Truffle
12-10-2014, 09:48 AM
In the early hours of December 8th my darling girl passed away. When I came downstairs in the morning I hadn’t really expected her to last the night. In the last couple of weeks, despite my best efforts she has steadily been dropping weight but it was only in her last three days or so that she really started not to look well. On the 7th I noticed that she has stopped eating and I knew that her time was coming. It honestly broke my heart.
Mischief was my first hamster. I brought her two months after being diagnosed with a long term illness and I was having to spend most of my time at home. I really thought that I have done my research before buying her, but I had got all of my information from pet shop websites. She came home with me on Saturday 1st December 2012 from my local (non-chain) pet shop.
When the shop assistant opened the cage in which the female Syrians were in, the hamsters were all asleep. I was told that the litter was born on 16th October. Mischief was the first to wake up and she immediately attempted to escape by taking a flying leap from the cage. She terrified me but I managed to catch her in mid-air (and though she bit my finger) I still decided that she was the hamster I wanted. That is why I chose her name.
In our first week of owning Mischief, she had a song written about her. It is basically complete nonsense but is something that we just started singing and that stuck with her for her entire life. It’s difficult if you don’t the tune but these were the lyrics;
My name is Mischief mouse and I smell of cheese,
My name is Mischief mouse so play with me please.
I have whiskers that wobble all around,
And if you play with me then I’ll give you a pound.
Mischief, Mischief mouse.
My name is Mischief mouse but I’m a hamster.
Mischief was very challenging to tame, she was quite aggressive and used to bit a lot. I remember vividly when she had once bitten (and drawn blood) on eight out of ten of my fingers. I nearly gave up trying to tame her but I am still so thankful that I didn’t. I started searching on the internet for taming tips and through that I found Hamster Central and many other hamster websites.
I discovered that in my first three weeks of owning her I made lots of mistakes, she had lived in a wooden DIY cage that my mice had living in. I also gave her mouse sized toys, pine wood shavings, fluffy bedding, a 6” wheel and a non-branded food mix. I’m so grateful that managed to correct all of my mistakes.
The other reason that I am grateful that Mischief was a hard to tame, is that though it took me a long time to tame her (about three months). I developed an incredibly close bond with her, closer than with any of my other hamsters. Any time I went near her cage she would wake up. She was always so trusting and never failed to make me smile.
Mischief was an unbelievably cheeky hamster and always found ways the chew or do things she wasn’t supposed too. She was also very food orientated and was nicknamed “the greediest thing on four legs.” She would often convince me that because there was no food in her bowl, that she was going hungry and that I needed to feed her instantly. Only that when I cleaned her out I found a food store that size of Mount Everest stashed away somewhere. Once when I had her out for playtime she managed to chew a hole in my jacket pocket and she had pouched 9 dog biscuits by the time I realised what she had done.
Mischief was a cereal cage destroyer and chewed through the base of three different cages and when she became bored of that, she started bar chewing. I tried several things to stop her but in the end was forced to buy her a Zoozone 2.
In June 2014 I had Mischief out for playtime, I was handling her and I just felt something was wrong. I wasn’t sure what was different about her but when two days later I noticed that she had a small amount discharge I decided to take her to the vet. She was diagnosed with open pyometra. Our vets advised us against an operation so we kept her on and off courses of baytril and galastop for the rest of her life. We also added probiotics into her water.
When Mischief was diagnosed I felt sure that she was only going to be with us for a few short weeks but she surpassed any expectation I had of her. She fought against the pyo so bravely and when I was reluctant to leave her with my friend (with whom my hamsters usually stay) while we went on holiday, she came with us to Scotland. It was the second long car journey she made in her lifetime as she had come with us to Norfolk the previous year.
I have hundreds of photos of Mischief that were taken throughout her life. These are a few of my favourites that mean the most to me, I think that they shows her amazing character.
This is the first proper photo that I took of her.
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/0022_zps3db11007.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/0022_zps3db11007.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/d82c9937-b7e1-47f6-9620-4a53551d35ce_zpseac59a4a.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/d82c9937-b7e1-47f6-9620-4a53551d35ce_zpseac59a4a.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/eb8f7ab2-28c8-4208-916f-2cd7f3a3bc0d_zps9aba0f5d.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/eb8f7ab2-28c8-4208-916f-2cd7f3a3bc0d_zps9aba0f5d.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/7a6a8662-16d2-4ac1-ba41-115d8cd38592_zpsa34eb060.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/7a6a8662-16d2-4ac1-ba41-115d8cd38592_zpsa34eb060.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/6e6e96c4-e346-4991-b065-662d55ee937e_zps9963ee87.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/6e6e96c4-e346-4991-b065-662d55ee937e_zps9963ee87.jpg.html)
This is perhaps my favourite photo of her…
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/3a7d4b40-930d-45d4-af8a-77957f2117e9_zps37a2f10b.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/3a7d4b40-930d-45d4-af8a-77957f2117e9_zps37a2f10b.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/53ba7854-4a48-4894-8d5c-41c123f7d78b_zps963a1824.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/53ba7854-4a48-4894-8d5c-41c123f7d78b_zps963a1824.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/e3ff0c43-ff98-4613-b07a-d11d721f07ca_zps72958802.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/e3ff0c43-ff98-4613-b07a-d11d721f07ca_zps72958802.jpg.html)
This is my last photo of her that was taken five days before she passed. Although you can see that she had lost a lot of weight (she had lost about 100 grams) I like it because it shows that she was still happy to come out of her cage for some cuddles. Mischief came out for playtime almost every day until three days before she passed. She was just over 25 months old.
I can’t believe that she has actually gone, and although I have been expecting it and trying to prepare myself for months, it hasn’t made the loss any easier. Every time I walk past her empty cage I can still see her popping her head out of her nest. She means so much to me and has helped through the last two years in so many ways.
I know that you shouldn’t have favourites, but Mischief was mine. She is my true heart ham and always will be. Goodbye my darling girl xx
Mischief was my first hamster. I brought her two months after being diagnosed with a long term illness and I was having to spend most of my time at home. I really thought that I have done my research before buying her, but I had got all of my information from pet shop websites. She came home with me on Saturday 1st December 2012 from my local (non-chain) pet shop.
When the shop assistant opened the cage in which the female Syrians were in, the hamsters were all asleep. I was told that the litter was born on 16th October. Mischief was the first to wake up and she immediately attempted to escape by taking a flying leap from the cage. She terrified me but I managed to catch her in mid-air (and though she bit my finger) I still decided that she was the hamster I wanted. That is why I chose her name.
In our first week of owning Mischief, she had a song written about her. It is basically complete nonsense but is something that we just started singing and that stuck with her for her entire life. It’s difficult if you don’t the tune but these were the lyrics;
My name is Mischief mouse and I smell of cheese,
My name is Mischief mouse so play with me please.
I have whiskers that wobble all around,
And if you play with me then I’ll give you a pound.
Mischief, Mischief mouse.
My name is Mischief mouse but I’m a hamster.
Mischief was very challenging to tame, she was quite aggressive and used to bit a lot. I remember vividly when she had once bitten (and drawn blood) on eight out of ten of my fingers. I nearly gave up trying to tame her but I am still so thankful that I didn’t. I started searching on the internet for taming tips and through that I found Hamster Central and many other hamster websites.
I discovered that in my first three weeks of owning her I made lots of mistakes, she had lived in a wooden DIY cage that my mice had living in. I also gave her mouse sized toys, pine wood shavings, fluffy bedding, a 6” wheel and a non-branded food mix. I’m so grateful that managed to correct all of my mistakes.
The other reason that I am grateful that Mischief was a hard to tame, is that though it took me a long time to tame her (about three months). I developed an incredibly close bond with her, closer than with any of my other hamsters. Any time I went near her cage she would wake up. She was always so trusting and never failed to make me smile.
Mischief was an unbelievably cheeky hamster and always found ways the chew or do things she wasn’t supposed too. She was also very food orientated and was nicknamed “the greediest thing on four legs.” She would often convince me that because there was no food in her bowl, that she was going hungry and that I needed to feed her instantly. Only that when I cleaned her out I found a food store that size of Mount Everest stashed away somewhere. Once when I had her out for playtime she managed to chew a hole in my jacket pocket and she had pouched 9 dog biscuits by the time I realised what she had done.
Mischief was a cereal cage destroyer and chewed through the base of three different cages and when she became bored of that, she started bar chewing. I tried several things to stop her but in the end was forced to buy her a Zoozone 2.
In June 2014 I had Mischief out for playtime, I was handling her and I just felt something was wrong. I wasn’t sure what was different about her but when two days later I noticed that she had a small amount discharge I decided to take her to the vet. She was diagnosed with open pyometra. Our vets advised us against an operation so we kept her on and off courses of baytril and galastop for the rest of her life. We also added probiotics into her water.
When Mischief was diagnosed I felt sure that she was only going to be with us for a few short weeks but she surpassed any expectation I had of her. She fought against the pyo so bravely and when I was reluctant to leave her with my friend (with whom my hamsters usually stay) while we went on holiday, she came with us to Scotland. It was the second long car journey she made in her lifetime as she had come with us to Norfolk the previous year.
I have hundreds of photos of Mischief that were taken throughout her life. These are a few of my favourites that mean the most to me, I think that they shows her amazing character.
This is the first proper photo that I took of her.
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/0022_zps3db11007.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/0022_zps3db11007.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/d82c9937-b7e1-47f6-9620-4a53551d35ce_zpseac59a4a.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/d82c9937-b7e1-47f6-9620-4a53551d35ce_zpseac59a4a.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/eb8f7ab2-28c8-4208-916f-2cd7f3a3bc0d_zps9aba0f5d.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/eb8f7ab2-28c8-4208-916f-2cd7f3a3bc0d_zps9aba0f5d.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/7a6a8662-16d2-4ac1-ba41-115d8cd38592_zpsa34eb060.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/7a6a8662-16d2-4ac1-ba41-115d8cd38592_zpsa34eb060.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/6e6e96c4-e346-4991-b065-662d55ee937e_zps9963ee87.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/6e6e96c4-e346-4991-b065-662d55ee937e_zps9963ee87.jpg.html)
This is perhaps my favourite photo of her…
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/3a7d4b40-930d-45d4-af8a-77957f2117e9_zps37a2f10b.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/3a7d4b40-930d-45d4-af8a-77957f2117e9_zps37a2f10b.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/53ba7854-4a48-4894-8d5c-41c123f7d78b_zps963a1824.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/53ba7854-4a48-4894-8d5c-41c123f7d78b_zps963a1824.jpg.html)
http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy147/eb9519/e3ff0c43-ff98-4613-b07a-d11d721f07ca_zps72958802.jpg (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/eb9519/media/e3ff0c43-ff98-4613-b07a-d11d721f07ca_zps72958802.jpg.html)
This is my last photo of her that was taken five days before she passed. Although you can see that she had lost a lot of weight (she had lost about 100 grams) I like it because it shows that she was still happy to come out of her cage for some cuddles. Mischief came out for playtime almost every day until three days before she passed. She was just over 25 months old.
I can’t believe that she has actually gone, and although I have been expecting it and trying to prepare myself for months, it hasn’t made the loss any easier. Every time I walk past her empty cage I can still see her popping her head out of her nest. She means so much to me and has helped through the last two years in so many ways.
I know that you shouldn’t have favourites, but Mischief was mine. She is my true heart ham and always will be. Goodbye my darling girl xx