Russian dwarf hamster fur loss on chest, underarms & tail - Page 4

**Coconut Latte** · 11-06-2015, 12:26 PM

Sorry if I sound a little emotional..I have a hammie that is dying from old age the vet said this morning...Zara

**Coconut Latte** · 11-11-2015, 06:19 AM

Just wanted to let everyone know that Xena was diagnosed with diabetes & cushings disease thus causing the fur loss & continual scratching. She started bleeding from her tail area so even though the bleeding stopped she may have had a urinary infection so she is currently on anti-biotics. A very sad situation indeed. So it was never mange/ mites last summer. I went to a small animal vet instead of an exotic vet but won't do that again. Hopefully my other pets will all be healthy...God willing cause it is heart breaking to see your pet (s) suffer.

cypher · 11-11-2015, 09:59 AM

I'm so sorry, it is heartbreaking I know only too well, it's good to know what's really going on but very sad, I do hope she can manage comfortably with her condition for some time yet.

Pebbles82 · 11-11-2015, 10:30 AM

I am so sorry to hear about your hammy. I also hope she can manage comfortably. Re your post about the pet shop owners comments.

I firmly believe their needs to be pet welfare legislation. I believe Germany has legislation on such things. They are supposed to have some of the best pet welfare laws there are. Animals should not suffer so there should be legislation as to diet, housing and minimum welfare requirements.

You could try starting a well-worded petition stating what the welfare needs need to be in legislation (in the US). I believe there are already petitions here. meanwhile people are hopefully educated through this forum.

**Coconut Latte** · 11-11-2015, 03:18 PM

Thank you..I have the headquarters addresses of the three biggest pet store chains in the US...I plan to send them a polite but informative letter. I've spoken with a few local owners & store managers but I was getting absolutely no where. Seems that money comes before pet welfare currently. It's very frustrating..I'll try to do whatever I can in contacting these companies but the store managers say "they already know". I plan to send the letters out anyways.

**Coconut Latte** · 11-13-2015, 07:03 PM

I recently found out that Pet Smart stores don't sell hammies until they are 6 mo old...they keep them in the store until they are one year old & then they get sent out of the store...meanwhile the employees are very vague about the animals age & just focus on telling you how long they've been in the store..they'll say oh he's only been in the store for 2 weeks & we were just going to put them on the floor today (re: back room new pets). People are led to believe they are buying a 3-4 mo old hamster when it could actually be up to a year old!

By the time the animals are 6 mo old...they r pretty much afraid of people by then & makes the taming process real slow if even they can get tamed at all? The stores have problems with people returning bitey hamsters. Probably people do not want hamsters who are too afraid of people & hide all the time too?

I notice that the quality of the Pets from these farms are not good. My hammies looked really cute but had major health problems. Now I notice that it's hard to even find cute ones in these big pet stores...they all look the same. They are older...not tamed!

At least Pet Smart has a 3 day quarantine period to de-stress the hamster where another pet store chain orders the animals on Monday they come in on Wednesday & are immediately available for sale. These poor animals must be so stressed out being put on the floor immediately & then possibly bought by people who don't know to leave the hamster alone for a few days. This store won't verify the age or the sex of the animals they sell.

The larger chains have a 14 day satisfaction policy where you can get your money back for whatever reason? The smaller stores will take back their animals & put them right up for sale & not give you your money back...so then they make 2x's as much money on their returned or surrendered animals. They will sell the animals as new & customers won't have any idea of their background. That's what happens when money comes before animal welfare.

**Coconut Latte** · 11-15-2015, 11:05 AM

Update on Xena: besides diabetes & cushings disease she also has a tumor on her uterus & an infection. The tumor is what caused the bleeding. She is on anti-biotics to get rid of the infection so she can go into surgery to have her uterus and the tumor removed. She is of a healthy weight & she has a great surgeon so she should recover nicely, God willing...