Easter Chinese Rescue

[Cinnamon Bear]

Izzy took her first treats from my fingers tonight! Meal worms & a sunflower & pumpkin seed! She seemed pretty happy & not scared, still giving her a week to settle in. Tonight is day #2!

I'm not sure that I still want to take her to the vet? She does have mild fur thinning between the shoulders on her back but no patches or itching, it's just age. She's eating well so that tells me her teeth are probably fine? She was just cleared by the SPCA so she must be healthy?

I don't want it to stress her out if it's not needed?

[cypher]

Awww well done Izzy
I guess it depends on the vet really, I've never found any of my hams get stressed going to the vet but I do have a very nice vet!
Unless you think it would really stress her given her age & being unsure about the hair thinning (I agree it probably is old age but you never know) it would be worth a check now then you can let her settle down properly knowing you have no worries, hopefully!

[Cinnamon Bear]

That's probably what I'll do, is take her in for an exam, keep my appointment! It would be beneficial I'm sure & peace of mind!

[Cinnamon Bear]

Izzy was making some strange noises so I lifted her house up and picked her up, she didn't seem to mind at all, but I was worried about her. I hope she's ok but I'm holding her now on day #3.

[cypher]

I knew that bite in the shop was nothing to worry about She sounds like a very laid back lady
Keep us posted if you do go to the vet.

[Cinnamon Bear]

Originally Posted by cypher

I knew that bite in the shop was nothing to worry about She sounds like a very laid back lady
Keep us posted if you do go to the vet.

Maybe it was meant for me to have the more docile one after all? I'm really happy with her, so far so good!

[Cinnamon Bear]

Tomorrow morning is the vet visit but we are supposed to get 6-8 in of snow! Hopefully the weather reporters are wrong so I can have an easy drive across town? This is the second night I reached in and picked her up. The first time she got a little scared of me. So I am feeding her treats mostly at night sometimes lifting her house & sometimes I just open her cage door & feed her treats that way. She doesn't even try to escape with the cage door open.

Tonight I picked her house up and picked her up again, her little heart was racing but I took my chances & brought her over to my chair and petted her while I held her & she seemed to relax when I did that.

Still deciding on whether to bring the whole cage in or a little plastic pet carrier? I'll probably do the pet carrier, with some on her bedding & her hidey hut. It will just be easier that way & I can clean her cage at the same time, either before or after the vet?

I wish I didn't have to take her but it just makes sense to get her checked out, especially when I can take her to a specialist vet, probably the most thorough in the area.

Am I rushing her by picking her up every few nights, while she's awake? She goes in her food bowl afterwards so she can't be too stressed?

[Pebbles82]

Ooh I just caught up with this She is adorable. Hope the vet visit goes ok.

[Cinnamon Bear]

The vet visit was stressful both both me and Izzy but it's thankfully over now! I don't know why this time bothered me so much? I guess I was afraid of it setting back the taming process a lot? The vet was excellent, best I've ever experienced! Izzy liked her and didn't try to bite even. She was in real good health the vet said, I did do a nail trim, probably the only nail trim she'll ever need & probably the first one she's ever had?

The vet was extremely thorough, I was impressed! I'd go back there again even though it's a little pricey just seeing how caring they are about the animals. She's definitely one of the best vets in my area and she said her first pets growing up were Chinese hamsters.

As for the nail trimming track, can you believe that I forgot it? I described it to her and she didn't need to hear much about it at all since I'm sure she's familiar with them and she said that one night a week would be fine. I didn't even ask about Rose's tumor? She gave me a group rate of $161.00 for 3 hamsters if I ever wanted to bring 3 in at a time, probably doesn't include the nail trims for Cinnamon & Koala though. Hopefully the nail track will eventually work? If not I'll take the boys into another exotic vet (for nails only) as they do a complimentary one time nail trim without having to pay for an exam.

Glad that's over with! I can relax now but Izzy is just starting to relax, she was pretty upset when she got home into her clean cage with the tips of nails trimmed off, vet said they looked like they were hooked but not bad. They did the nail trim with me in the room. One tech held Izzy with a towel and the vet trimmed her nails with a cuticle trimmer. Izzy was real good and still. But not afterwards!

Vet said to pick her up on a regular basis (not tonight) to get her used to being handled. I doubt her previous family handled her much, seeing they abandoned her. Vet said that she might be one of the Chinese hammies that make it to be 4 yrs old, or at least giving me a little hope

[flowerfairy]

So glad that the vet visit went well and that its over!

4 years would be great. I love taking my pets to our local vet because they are so gentle, caring and interested.