Saturday, December 03, 2005
Late-night snacking...
Can't sleep...I think I had too much caffeine or something. Plus the steroid medication, probably. And I'm soooooo exhausted! But can't sleep.So I made myself, and Tink (since she was up), a delicious turkey, avocado, and brie sandwich! Tink's is minus the bread, of course--she's an Atkins girl....
Maybe a full stomach will make me sleepy. And turkey is supposed to be sleep-inducing, right? If only I had some warm milk. Alas...
Tink appears to be settling in to her new arrangements just fine. She started sleeping up against the glass again, so maybe it's not too cold in here? While laying in bed, wide awake, I had all these ideas for how to rearrange/improve her living space.I was thinking it would be cool if I had a bowl made of a rock...then I could put her potty litter in there, and empty it easily, but it would be more natural-like, instead of the current Gladware container I'm using. I guess it wouldn't be as sanitary as plastic...but...but...it might help wear her little nails down to be climbing around a more natural habitat.
And I was thinking about how the Dwarf Hamster book--I think?--says how it's a nice habit to bring little things home from the outside world, to put in your hamster's cage. Like leaves, and rocks, and sticks and stuff. I think the author was saying that since you can't take your hamster to the outside world, you should take the world to your hamster. Sort of. And then in the Jane Habitat Pages the guy(?) shows how he puts rocks into his hamster's cage...and a little tile that he can cool in the refridgerator for hot days (does it get that hot in Sweden????), and a sand box for recreational digging. It all looked so luxurious and interesting.
So I started thinking. The "habitat" stuff at Petco is sooo expensive. I guess it's all sanitary and aesthetically pleasing, and all, but I have a problem with PAYING for rocks and bits of wood. Hmmm. Maybe I could go to the desert to get some cool, light-weight rocks...or to the beach for driftwood, maybe....oooh, maybe petrified wood....
But what's this about bringing the world to Tink? If we didn't keep hamsters as pets, they would have the whole world to roam! I have this terrible guilt complex about it. I know she's just as likely to get eaten by an owl as have a full and productive free life, but I can't help wondering sometimes if it's bad that humans are keeping these little guys as pets? Dogs and cats have historically chosen to live with humans. But these little guys would probably prefer living without us. After all, they're mostly solitary and not particularly social even amongst themselves. And nocturnal. Natural hermits, I suppose. And they love love love to run...for miles. So being cooped up in a cage, with day-living creatures, who surround them with brightly-colored plastic things....is that a good life? Maybe better than being eaten, true...but what about compared to the excitement and drama of everyday existence in the wild?
Of course, once they're born into captivity, I suppose they don't have much of a choice anyway. If I hadn't gotten Tink, someone else would have. I don't know what to think...
It seems like they are just wired to hustle around and do their day-to-day things, and maybe it makes no difference to them where or when or how they do them. They don't seem to have emotions like we have...except for maybe irritation. Though...take that back...I think I read somewhere how scientists were doing studies on hamsters for depression...because when you separate two mates (I think it was the Campbell's species), they found the male would get very "depressed". As in sluggish, and apathetic, and no appetite. But maybe that doesn't mean that they have emotions....is depression just a state, then, and not an emotion? Hmm.
Sigh. I wish I could sleep....
Thursday, December 01, 2005
New Picture: It's colder in the new apartment
Gas guy's coming on Saturday, yay!!!I think that's why Tink's made a whole bunch of little nests instead of squashing up against the glass of the aquarium, since she's been here. Different behavior always makes me wonder....
But she looks pretty cosy, doesn't she? I suppose it could be because it's brighter in the new place...maybe she's trying to block out the light, more than stay warm. As usual, dunno, dunno....
Good friends, good food...old sickness, new month, new place
It's been a while, hasn't it?There was the Thanksgiving holiday, of course--when I got to spend fabulous quality time with Clara! And Tink spent fabulous quality time in Chansoo's closet! I think that that somehow had a really good effect on her--she slimmed down and seems ten times calmer than before--despite the fact that she did, in fact, bite him once over the holiday. (Oh, and she DOES like turkey! Not as much as chicken, though.)
Strangely, her ketone/glucose readings remain essentially the same. So, the Glipizide is having no measurable effect. I'm almost out of the crushed tabs anyhow, so I need to talk to the vet about trying a different formulation--even if I have to pay a little more, and find a place that sells animal medicine.
Oh, and I moved to a new apartment. (This picture is from the old one. Don't have any from the new place yet.)
And I've been really really sick. Been trying not to face the facts, which is why I haven't mentioned it till now. But, unfortunately for me, and Tink, and the future of this blog--it's looking like I may be deathly allergic to hamsters. Will know next week when I take the hamster-allergy test. Something weird has been happening to me, since last May. I've developed a chronic sort of cough, with asthma, and my whole head and chest seem to be constantly filling up with fluid/gunk. Got it under control after two severely ill months this summer, once I graduated (yay!) and could focus on my health, and getting to the doctor regularly. The doctor put me on this medicated inhaler, the Advair diskus. Then I was back to breathing normally for two months. When the diskus ran out, the doctor said to see what happened then--if the cough and congestion came back, then it was likely to be an allergy of some sort. And it did, alas...four weeks later, I was back to asthma and coughing. And since there's nothing else new in my living environment this year, except my poor diabetic hamster, it's looking awfully suspicious, isn't it? Unless it happens to be the bedding, or something like that, which I could actually control.
Sigh. I don't want to give her up, but if that's what's making me so so very ill, I guess I have to. Clara already offered to take her in to her home, so at least she'll stay in the family, and I'll get to visit her every couple of months. Hopefully.
But it's all very sad. I hope Tink doesn't know, or guess. She must know something is up, since I haven't held her or played with her very much since I got back. I've been avoiding her, I guess. I'm just afraid of going back to being really really ill. I can't stand it. Life is so extra miserable when you can't breathe properly!
