Who Needs Legs Anyway?

Well, it has been a few days since we went to the vet, and there hasn't been much improvement, sadly...

It could be that the antibiotics are just working their way through his system and they haven't really taken effect yet. In the meantime, getting Nigel to take his medicine has been quite the fun experience. He has to take one drop of an anti-inflammatory twice a day, and then three drops of the antibiotics three times a day. To get the medicine in him, I have a couple of little plastic syringes that I get to stick in his little mouth and shoot the deliciousness right down his throat. Poor little guy, it smells awful.

Also, here is a picture I forgot to post last time. This is my little friend getting ready to go to the vet for the first time. Imagine sad music playing in the background as you view this picture through your tears.

You can kind of see his little leg all hurt, over there on the top right. Fortunately this picture obscures most of his actual leg, because in full view it's pretty gross and horrifying.

But I still love him.

We Learn Things

Greetings, Internet Friends! It sure has been a while. I figured now was a good time to give you an update on how things are going with Nigel! And the answer is...

...not so good.

A couple weeks back, I noticed that Nigel had been walking with a bit of a limp. I didn't really take much note of it, because in all honesty, Nigel is almost two years old. That's like 60 in hamster years. Maybe more. Anywho, yesterday morning I woke up to check on my furry friends, and I was shocked and horrified to discover that what had been a barely noticeable injury had caused his left leg to swell to about four times its normal size. So of course, being me, I freaked the crap out and called every vet in the tri-state area.

Hamster medical care is kind of tough, because not all vets deal with such small little animals. Hamsters are considered "exotic" pets by your average veterinary practice. Fortunately though, the nearest exotics clinic happens to be across the street from my house. I took off work early and hurried home as fast as I could, got Nigel all ready to go, and rushed to our appointment. 

I ended up getting myself so flustered running out the door, I forgot my keys twice, and then I forgot Nigel...

 The doctors at the the clinic where I went were so nice to me and to Nigel, and they told us that hopefully it's just an infection. We came home with some antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds that will hopefully take care of the swelling. If the swelling doesn't go down after a while, though, it could possibly be bone or lymph node cancer. If that's the case, we will maybe need an x-ray to determine the extend of the sickness, and it's possible they might have to amputate his little leg.

If anyone's cool enough to pull off three limbs, it's Nigel. But for now, we're hoping the medicine works and he gets back to his old self. Personally, I'm just glad he's ok and home for the time being.