Sunday 20 November 2011

Hamsters


This is Panda, our 3rd hamster. I bought her for myself really because I fell in love with her in the petshop. However, she soon became my sons hamster and the relationship was a really special one. I loved calling in on Joe and Panda, talk to her, pet her - she was adorable.

She was really good at escaping too, so much so that the portals on the roof of her house had to be sellotaped down because she could twist them open and escape.




Joe made her a special play ground out of his old toy box and she would spend hours of fun in there. She was a very lovely and calm hamster who we loved to bits.


 Just after we returned from holiday last August, we found that Panda had lost alot of hair. We took her to the vets, which, over the next few months became a regular fortnightly thing. The vet was treating her for mites but in the end it became obvious that something sinister was causing the hair loss and the vet could do no more for her.



The intense itching caused her to bite herself and these bites became badly infected. She was put onto a course of antibiotics and I washed her wounds twice a day with salt water.

I contacted Gorgeous Guineas and bought some special cream which was soothing, antisceptic and should have helped her skin condition but it didnt.

I bought some special Camrosa cream which was £16 for a small pot because it has been used on alsorts of animals for mite infestations and general skin complaints but this didnt work either.

Eventually one weekend I realised that we were fighting a losing battle. She cried when I picked her up which broke my heart. I had conflicting emotions..... I knew she needed to be put to sleep but at the same time her skin was so horrid that I knew the injection to kill her would hurt dreadfully. Thankfully before Monday came, Panda passed away in her sleep and her suffering was over.

Panda has left a huge gap in our lives because she had such a huge personality.

Today we decided to find a new addition to our family in Simon another Syrian hamster. This time we have a boy and we havent ever had a boy before. He is similar to Panda in colouring but he is a long haired hamster. Nathon, the boy who sold him to us commented on what a pleasant personality he had and he certainly does seem chilled.

Thing is, its like love or trusting people. You can say.... "I am never having a hamster again I cant cope with losing them...." but if you take that stance then you are missing out on so much more.

I think the old saying is "its better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all..." and thats the way it is with relationships, be it human or animal.

I hope we will have a long relationship with Simon x

4 comments:

  1. gemma channing29 July 2013 at 12:29

    my hamster has got the exact problem it is braking my heart I have hared from a lot of sights on here it could be cushions disease I just don't know what to do

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  2. My hamster looks exactly like yours (minus the abscess on his ear). First vet said mites. After two months of treatment, I took him to another vet. That vet said he didn't have mites, but has a fungal infection. treated with a sulfury smelling topical. I drained the abscess, but it's smelling awful. I hope he survives.

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  3. My hamster is going through something it's early days the vet wasn't sure they thought maybe skin cancer, but the last few days I have observed him scratching his fur on his underbelly has gone and his glands look black and the fur really thin, he is a beautiful hamster and like yourselves we love him to bits, he has a great diet and lots of free exercise we are lucky we can let him out in several rooms, it's baffling he is our 3rd hamster and only a year old, it's awful to watch he has had spot on treatment and I washed him gently in some solution from the vet, anyone have any other ideas please let me know. Thanks X

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  4. It's caused from mycotoxins from hidden black mold it took 7 months for me to finally get answers

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