Mr Maggie's Diary

[Magpie]

Saw folk have threads dedicated to their Hammies so thought I'd start one for Maggie. Thought it might be a good way to keep a bit of a diary and see if any helpful patterns emerge. I have added a few more recent photos. I’ve had to alter them to brighten them up so you can see her eyes! I’ve found that’s she so dark it’s quite difficult to get clear images of her.

As I'm sitting here I can hear her busy scritch-scratching around in her burrows.

The last few nights she has been up even later than her 'usual' midnight! Not coming out until just after 1am... feel like a bit of a crazy person sitting up waiting for her and I am SO TIRED! Its very rare to see her in the morning at all, but mornings are super busy here with getting the kids to school and ourselves to work anyway so that's not such a big deal. I have been putting her food in, including her fresh veg portion at around 10pm but it seems to make no difference to getting her to emerge... if anything, as I say she's actually getting later. Even when I had corned beef in there for her antibiotics the smell didn't bring her to the surface. I am not an early to bed person anyway but I'm starting to feel it now. I have been tending to stay up so that I can lay eyes on her, check she's ok, and give treats to keep the contact/bonding/taming process ticking along but I'm not in a rush. I think I'm going to have to leave her to her own devices tonight!

Some nights she is super chilled and inquisitive- coming up to the window and almost climbing out, and other nights (like last night) is very jumpy and edgy. I wonder if this is linked to heat cycle maybe? Last night she did come over and take a treat from me but I just gave her one and left her to it. She was even giving herself little frights as she moved around- knocked over one of her apple sticks and scarpered! Some nights I can giver her treats by hand and gently stroke her, other nights (such as last night) I don't even try as she clearly isn't in the right frame of mind.

I have been better at not doing so much cleaning as I think I was doing too much. I'm not cleaning her wheel daily anymore (she can be a bit of a wheel pee-er but not consistently) I was paranoid about 'bumble foot' so was cleaning the wheel daily... but think every 2-3 days is better/ok to balance cleanliness with leaving her in peace- please correct me if I'm wrong! I feel like she must still pee in her burrows somewhere because she's in there all day long. But I'm trying not to worry about it too much. She's had quite a bit of change to deal with, including a trip to the vet and meds for a UTI since we got her so as advised on an earlier thread I am going to leave cleaning out that third of her cage again where she burrows for at least another month yet unless there is a noticeable smell. I have seen/heard that you know when to clean out burrows of underground pee-ers when the hamster starts to smell like pee but I'm not sure I could rely on that... unless its a very strong smell, as she's never that close to my nose!

I'm not sure if she is still using the sand as a bathroom. I have only seen her once in the last week use it (on a rare morning appearance), and rather than doing what I instinctively did, I left the pee in there to try and keep the smell to reinforce the area as toilet. But by the following morning she had dug and wriggled so much in there that if I hadn't seen her actually pee I wouldn't have known- there are no clumps so not sure if that's because she's broken them all up or if she's not really using it to pee in. Feel like I might need to change the sand for fresh stuff soon as she bathes in it so much- its been in there one month. Again know this needs to be a balance between hygiene and leaving familiar smells.

She definitely uses her MCH as a porch rather than a house but I’ve noticed a collection of poo in one room now (back left hand room). I’ve left it where it is as don’t think it is a problem! (Pic of my find included). There is still a small portion of wood shavings in with the paper bedding as she's tunnelled and mixed them, so I find it hard to tell if its peed on paper or a bit of wood shaving. I'm hoping as time goes on and I eliminate the shavings this will become easier if I stick to white paper bedding. (You can see the entrance to her burrows in the back right hand room. )

We are away for a couple of nights this weekend, so she will have plenty of peace to just chill out with nobody watching her. A friend is coming to do water changes and feed. Once we are back I plan to try and start out of cage time in a playpen. Its only a small pop up ball pit type one. She happily hops into a jug which I can use to move her in/out of the cage. Should I just set up the play pen with some hides/bits and bobs and let her explore rather than sitting in there with her at first?

 

[Magpie]

Note to add: The New bigger wheel is a great size for Maggie- her spine is flat as a board when she's running in it. It is definitely NOT silent though!

It's silent when you spin it by hand but is a bit clunky at times when she's using it. I think this must be 'user error'- Not sure if its because the base of the Bucatstate flexes slightly? It was AWFUL the first night I put it in as it skidded and moved itself all the way over to her sandbath. I have bamboo chopsticks I can use to create a lip on the platform to keep it contained but that will take time and planning for drying time, so for now I have used a bit of old pin board (cardboard covered in cork) as a wedge between the two and it seems to be working well.

We may create recess holes in the shelf we have the tank on for the legs/feet of the Bucatstate to sit in so that the base of the tank is actually supported by a firm flat surface and see if that helps wheel stability and makes it quieter for her. I don't suppose there is any reason NOT to do this in terms of safety/cage integrity etc?

 

[Magpie]

Well a lot has happened in the short space since I started this diary for Maggie!

The PAH wheel did not last. The day after I was looking into ways of stopping it sliding, I found the wheel had slipped off the bearing! You can push it back on but its not secure and so has been removed and the Trixie wheel back in. Its definitely not as fun as whizzing around on the big, fast PAH one but at least it is safe. I need to try and get back to store to see if they will refund/give store credit. Not sure though as I don't have the receipt anymore. I would probably accept a replacement if they offered one and keep a close eye on it as I wonder if we just got a faulty one.

We were away for the weekend as I said. We got home on Sunday evening and her HH Tasty mix was nearly finished so I started adding in her new Hammykins Syrian mix and she seems to be enjoying all the veg and the chicken pieces in particular. (note that she still leaves similar looking dark green biscuit-y type bits and other little bits. she's clearly fussy!) I saw her briefly on Sunday night but was shattered after a long weekend in the city and 4 hrs travelling so didn't spend long or put the big light on, only the low nightlight to see her mooching about and having a good old roll in her sand before I went to bed. (far too late for a sunday night!)

On Monday morning I got up for work and Maggie was still up, (highly unusual) gathering a bit more food and having a drink. THANK GOODNESS she was- as I then saw what I assumed was a cheek pouch abscess. Long story short- the vet saw her that afternoon and she had surgery to repair what was actually a prolapsed pouch. She was given a dose of antibiotic and seems to have been recovering well from that.

I used that day (Monday) as an opportunity to deep clean that end of the enclosure as I had to dig up her burrows to take her to the vet anyway. It was rather wet in the bottom rear left hand corner. All that wet came out along with one food stash which was a bit close to all the pee and was replaced with clean fresh food and bedding. I also used this opportunity to swap out my hand made cardboard MCH for a wooden one on stilts.

Roll on to Friday morning: doing a bit of spot cleaning and opened up her MCH to find she had started using one room as a toilet (she has no sandbath while her wound is healing) UNFORTUNATELY her pee was clearly pink. Heart sank and I did call the vet but it was engaged. I took a minute to think. She had had an injection of Baytril on the Monday, and I had changed her food over to Hammykins. This contains Beetroot (plus red pepper, carrot and tomato) so I wondered if it was food related rather than UTI?!

I decided to give it a few days of eliminating the red veg from her new food to see if the colour returned to normal. We are now 2 days into the experiment and she has conveniently stopped peeing anywhere I can find.

Interestingly when she DEFINITELY had blood in her urine (and treated for UTI) I was concerned that there may be some bloody urine in her bedding underground. I came across none when I deep cleaned. Just 'normal' soiled bedding. There are photos on my '?pouch abscess' thread in the health section if anyone wanted to see the pink bedding I most recently removed. It seems quite different to the bloody urine I took from the sand and cleaned off her wheel when she had the infection.

I am hoping to put her sand back in for her in the next day or two as I think she misses this and I might carry on leaving out the red veg for another day or two in the hope I can find more pee to check before adding veg back in. I know there is a way of putting her in a carrier with no bedding to try to obtain a urine sample- but I really don't want to have to disturb all her burrows again so soon if I can help it. Also I can only imagine she will sit in there and no pee will be given!

So at the moment I am still none the wiser and I'm starting to feel like I am going to be flagged as having some sort of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy! I just have a sinking feeling that she is not a well little thing. She seems happy and active in herself, but I just cant shake the feeling it would be too easy to be beetroot. I feel guilty that I cant even pick her up and check her over for anything!

I do have the feeling we may be heading back to the vet again within the week anyway. Perhaps I'm just a pessimist! I had a fleeting thought on Friday night that her bottom looked different, perhaps slightly enlarged? when she was going back in through her MCH door. I can't explain it and perhaps I am just paranoid and have imagined it. I waited up last night and popped her into a clear jug to see if I could see anything but couldn't make anything out. She was sitting eating though rather than stretched out so couldn't visualise anything. Maybe there's nothing the matter, maybe I am imagining things, maybe I just cant see if there is something the matter. I cant say I thought anything unusual about her last night but perhaps its just luck of the draw what I glimpse and when with her! My mind is not at rest. Trying to balance making sure she is ok with not adding unnecessary stress by constant trips to the vet!

We are quite the drama queens aren't we?!

 

[Magpie]

Since posting this morning I checked her wheel- she has peed in it last night and looks a normal colour (wiped clean with a babywipe which has come away the usual yellow you would expect)

I'm trying to take this as positive but with a pinch of salt. will carry on with the no red veg for another day or two in hopes I can see more evidence of normal pee then add it back in and see if we get a return of pink pee!

Will also just keep a close eye on her and (as hopefully proven already!) will take her to the vet if anything worrying is confirmed. Once her sand bath is back in she often used to stand on the lid and stretch up to the window to speak to me and enjoyed climbing in and out of the box so this may help to get a look at her underside/bottom more clearly.

Wish I was more confident in handling her but with all these bumps in the road we've had no time to really spend trying to bond/handle other than taking treats from me and the occasional stroke here and there.

 

[Mweekie]

Keeping my fingers crossed for Miss Maggie xx

 

[Maz]

I am sure no one thinks you are paranoid or otherwise! I know the feeling. I felt exactly the same when I thought Tino's nose looked a slightly different shape about 3 weeks ago and thought I was imagining it, but now I'm sure. Don't worry, things will settle down (hopefully!). Let's hope all the gremlins are out of the way now Good to hear her pee is back to normal colour.

I'm sure everything will settle down now. Keep an eye on her back end.....

 

[Magpie]

I definitely will keep an eye on things in the back end. Niggling feelings are usually there for a reason I guess.

I’m relieved that what pee I have found looks normal but would be happier if she was still using the MCH so there was more to judge from.

Just want her to be ok!

 

[Hank]

I hope your little hammy is doing okay. She really is beautiful

 

[Magpie]

I hope your little hammy is doing okay. She really is beautiful

Thank you!

 

[Magpie]

I stayed up to see Maggie tonight. (Stupid as I’m working at 8am!)

I put her sand back in today and the first thing she did was go for a bath and a pee in the corner. hopefully she keeps up that habit now the sand is back.

It’s new sand- a bag of niteangel
Desert sand which I’ve had waiting for a while. I decided to put clean sand in and dump the old. Feel like it needs more in there as it’s a big box but it’s enough for now and plan to get some more (but probably not niteangel due to cost!)

Can’t tell the colour of the pee unfortunately but it’s definitely not obviously alarming like it was when she had the UTI.

Adding a photo because her stitch poking out looking all frazzled made me chuckle.

 

[Magpie]

Oh Maggie!

Think I’ll be phoning the vet in the morning. Definitely feel like there’s something wrong with her back end. It’s difficult to get photos so they are stills from videos.

I’ve added some photos but not sure how to hide them (if this is necessary!) admin please let me know if they need censoring.

I’m not imagining this am I? This doesn’t look right?!

Also concerned that her pouch looks as if it may be starting to prolapse again.

I don’t even think she’s been stuffing that one but then I don’t see her much in fairness.

Hopefully they can see her tomorrow (and that I can manage to get yet more time off work to take her up!) otherwise may need to be Wednesday

Not feeling very positive though.

 

[Maz]

Is it possible Maggie could be a boy? If she has nipples then she's definitely a girl. Otherwise - it doesn't quite look like a prolapse but does look a bit swollen. I can't really see the cheek pouch problem from the photo.

 

[Magpie]

I mean it is possible I guess?

PAH told us that she was female but they told us lots of things which were not strictly correct! I wasn’t convinced they really knew to be honest.

Cheek is hard to see but there’s definitely a little red bulge there. I’ve changed the exposure and zoomed in so you might be able to see better

 

[Maz]

Yes I see that. Maybe the stitches have come apart? (Cheek pouch). Can you find any nipples on her? If you need to take her to the vet for the cheek pouch, the vet can sex her at the same time and take a look at the rear end.

 

[Magpie]

I’ve just dropped her off at the vet. They are going to try and repair pouch again and possibly remove all or some to prevent further prolapse.

I asked if they could check her bottom over too as I felt it was unusually large and changed (also that I was unsure if she is definitely female at this point!)

Fingers crossed she does ok under anaesthetic and that this is her last op!

 

[Maz]

My Syrian Tino didn't look like a boy at all at first. He was supposed to be a boy but had the rounded back end shape of a female and no sign of testicles. But neither did he have any nipples. This mystery continued for a few months and eventually he showed testicles. I might be wrong but that could be boy parts. Looking at the back end shape on that first photo.

I'm sorry you're having all this worry and expensive with Maggie. Fingers crossed it gets resolved this time and you have some answers.

 

[Magpie]

Thanks Maz. MR Maggie is back home safely! I did wonder last night as the back end definitely looked like the bigger males we saw at PAH. And looked like testicles rather than prolapse or growths.

Well it will take some getting used to but I’m glad it’s nothing sinister!

Poor wee guy is now re-digging his tunnels.

Vet was not confident in removing the pouch so has repaired again and hope that this time will be successful. I think he is going to do some homework for If it happens again so that the pouch can be removed as he’s never actually done that before. Let’s hope that we don’t come to that.

I’ve taken his sand back out but left the container in and replaced the sand with paper bedding in the hope he still uses it as a toilet until I can put the sand back in. He was using it a lot since I put it back in- it’s easier to see and remove the pee than the previous brand.

Interestingly I have put the red veg back into his food the last 2 days and pee is definitely pink again! I popped a small pile of wet from his carrier in the corner to try and encourage him.

Vet suggested leaving out any large bits of food to try and protect the pouch. But there’s nothing big in the mix other than the freeze dried chicken and he definitely nibbles that. I can maybe chop it up into smaller bits though to be safe for the next few days.

When we were there he decided he liked me more than the vet and hopped out of the carrier and onto my hands which was a first ! Just wish it wasn’t on a high exam table as he then shot off out of my grip after a minute and nearly went off the table. Handler fail!

PLEASE let this be the end of all the vet trips for the newly dubbed MR Miyagi!

 

[Maz]

Aw so he’s a Mr Maggie after all . I hope the repair stays in place this time. I think removing the whole pouch would be quite a big operation actually - they can extend all the way back along their hips. Fingers crossed it heals well. Did he have any antibiotics given this time?

 

[Magpie]

Aw so he’s a Mr Maggie after all . I hope the repair stays in place this time. I think removing the whole pouch would be quite a big operation actually - they can extend all the way back along their hips. Fingers crossed it heals well. Did he have any antibiotics given this time?

Oh my goodness. Did not know that! Does sound like a complicated op then and possibly not one he would be happy to attempt first time.

Really just hope it is fixed for good this time so we don’t need to find out. No antibiotics given today. From the in voice he Just debrided and replaced the pouch and put in sutures.

Was a lot going on so I might have picked him up wrong but I think he might have put more stitches in than last time.

 

[Magpie]

Only ‘large piece’ is the chicken which I can cut into smaller bits with scissors. Unless you think I need to take the chicken peas (or whatever they are) out?!