so photogenic!
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Shes had another few mouthfuls of baby food and tried to nibble on a peanut. She was reasonably well behaved at the vet, although did try to escape once 
She has a week of metacam and baytril which luckily she is more than happy to take, fingers crossed I can encourage her to eat a bit more later once she's had a good sleep to recover from today's adventure!
She has a week of metacam and baytril which luckily she is more than happy to take, fingers crossed I can encourage her to eat a bit more later once she's had a good sleep to recover from today's adventure!
R
RainbowBrite
It is wonderful she is eating the baby food. I hope the medication helps clear up her UTI. She is so amazing well and lively for her age. I love her grumpy face taking the syringe.
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Thanks, I hope so too! I have a feeling she got cold while in her bowl and became torpid possibly causing the respiratory infection, so I've packed in extra nesting material and turned the heating up a couple of degrees. Hopefully she's having a nice nap after the spike in adrenaline she would have had at the vets and in the car, I'm going to pop out for some nice things for her to eat, natural yoghurt, cottage cheese and some other baby foods. At this point I think it's fair to say whatever she can/will eat is better than nothing. I've also got some strawberry complan I don't mind sharing with her if needed, my gerbils enjoyed it towards the end of their lives, mixed with soaked complete biscuits so hopefully it'll give her a bit of a boost as well.
R
RainbowBrite
You have got every thing covered. What a lucky little girl she is to have this wide selection of foods to tempt her appetite with.
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So sorry to hear Orsa is starting to fail. As you probably know, sometimes they will come round a bit again and have a last fling. But sometimes they are just fading. If she was asleep in her food bowl she either didn't have the energy to go back to her nest or decided to abandon the nest possibly. Thoughts for you and Orsa. I hope it's peaceful.
Edit I posted this before I read your update! So glad she has come round
One of ours is also reacting to the cold a bit. I've put the heated clothes dryer between the cages on a timer!
Edit I posted this before I read your update! So glad she has come round
One of ours is also reacting to the cold a bit. I've put the heated clothes dryer between the cages on a timer!
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I definitely don't expect her to see her 3rd birthday, but luckily for now she's plodding on, I've pulled her cage away from the wall and will find my heat pad to slide in between, she can choose if she wants to sleep by the warmth or not then.
She's currently awake again and eating a dried marigold flower which isn't something I would have expected her to want to eat considering it's quite tough but she's making quite a good attempt with it!
This is the part I always find most difficult with having animals, the ups and downs towards the end, it makes knowing when to call it a day very difficult as the next say they can be absolutely fine again! I'll make her some porridge with complan if she's feeling up to eating. Fingers crossed this mornings antibiotics have made her feel better already.
She's currently awake again and eating a dried marigold flower which isn't something I would have expected her to want to eat considering it's quite tough but she's making quite a good attempt with it!
This is the part I always find most difficult with having animals, the ups and downs towards the end, it makes knowing when to call it a day very difficult as the next say they can be absolutely fine again! I'll make her some porridge with complan if she's feeling up to eating. Fingers crossed this mornings antibiotics have made her feel better already.
It is difficult to find the right time to say goodbye. You don't want it to be too soon because you still want to be with them, but you don't want it to be too late because of any potential suffering.
I have a quality of life questionnaire type of thing in the works. I'm going to try and make it a point based system to help people assess quality of life which will then, hopefully, help them to decide what is best for their hammy.
But I do understand that these next few months will be difficult for you. Remember to continue making those happy todays and make many lovely memories with both her and Pasha.
I have a quality of life questionnaire type of thing in the works. I'm going to try and make it a point based system to help people assess quality of life which will then, hopefully, help them to decide what is best for their hammy.
But I do understand that these next few months will be difficult for you. Remember to continue making those happy todays and make many lovely memories with both her and Pasha.
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I must admit I was worried again that I would wake up to find little Orsa gone, but no she is, as ever, soldiering on like she's immortal! Her breathing was crackly again when I took her out but greatly improved from yesterday, she has quite rightly decided the baytril is disgusting so I've had to make her take it, rather than just offering it to her, but she's a good patient.
I say 'good' but she did end up biting my hand and hanging off of it for a while, she either doesn't have the strength to break the skin or deep down knows its for her own good.. but she certainly let me know she has strong opinions about the current situation
She was very busy last night moving her seed mix into her stores, I think I saw her having a nibble of a dried mealworm, and she did eat a reasonable amount of a soaked complete biscuit which I'm taking as a good sign!
she is, as ever, soldiering on like she's immortal! Her breathing was crackly again when I took her out but greatly improved from yesterday, she has quite rightly decided the baytril is disgusting so I've had to make her take it, rather than just offering it to her, but she's a good patient.I say 'good' but she did end up biting my hand and hanging off of it for a while, she either doesn't have the strength to break the skin or deep down knows its for her own good.. but she certainly let me know she has strong opinions about the current situation
She was very busy last night moving her seed mix into her stores, I think I saw her having a nibble of a dried mealworm, and she did eat a reasonable amount of a soaked complete biscuit which I'm taking as a good sign!
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M
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What a cute photo of Orsa but she does look a little bit miffed.
R
RainbowBrite
It sounds like the medication has made her feel better and willing to eat a bit more.
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Ah so she's discovered the Baytril is the nasty tasting one! I had a very good tip about disguising baytril for a sick old Robo - he was difficult to handle at the best of times and got so stressed if I tried to hold him to give it to him. Most foods won't disguise the taste of Baytril but this tip worked brilliantly. So brilliantly the hamster often starts pushing the dish around to want more! It was a particular brand of beefy dog food for small dogs (Country Hunter). It comes in little pouches and you can get three days worth out of it, keeping it in the fridge. The rest then goes to waste (unless you have a dog to give it to!). But it worked so brilliantly I didn't mind buying them and wasting some.
It's a bit like corned beef in jelly so easy to make into a tiny mush. I'd put less then a pea sized amount on a separate little dish - eg a jar lid, drop the baytril on top of the tiny mound and then use a cocktail stick to kind of mix it in a bit. Not too much as you don't want the baytril down the bottom on the dish. Eventually, instead of mixing it in, I'd halve the tiny amount, put the baytril on top of the half and the other half of the meaty dog food on top of it. That worked ok.
They eat the whole lot and lick the plate clean lol!
As our robo was on different meds as well I'd give the baytril at tea time, wait till the plate was clean and then put the metacam out late at night in some baby food. The Metacam is less crucial to be all eaten or all in one go but it was always gone by morning.
There are probably other strong tasting foods that might work (not many I think!) but this worked so well I've always used that method with Baytril. The difficulty is when the course of Baytril finishes and you have a hamster having a drama because you've stopped giving the meaty dog food! I actually carried on with it the odd day for a week after that just to ease the drama!
It's a bit like corned beef in jelly so easy to make into a tiny mush. I'd put less then a pea sized amount on a separate little dish - eg a jar lid, drop the baytril on top of the tiny mound and then use a cocktail stick to kind of mix it in a bit. Not too much as you don't want the baytril down the bottom on the dish. Eventually, instead of mixing it in, I'd halve the tiny amount, put the baytril on top of the half and the other half of the meaty dog food on top of it. That worked ok.
They eat the whole lot and lick the plate clean lol!
As our robo was on different meds as well I'd give the baytril at tea time, wait till the plate was clean and then put the metacam out late at night in some baby food. The Metacam is less crucial to be all eaten or all in one go but it was always gone by morning.
There are probably other strong tasting foods that might work (not many I think!) but this worked so well I've always used that method with Baytril. The difficulty is when the course of Baytril finishes and you have a hamster having a drama because you've stopped giving the meaty dog food! I actually carried on with it the odd day for a week after that just to ease the drama!
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This is the one. It's not too expensive - about £7 for 6 pouches which does about 18 days worth of baytril. For a week's course you'd only need 3 of the pouches. I've kept my other three in case I need them again!
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Great idea! I was wondering if something like malt paste that people use for rats would be safe but if the dog food is tried and tested then it's worth trying with her, I dont have a dog unfortunately, although I've some friends who do, who may use what's left over.
I've also ordered a restock of seed sprays so hopefully even if she can't be tricked into taking it, she can at least have a nice treat after, to take the taste away.
I've also ordered a restock of seed sprays so hopefully even if she can't be tricked into taking it, she can at least have a nice treat after, to take the taste away.