Mr Maggie's Diary

[Maz]

Fingers crossed it is healing. It should do if there is no pouch to prolapse now.

 

[Magpie]

I think I’m still apprehensive because they weren’t actually able to remove all of the pouch- so he still has a small pouch on that side?!

Watching and waiting and keeping fingers crossed

 

[Magpie]

Slightly more at ease after seeing Mr Maggie tonight. Again not the best picture- it’s a still taken from a video for light (and had to film through the tank due to angle) but I think it looks ok and like it’s hopefully healing well? I was concerned at the pinkness last night but can see a bit more tonight and perhaps not as bad as I was worrying about? Stitches are definitely dissolving away now.

Still another week of soft food to go and I won’t put his sand back in until after the 2 weeks is up either.

He’s taken to peeing in the corner of the tank inside his cornflake box house while there is no sand, which is fine although the corner of the box has absorbed some pee so I’m going to have to start eating lots more cornflakes to be able to replace it!

 

[Socks' Mum]

Good to hear he is making progress

 

[Magpie]

Mr Maggie was out a bit earlier than usual for a bite to eat tonight. He seems happy as Larry. I am missing giving him treats from my hand but hopefully not too long before we can go back to a bit more ‘normal’ and work on more handling again.

So difficult to get a good look or photo of the wound- I’m hoping it’s ok?! It’s a bit pink but not swollen or oozing or anything like that so hopefully it’s just a normal step in the healing process at this point (day 8) ?!

Any opinions welcomed! I find it hard to relax and believe things are ok with him at the moment!

I’m still finding horrible bits of wood from the shavings every time I clean out wet bedding from his pee spots reinforcing my plan to gut the tank and start again when he’s recovered fully. (bigger handful was when I last had to dig him up to go to the vet so had been through the deep area of his bedding)

Don’t want to stress him too much (which I know a full tank changeover will) but concerned that there will be more of these sharp bits lurking in there forever unless totally changed out. Think getting all the wood out is more important though?

 

[Maz]

It does look a big pink and maybe slightly raised?. With any wound there is a risk of infection and with infection a wound can start breaking down and you don't want that. As a precaution I'd suggest to the vet that maybe antibiotics would be a good move at this point. Which is probably the last thing you want to think of - another trip to the vet - sorry.

 

[Magpie]

Thanks Maz. I didn’t think it looked raised in real life but it’s certainly more pink than I than would expect (but thats based on humans/horses/dogs… not hamsters!)

I’ll call the vet first thing and see if they will cover with antibiotics to be on the safe side… with any luck (which I don’t have!) he will agree and perhaps issue without me having to drag poor Mags up there.

 

[Magpie]

I’ve just caught a glimpse of him and it looks a bit less red in the daylight but I’ll still phone.

I wasn’t quick enough to get him into the jug and into the carrier for just in case vet wants him up to be seen. by the time the thought hit me he had whooshed back into his burrow.

So Hard to get a photo!

Editing to say I’ve left a message with reception re wound looking a bit pinker than before, ? Start of possible infection and can we get some antibiotics to cover that to try and avoid any breakdown of the wound. (Also asked would he be happy to issue without consult as he knows the background!)

So wait and see what they say when they call me back at some point today

 

[Magpie]

Taking Mr Maggie up to vets at 9am tomorrow for a post op check. all ok and no need for abx but if we do at least we will know for sure tomorrow

 

[Maz]

A post op check sounds like a good idea. They usually do one 5 to 7 days after surgery, but maybe this was considered very minor surgery, Looking at that last photo I can see the line of stitches and beyond it further back is the pink area, So it seems to be after the wound?

 

[Maz]

He has such a sweet adorable look and face on those photos He's a good boy. And yes those bits of wood do look quite big, solid and sharp. Is it from pine shavings or was it aspen? Aspen can be a bit pokey.

 

[Magpie]

The stitches went all the way back to there, but most of them have dissolved now. So the redness is in the same place as the end of where the wound was.

At least he will get checked over tomorrow and hopefully all ok. Confidence is perhaps not its highest but surely possible infection will be obvious to any vet!

They are from shavings that were sold to us in PAH when we bought him so most probably pine.

Since I probably need to dig him up again in the morning I might just gut the bedding out and start again tomorrow to make sure all those possible bits of wood are gone!

 

[Maz]

So maybe it's the remaining bit of pouch trying to protrude from the end of the stitches? Stitches should hold tight normally. I hope not for your sake. But there should really only be fur and skin visible I would have thought.

 

[Maz]

I enlarged the last photo a bit to get a better look and to me it looks more like the wound breaking down a bit at that end, rather than any pouch protrusion, but see what the vet says. If there's any doubt I'd ask for antibiotics as "precautionary" maybe?

 

[ShelbysMum1984]

Aw bless, I hope Mr Maggie is healing well. What a worry for you! Is this really a wound from wood shavings? How am I just learning about this since I joined this group! Never had any issues with the PAH stuff but will be more careful now for sure when deciding what to use. X

 

[Magpie]

I enlarged the last photo a bit to get a better look and to me it looks more like the wound breaking down a bit at that end, rather than any pouch protrusion, but see what the vet says. If there's any doubt I'd ask for antibiotics as "precautionary" maybe?

Its so hard to get a proper photo! He's so dark, its generally dull in the room, and he's always either too far away, moving or facing the wrong way!

What I'm seeing is definitely not the pouch prolapsing again thankfully (so far anyway!)- its just more that the scar/wound looks more pink than it did a couple of days ago which has caught my eye.

It looks dry and clean and is not gaping at all. There is no swelling, no sign of weeping/blood or pus etc, just that it looks slightly pink/perhaps a little 'raw' or slightly angry you could say. All that being said, it looked better when I saw him this morning than I thought it looked last night.

It looks to me like all the stitches have dissolved- just a few ends poking out remaining, so I'm not sure that they are doing anything to hold it together at this point. I could be wrong though!

Will see what the vet says tomorrow and I will certainly be asking him if he would please give some antibiotic cover to be on the safe side as it would be such a shame after all this time and effort to get to this stage and have things unravel!

As much as I want to get the bedding fully changed ASAP, on second thoughts I don't think I have quite enough paper bedding here to re-do the whole tank (I only have just short of 2x bales of 70ltr Dihl paper bedding in the house just now) more arrives on Monday. Although they state 70LTR I think they are a bit less than that in reality once deeply filled and compressed.

 

[Magpie]

Aw bless, I hope Mr Maggie is healing well. What a worry for you! Is this really a wound from wood shavings? How am I just learning about this since I joined this group! Never had any issues with the PAH stuff but will be more careful now for sure when deciding what to use. X

We have had a bit of a bum deal Mr Maggie and I! He is my first Hamster (poor thing!) and I did not do my research before bringing him home. I had a mad rush to get a bigger tank and all the extras that he needed.

I don't know if it was a piece of wood in the shavings which has caused the issue in the first place. I can never know for sure but I do think it is a real possibility. However it has come about it seems to be quite unusual. The pieces of wood I have found so far and removed have varied in shape and size, but all have been sharp and totally unsafe for hamster bedding, especially if you have a tunneller which we do.

I am just guessing that being scratched/jabbed by a piece of the sharp wood which I keep unearthing is a real possibility and I will never again put any Hamster on bedding other than Paper! The stress and guilt of it all has been tremendous.

Just keeping my fingers crossed for positive news tomorrow- this is the furthest we've made it in the pouch recovery saga... really need him to heal fully and go back to being a happy healthy hammy!

 

[Maz]

 

[Magpie]

I think he’s itching to get back to his normal food and hoarding!

I put 5 soaked pellets out just now (as I have been doing) and he came out within moments. Thought: ‘he must be ravenous’ but he ate one then pouched the rest along with some bedding and disappeared!

That’s the first he’s done that though. He normally comes out around 12pm/1am and sits and eats 2 or 3 pellets before some grooming/wheeling etc. and coming back to sit and eat the rest a wee while later.

Think I will only put out the baby food and porridge later tonight and no more pellets.

Hopefully only a few more days at most before I can clear out his bed to rid any mushy stashed food and get back to normal dry mix for him.

 

[Maz]

Yes I would only put the pellets out once a day.