Pickle's Thread - Page 27

Coco61 · 05-20-2021, 12:58 PM

So very pleased indeed that Pickle’s op went ok. I was thinking of him earlier.
The hospital cage set up looks good for him. I think the mini duna is perfect for that. If he sleeps well in it and eats and drinks ok then those are good signs.
Are you giving him the metacam direct or mixed with baby food?

Ria P · 05-20-2021, 01:34 PM

So glad that all went well for Pickle.

When will you get the biopsy result?

Pebbles82 · 05-20-2021, 02:04 PM

Thank you both. He’s been out in the cage just now. Seemed a bit confused as to where he is, understandably. He climbed on the house roof to see what was up top. Don’t want him climbing really! Had another sit in the ceramic hide and a nibble of his chew stick and back to bed. He hasn’t actually built a nest yet. Hope he finds the water bottle! He had a little bit of apple earlier. I put it out and it was gone when I checked again.

I don’t know how long it’ll take for the biopsy - I paid extra to have that. Bill was eye watering. £160 for the surgery and anaesthetic, £100 for the biopsy and then extra for the Metacam.

I’ll give him the Metacam in food - he likes the strawberry baby porridge - had it a few times when Moo had it.

A few moments during the day. Pouring rain, social distancing with everything done outside at handover and collection. Mix up over timings and various other things like not being able to check on him on the pet carrier on the way back as I’d wrapped it up in a blanket until I could wipe the pet carrier when we got home (Covid precautions). And couldn’t get into the blanket due to the way it was wrapped. Which was ok as I normally wrap it in a blanket during a car journey. But heard a scuffle snd a strange noise and couldn’t see inside or stop on busy dual carriageway so we didn’t know if he was just a bit cross or he’d had a bad turn and it was death throes. Checked him as soon as we got back snd he was fine! Just a slightly nerve wracking journey!

Having a post op talk from a nurse in a mask at 2 metres in the pouring rain was very bizarre and I didn’t hear half of it! But do have paperwork!

souffle · 05-20-2021, 02:10 PM

Good to see he has come through his op well. Speedy recovery little man x

Pebbles82 · 05-20-2021, 02:31 PM

Thank you Souffle

He has been active and healthy so far so hope he'll make a quick recovery and be back in his cage soon. He has another appointment in 5 days for a post op wound check. But I'm hoping if the wound looks good it might not be necessary to drag him all the way there again! Maybe a video call or something.

LunaTheHamster1 · 05-20-2021, 02:47 PM

Aww glad everything went ok, been thinking about you and Pickle. good work with the house and his cage looks good to recuperate in.

Pebbles82 · 05-21-2021, 07:57 AM

I didn't see much of Pickle after he got back yesterday - he was just sleeping and hadn't made a nest as yet. So I set up the hamstercam overnight as wanted to check he had been eating and drinking ok.

Today I watched the recordings. He was up for about 2 hours in the night between 2.30am and 4.30am.

At first he did the usual type thing - came out and had some food and water, chewed on his chew stick and then sat in his ceramic hide. Went back to bed. Came out again and a bit more active. No wheel! He spent ages inspecting every corner of the tank looking for an escape route. Surprisingly active for a post op hamster! He tried the sides all the way round for a gap by scrabbling at them. Did some digging to see if he could escape that way. Then had a go at the roof (which he reached easily by standing on the house roof).

The saving grace of the small tank with not much in, was the chew stick - that kept him occupied quite a bit.

He had made a nest by morning and I thought he had taken all the food out of the bowl this morning - until I watched the recording - I think half of it got tipped out when he upended the food bowl. I think part of the urge to try and get out was being able to smell his regular cage in the room possibly (or maybe he could see/smell his wheel!).

A couple of quirky and funny moments so here are a few short clips. They're easier to see the detail full screen so I've added the full link as well as the embedded videos (the embedded ones are quite small). I like the way he sits down in the dish on the last one

Getting up the first time.

Hamster hospital tank after surgery 1 - YouTube

Having a snack.

Hamster hospital tank after surgery 2 - YouTube

Digging and meerkatting

Hamster hospital tank after surgery 3 - YouTube

Trying for a roof escape?

Hamster hospital tank after surgery 4 - YouTube

Pebbles82 · 05-21-2021, 11:41 AM

Gave Pickle his Metacam and clearly the last dose had worn off as he looked a bit stiff and strained. Not very bright. I hope it works quickly. I’m not sure he got the full dose as he ate 2/3 of the porridge and then gave up. That would have been ok as he could have eaten the rest later. But he walked right through it going back to bed and it ended up with substrate stuck on top so that pulled a bit off when removed. Not sure if that was a bit with Metacam in. Hopefully it will start working before tonight though.

Pebbles82 · 05-21-2021, 04:13 PM

He ate the rest of the porridge a bit later so hopefully had most of the dose. I'll give the next dose a bit earlier tomorrow and then keep to that time each day.

Pebbles82 · 05-22-2021, 04:42 AM

Pickle had a little run around on the floor last night. He certainly seemed back to normal at that point so Metacam working a few hours after he had it. Cheeky and avoiding being caught! I had to block off a couple of areas in that room so he didn't get behind the freezer. At one point I was thinking - why did I do this?! Thinking he would be slower?! Should have set the playpen up. I was wary of picking him up in case I hurt him and he deliberately avoided tunnels etc for recapture. He stayed in one area though, under a table, and eventually allowed me to carefully pick him up without touching his side. Once picked up he is floppy again and doesn't wriggle or resist. He's a gentle little hamster really (although cheeky). The op seems to have given him quite a zest.

His wound is looking fine and has dried up now and looking slightly like it's scabbing over. It looked quite raw like wet blood along the line at first but the info sheet says it looks wet because of some stuff they put on it (maybe like invisible plaster).

This morning - water bottle completely empty! It's twice the size of the usual bottle. Substrate was wet underneath. It was full last night and didn't leak the first night so I reckon he's been chewing at it. (I'll check the nightcam). Filled up again now.

The tank lid arrived with a crack in it and no time to replace it. It's not rough on the inside where the crack is, but it is on the outside. PAH said they didn't have another one in stock anyway. I saw Porton sell replacement parts for duna tanks and had the lid for £16 so I messaged PAH and asked if I could keep it and have a partial refund of £16 to buy a new lid. They agreed and refunded £16. Went to the Porton site and they've put the price up to £19.60! £25 with postage! As they sell the whole mini duna for £24 plus postage I didn't bother! I will leave it for now as not likely to need it again for a long time after this use, but at least I got the tank for half price with the refund and it's safe to use at the moment. Could be useful for future vet visits (I used to take a small bin with me to put the hamster in so the vet could see them run around safely without putting them on the table).