Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Foster Help, Coco and baby hamsters

We are in need of foster homes and families for a ferret and rabbits. We received calls today, 1 is for surrendering a ferret and the other is for surrendering a rabbit. We are at capacity for rabbits right now, we do not have the room. If someone would like to help by fostering a rabbit we have here, then we can take in this bunny that needs help instead of turning away. We have Niko the ferret right now , he plays much too rough with other ferrets. It wouldn't be fair or right to place a new ferret in with him. We would also want to make sure the new ferret is healthy before introducing him to anyone else. We do not have the room to set up a spacious ferret cage for a newcomer. It would be wonderful if someone can foster Niko ( he has been at the vet for a physical, he is healthy) so we can take in this ferret, instead of turning her away, that would be fabulous! We will provide cages, accessories and pay any vet costs to foster parents. All that will be needed to provide by foster parents is love, TLC, and food and bedding. We will provide some food and bedding to start out with. Thank you to anyone who responds or wants to help.
I say this with a heavy heart.. Coco passed away. The poor little man started seizing and didn't make it long after his seizures began. We do not know what ailed him so severely, that he had such awful neurological symptoms. We had another vet appointment for him on Monday, but he passed away late Saturday night. We decided to not have a necropsy done since we wouldn't be able to get him to the vet's office until almost 2 days later. Latte , Coco's friend, is doing well. He is staying in good spirits, he is eating and drinking very well. Latte was brought to us with an abscess on his throat, with treatment he has made a full recovery. Coco came to us in perfect health, but then he suddenly became very ill and went downhill fast. I feel awful. I wish there was more we could have done for him.
The 6 baby hamsters from the group of 10 adults (males and females were housed together) are nearly ready to be separated by sex, they won't need their Momma soon. We won't let that happen. Plus, they will be able to impregnate their Mom and sisters very soon as well. They will be ready for adoption in just a few days. One of the adult females delivered 4 babies Thursday night. They are still little squirmy pink babies.
We have 4 new young bunnies that are adoptable. 3 females, their names are Sara, Abigail, and Lissa. And 1 male, his name is Littlefoot. They came from our sister small pet rescue in Pennsylvania called Judge's Park. She was overwhelmed with over 20 rabbits, so we helped out by taking in 4 of them. They are cute, small, and young , they are ready to go to a loving home or a foster home.
Please contact us at rachel@lifelongtails.org or our home number 716-634-2462 if you would like to help us by fostering Niko the ferret or a rabbit. It would mean so much to us :) Thank you.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Updates




I have many updates to give.
We have had many adoptions. All 5 female mice have been adopted, Salsa, Sweet Pea, Lima Bean, Sprout and Sprite. Beautiful bunny Bianca also has been adopted, she is very gorgeous! She was adopted by Amanda, she adopted Anthony the bunny. Oreo and Pepper the guinea pigs were adopted together. Phil the Rat was adopted by a wonderful couple who has adopted pumpkin the hamster from Life Long Tails Small Pets-Big Hearts, and Alex and Ander the guinea pigs, they love to adopt:) Then, persephone and Pandora the rats were adopted together to give Molly the rat company. Molly's best friend, Samantha passed away recently due to complications of old age. She is sorely missed by her human Mom, Kitty, and Molly the rat.
Latte the guinea pig is doing wonderfully!!:) His abscess is completely gone and healed. He is eating great and his weight is perfect! But now , his cagemate and friend, Coco, is very sick. He started showing severe neurological symptoms. He doesn't walk well and only circles in one direction. He went to the vet, where a true diagnosis was difficult to achieve. It could be inner ear infection, tumor, trauma, etc. So we have been treating him with an anti-inflammatory- anti pain medicine and an antibiotic. So far, there has been no change. He is eating and drinking minimal amounts. I have been syringe feeding him pedialyte and crictical care food, but the food he either spits out or lets sit in his mouth, he isn't swallowing it :( I am very worried about him. I will be making him another vet appointment.
We took in 5 females rats and 5 males rats. Someone saved them from a home where they were not housed or fed properly, the person was feeding them alley cat, cat food, and that was it! She also was keeping boys and girls together so the numbers were getting out of hand. The person that saved them, started feeding them a better diet and spoiled them. But it was soon evident that the females she saved were already pregnant , she soon had many babies on her hands and she needed to find them homes. We took in 10 of those babies ( the 5 boys and 5 girls) to help her with finding them homes. Two of the girls already have been adopted, Pandora and Persephone.
We also took in some Campbell's dwarf hamsters. Someone couldn't tell males from females and soon the numbers of babies escalated. She tried to find homes on Craiglist and Freecycle , but she was unable to find homes as fast as they were multiplying. We agreed to take in what she had left. She brought us 10 adults and 6 babies. Out of the adults there are 2 males and 8 females, I separated them immediately. I can tell that one is already pregnant from having lived with a male. She is now in her own enclosure to have her babies in peace. The 6 babies will be ready for adoption in 2 weeks.
A bunny arrived last night. A female lop eared bun. her owner lost her job and couldn't afford her any longer. She was calling her Chicken Nugget, but we have changed her name to Noble. She is 3 years old and isn't spayed yet.
Pictures from top to bottom are: Top- Noble the bunny middle- Sprout the mouse Bottom- Phil the rat

Friday, September 4, 2009

Vet update and Griffin


Dr.Tomaschke trimmed down Nugget's teeth. Poor little nugget could barely move around his tongue or open his mouth. After his teeth were brought back to normal size, he immediately licked his mouth and lips over and over again, then started to vigorously groom himself. I bet he couldn't do that for a while. He must feel a whole lot better. he can now hoard his food and eat it the way a hamster should:) Dr.T did let me know that in the instance of his teeth continually growing abnormally that way, he may need them pulled. It will always be a battle with his teeth and trying to keep them the right length, it would be stressful and potentially harmful to him to keep those teeth. He would then need a soft diet. We are hoping his teeth grow in straight and aligned. that way they will naturally grind together and keep themselves trimmed.
Latte's urine sample came back negative for blood. No hemoglobin no red blood cells..etc No signs of a urinary tract infection , and no kidney stones. It is very possible he only had some red/brown pigment in his urine. Rabbits sometimes have that, I have never seen it in guinea pigs. Other guinea pig savvy vets confirmed with Dr.T that this red discoloration in the urine can be present in the guinea pig's urine and not be blood, and the guinea pig checks out perfectly healthy. It is rare, but has happened in some cases. I am pleased with this news that Latte is okay. He is still active , alert and eating well. We will keep an eye on him for a little while longer to make sure he continues to gain weight and do well, before we place him up for adoption.
Griffin the guinea pig boy has been adopted :):)!! He was bought for a child, and it wasn't long before the child no longer wanted him or cared for him. That is how and why he wound up at Life Long Tails Small Pets-Big Hearts and searching for a new loving home. His new family adores him. He is so good about all the handling and attention, I truly believe he enjoys it. I will post Griffin's picture up above. And if you scroll down and look at Buster's picture who was adopted last month, he looks just like Buster. They are nearly doubles of each other!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Nugget and Latte

Latte the guinea pig arrived at Life Long Tails Small Pets-Big Hearts with an abscess on his throat. He received a round of antibiotics that the vet prescribed and his abscessed healed nicely. During his infection and taking antibiotics, he had lost his appetite and weight. Recently he has been gaining weight and is eating the way a guinea pig should. He is much more alert and active, he is even popcorning in his cage with happiness. With good news , I have bad news. The past three days , he has had blood in his urine. He is going back to the vet for the third time, in just a couple hours. I hope it isn't anything serious. He looks so much better and is acting healthy.. it's hard to believe he may still have a health problem. I'll update on what the vet says.
Nugget the hamster was surrendered with horribly long teeth. Both his upper and lower incisors are grotesquly overgrown. To the point where they are pressing into his gums and mouth. He is getting a much needed teeth trimming at the vet today. He'll feel so much better afterwards.