Chip goes in for eye operation-positive thoughts requested

[Spuds Mum]

Hi,
My little mink girl, Chip, from our last litter from Spud and Butterbean has not been able to open her eye since she was born. She's been to and from the vets and we have had to really put her through some hard times, holding her,bathing the eye and trying to open it fully (on vets advice). We took her back there tonight and the vet decided that a little piece of skin has joined between her two eyelids. At the grand age of seven weeks she is to undergo an operation to separate it tomorrow.
She is such a good girl and has inherited her Dad's laid back nature in still being friendly despite all of the painful things we have done to her over the last 3 or 4 weeks. I am so hoping that she will enjoy full sight after the operation.
Could I please ask that you send positive healing thoughts tomorrow for her? :D Here are some photos of the little darling as she is now (but hopefully wont be for long) *fingers crossed*
http://www.madabouthamsters.com/images/chip_001_17-09-07.jpg
http://www.madabouthamsters.com/images/chip_003_17-09-07.jpg
http://www.madabouthamsters.com/images/chip_004_17-09-07.jpg

[Jane]

Aawwwww she is a gorgeous girly :D

Hope the operation goes well and she recovers quickly :) I'm sure she'll be fine :P

[Spuds Mum]

Thanks Jane :lol:

[souffle]

I am thinking of little Chip and all good vibes are crossing the ether to her. Hope all goes well little lady and you are home safe and well soon. All the best. :lol:

[Holly]

Ah she's so cute, I will be sending positive vibes to little Chip all day and hope she's ok.

[Bailey-Benji]

Hope everything goes well for you both! She's a sweety :D

[Widowmaker]

Awww, poor little thing! Fingers crossed for a swift recovery xxxx

[Basia]

Sending my positive vibes. :D
She is very pretty, what colour is she?

[suga]

healing thoughts coming from me.

[Jane]

Is she home?? How did it go? :D

[Spuds Mum]

Thanks for the good thoughts everyone, it must have worked as Chip came through the operation Ok so far. :lol: She has to stay at the vets overnight and has 2 hourly eye-baths plus she's on Baytril and special eye drops but the vet said she has been good as gold. She did comment on how fast she was though when she didnt want to be caught! :x
Anyway, the vet said she hopes everything will be fine, but we have to be v careful of infection and keep making sure her eye remains open or she may need the op repeating at some stage, so it looks like she will be suffering the same torture she's been having for the last 4 weeks for a bit longer! :cry: But I am sure it will be worth it in the end. Can't wait to get her back from the vets tomorrow for some TLC.
Thanks again - will keep you updated xx

edit - Basia - she is a mink. Her colour will darken a little as she grows to become a little more orangey - but at the moment she is a very similar colour to Jane's Charlie - more of a dove colour

[Basia]

That's very good news. :D
I must be improving because I thought she was a mink!

[souffle]

Great news for little Chip. Here's hoping the eye heals up well and she is back to normal soon. What a brave wee soul and I'm sure it will be worth it to give her normal sight for life. :lol:

[pophammy]

She is very sweet. Hope she is OK after her operation!

[Holly]

I'm so pleased she's doing ok :)


edit - Basia - she is a mink. Her colour will darken a little as she grows to become a little more orangey - but at the moment she is a very similar colour to Jane's Charlie - more of a dove colour

I find the two colours - dove and mink - quite difficult to differentiate sometimes and I think that's because mink is so like dove in youngsters. Adult mink's like Custard don't look anything like doves (much oranger) but when I think back to Custard as a baby he was a creamy dove-like colour.

Either way Chip is gorgeous and I'm glad she's ok.

[Jane]

So glad she's doing okay :D

(oh, doves and minks are the best colours ever ;) but I am biased lol, seeing as Charlie is a dove and Jelly was mink xx)

[Basia]

I love minks too. I came soooo close to choosing Chunky's brother who was a mink with a much better coat than Chunks actually but there was just something about Chunky which said choose me. I think Chip is absolutely gorgeous though. Just wondering if Chunky is carrying those mink genes!

[Spuds Mum]

Hi All,
Well Chip is back home today and the vet has done a wonderful job. She is on Baytril and eye cream and we have to regularly bathe and ensure her eye doesn't heal closed again, but already she is managing to open it herself and the swelling has gone down (though she does still look like she has been in a boxing ring!) :D
Thanks for all of the good wishes and here are some photos of her with her 'new eye'!
http://www.madabouthamsters.com/images/chip_005_20-09-07.jpg
http://www.madabouthamsters.com/images/chip_006_20-09-07.jpg
http://www.madabouthamsters.com/images/chip_007-20-09-07.jpg

[Jane]

Wow, bet it's lovely to see her eye! ;) Hope she is feeling okay xx

[souffle]

Aww what a very neat job. You would never know she had an op there and she does look lovely and glad to be home I bet. You are spoiling her now aren't you but well.....she deserves it :lol:

[Spuds Mum]

Spoiling her???? Us???? :lol: (note the shredded wheat with lactol and chocolate drops in the photos above :oops: )

[Holly]

Wow! It is an amazingly neat job and it's lovely to see her home again being spoilt! :)

[Basia]

ah bless her, she looks as though she has been in the wars. Hope all goes well for her now.

[babyboos]

she looks like she is really enjoying that

[Widowmaker]

Aww it's wonderful to see the improvement :) You must be so relieved. What a gorgeous little hamster :wink:

[Spuds Mum]

Thanks for your comments everyone! Chip is doing really well and is getting more control over the eye by the day. She is now blinking and if we get near it (to try to put her eye cream in) will screw it up and desperately try to get away. Today she has been opening it at the same time as the other one when she wakes and can nearly open it as wide as the other too, so we are absolutely thrilled at how the op has gone. :x

[Holly]

That's brilliant news, well done Chip and well done vet 8)

[Basia]

Ah that's such great news. She is a lovely little girl, are you keeping her? It's amazing what the vets can do with such little creatures isn't it?

[Spuds Mum]

Ah that's such great news. She is a lovely little girl, are you keeping her? It's amazing what the vets can do with such little creatures isn't it?
I couldn't let her go now. We decided to keep her as soon as we saw there was a potential problem really - we couldn't let her go unless we were sure that she would get the same level of care as we would give her and now she is just part of the family. I think it will be nice as it is unlikely we'll be breeding from Spud again and, though he has had 22 pups, this is the only one we have kept. So it is nice to have a 'child of Spud' to keep in the family.
Mind you I have no idea how I have managed to keep only one. I have loved every one of our babies and have shown a great deal of self restraint! (Bramble's Dad is quite proud of me) :x

[Basia]

I'm very impressed! I got used to letting my rabbits go in the end, we had so many but it was very hard in the beginning.

[Spuds Mum]

lol - I'm impressed with me too! I am a real soppy so and so (and Bramble's Dad isn't much better) though it has been made a bit easier that lots of our pups went to people we know and so we get to see & hear how they are doing. We've just about exhausted our supplies of willing hamster owners though - so will have to wait and see what happens in the future!
Congratulations on your litter again. Can't wait to hear more about them and to eventually see what 'flavours' you've got! :x