Hi!

Hi Everybody!
Sorry it's been a while... Mommy's been busy.

I've been doing okay... same old, same old. How about you all?

I can't believe Mommy's had me for nine months now! That's a hecka long time!!!! Too bad hamsters only live for  short while... Mommy's going to be broken-hearted when I pass away over the Rainbow Bridge... But when she dies maybe she'll see me...

Okay, okay! I've got to stop thinking about the negative!!! So here's the positive news:

~Mommy found a little pamphlet on hamster care and it said that you have to give your hamster oatmeal (or something else with lots of fiber) everyday, and even though Mommy tries to give me lots of treats, she sometimes doesn't give me anything for like one day a week because she's really busy. Well, now Mommy's made it a prioirity to give me lots of good things to eat so I can stay healthy... So, now everyday she gives me oatmeal (and I LOVE that stuff!) And... she gives it to me raw, so it's nice and crunchy! :)

~Mommy also read that I need a dark green vegetable everyday as well. So Mommy usually gives me yummy green peas and green beans and other yummy food, and I just scarf 'em down 'cause they're so darn tasty!! :)

~Mommy read (I think she reads too much; how about you?) also that I need a piece of fruit twice a week. Mommy's decided to give me the fruit on Tuesdays and Fridays, because that is when she is the least busy... So think about it: on Tuesdays and Fridays, I get the whole darn package: oatmeal, fruit, and veggies! Yum! Yum! Yum!

~Mommy's thinking of switching my food because she read about how when they ship me to the pet stores, some of my hamster friends may die on the way and how bad things could happen to me... So she's not going to buy hamster food from animal companion stores that sell other-than-human-beings, so now she's going to buy pelleted food for me from the grocery store. She's heard what people have said about grocery stores and hamster foods and how they don't have lots of nutrition; only fatty foods and "junk", but she thinks I'll be all right because the package says this food had lots of protein and other good stuff. She's also going to see if she can get me lots of hard, crunchy treat sticks because the pamphlet said those helped me trim my teeth and my teeth are getting kind of long... (I don't like the cardboard Mommy gives me to chew on!) And plus, she said that way I won't pick out all the sunflower seeds and get chubby and unhealthy... (That's not positive, though! That's NEGATIVE!)

Well, I probably won't be able to write again for a while, but when I get a free chance; I will!! :)

Thanks,

Plum

Sorry

Whew! It's been a while! Sorry about the long wait!!

Well, everything's been going pretty good lately. Mommy found this sad story on a website:

Does Life Get Any Better Than This!?

                                                                   by Brian Kershaw


Wow! What a place!  Lots of food, mom is so warm to snuggle up to, and I see a whole bunch of hamsters that look just like me.  Can life get any better than this?!  The man who feeds us our yummy food gives us tummy rubs as well. Mom really enjoys that, too.  I have 8 siblings, and we all have a great time playing with our paper tubes, chasing each other and just having fun. 

Today is the last time I am going to see our mom. We are all being put into a box.  Where are we going? I'm going to miss you, Mom, but this is exciting and sad at the same time.  I feel the bumps from the noisy machine we are in. Now that we have stopped, the man who feeds us is carrying the box into a big store.  I feel safe as this is also the man who gives us tummy rubs.  We are all put into separate cages, girls in one and boys in the other. I am a girl and get to stay with my sisters. It's a big cage, but the bedding smells different and kind of hurts my eyes and makes me sneeze.  I like to climb up on the cage wire as it doesn't hurt up there.  There are also no tubes to play with.  Funny people keep looking at us. I'm not sure who they are, but they keep knocking on our cage and saying "Wake up! Wake up!"  Don't they realize that I am so tired? I was up all last night playing with my sisters and checking out my new home. 

Today is our birthday, I am 5 weeks old today. Wow!  This funny looking person and her two little kids keep looking at me and pointing, saying "I want this one! I want this one!"  Their voices are so loud it kind of scares me.  I am being taken out of my big cage and being put into this little dark box. I am so scared that I am afraid I peed myself.  What is happening to me?  I hear someone in a loud voice saying, "Yuck! It's all wet!" The little box is very bumping, and I can hear loud voices saying "I want to hold it! I want to hold it!" I am so scared--the loud voices, being bumped around, the loud machine that I am in, and I don't know who these people are.

Finally, the machine stops but not the loud voices.  The people put me into a smaller cage than in the big store and Mom's home.  The bedding really smells and hurts my eyes.   It's not like Mom's or the big store.  It's red in colour.  I hear the lady say "It's cheaper than what the pet store wanted to sell us!"  The smell really bothers me, and my chest hurts. I don't feel good at all.  All I see are faces looking at me saying "Wake up! Wake up!"  I am so tired from my trip and feel horrible. All I want to do is sleep, but where?  There are no tubes, no nice warm place at all. Just empty corners, but I am just so tired, and my tummy hurts.  Why won't they leave me alone?

Finally, I get to sleep but I am suddenly awakened when one of the younger ones puts in his fingers to poke at me. I was only scared. I thought he was going to hurt me, so I jumped up and grabbed his finger. "Sorry.  You scared me!"  The younger one yelled really loudly and was crying, "Mommy! Mommy! It bit me! It bit me!!"  "I am sorry. You scared me", I was saying to myself.  The younger one said to his mom that he hated me and that he was going to call me "Nasty".  "Bad hamster", he said over and over again.  I also heard his mother say, "Don't touch it ever again. Just look at it". Then she put me on a high shelf in the back room.  What about my tummy rubs?  I like tummy rubs!  I like to play. Can I come out to play? I never did.

It was always very quiet in the room in which I was put, but I hardly ever saw the little face again, and, if I did, he would just say "Bad hamster!"  I also heard him with a friend say "This is my hamster, Nasty. Don't touch it or go near it.  It bites". I was only scared!  Why have you forgotten me?  I was only scared!

Occasionally, the mother gives me some water and some food, but not very often.  Sometimes I am hungry and just feel horrible. The bedding is not like my Mom's. My chest is hurting so bad, and I can't get away from it.  My nose is running all the time, and my eyes burn.

Today is my 1 year birthday.  Nobody knows but me.  Nobody comes to my cage anymore.  Sometimes I get food; sometime I don't. My water bottle never gets new fresh water.  The younger boy never comes to my cage, just his mother.  I am having a hard time breathing, and my eyes are always shut. They hurt too much to open, so I sleep all the time.

In fact, does life really get any better than this?  I faintly remember good times, but I am so miserable. If I just sleep, maybe this will all go away............


(Footnote from Brian)

The only escape for this hamster was death.  How many hamsters end up with similar stories?  Some, I am sure, are very true.  As a breeder and hobbyist, I am aware that every hamster we sell could end up like this one.  Hamsters in the public eye are nothing more than disposible pets, cheap to buy, easy to forget, and easy to get rid of.  Please make every effort to educate anyone (an individual, a pet store, or another hobbyist) who is purchasing a hamster of what is necessary for these little ones to have a good life. 

Nasty didn't. --- She wanted to, though!

                                                             © 2004 Brian Kershaw         
                                                             (Used with permission)

That just goes to show how harmful cedar bedding and uneducated owners are! Please, if you're planning to own a new pet, learn about it first!! And, if you have a pet you know little about, ask your vet for tips, and next time, LEARN ABOUT YOUR PET FIRST!!!!!!!!

Thank you!

By the way, Mommy made a new website called:

http://www.xanga.com/Cavy_Care. It's all about guinea pigs!

Hi! Sorry I haven't posted in a while! Oh, and by the way, the little hammy in the profile picture isn't me! It kinda looks like me... but it ain't me! Just wanted to letcha know! :)

Well, guess what? The other day I was attacked by George! That's right! When Mommy was cleaning my hamster wheel, she left the door open, and she took off the top of my cage. She left the door open so she could check on me without trying to open the door with soapy hands, and she left my cage top open so my cage could ventilate. She didn't think George would crawl into her room and attack me, but he did!

Let me tell you the story:

Mommy thought she heard something, so she checked on me to see if I was OK, when she got to the door, she saw her dog in there and started screaming, "George! Get your booty outta here!" Then she saw something even more frightening: ME! He had me in his mouth and dropped me when Mommy yelled at him. Then Mommy started screaming like a little "girly" and Grandma came in to save the day! Grandma picked me up gently and placed me carefully back into my cage. At first I couldn't walk right because of shock, and the fact that I had been dropped so high! When I tried to stand up the first time, I rolled back onto my bottom. I was shaking when I walked, and I didn't want to eat. Mommy gave me lots of toilet paper so I would be nice and comfy, and she didn't play with me for a few days so I could get "over it." The day after the attack, Grandma noticed that I could walk fine, and Mommy saw that I was eating again. Still, they left me alone to in case. Now I'm the energetic hamster I always was! God really does exist!

Oh yeah! And because Mommy felt so bad about the incident, she bought me new things from Petco! First, she bought me wooden sticks made by Super Pet! I like them, but I absolutely LOVE the Gnaw-Dent blocks Mommy got me a few weeks ago! (But Mommy says I can't always buy them because they're like $4.00 for a small bag! (Yikes!) She also bought me a see-saw! I don't really use it, so Mommy and Grandma are thinking of returning it back to Petco. Mommy had to bribe me in order for me to use it, and I've never been in a tube before, so it's kinda new to me...

I'll try to comment all you people who commented me! Thanks, by the way!

Thank you! Bye!

I am so sorry I haven't posted in forever! Thank you to everyone who still commented me and kept in touch even though I didn't return the favor! You guys are all so nice!  

Well, Mommy's still in school, so that's why she was unable to turn on the computer for me... (Or at least, that's what she says!) Well, I don't have much news....

Mommy's been on a diet lately. Although, yesterday, Grandma made a cake, and she was all over that! In the end, she gained 5 pounds! You know how much that is in "Hammy Weight!?" That's like... TEN HAMSTERS! Yeah, so yesterday she made herself run laps at our local park so she wouldn't feel so "out of shape!" She said the only reason she stopped running was because she had back cramps, and that dumb dude George had to "defecate." (I know, I know, I have such sophisticated vocabulary!) Well, that's the news on Mommy...

Well, thanks so much for all your comments; I'll try to comment back!