The hamster adventures
Sometime during the day on Friday (while the wife and I were gone for work) the cats were somehow able to overturn the hamster cage, spilling her out and losing her in the process. Cats getting to a hamster is not generally such a surprising thing, but we had specifically position and fortified her cage to prevent this from happening (again).
The cats obsession with Violet is nothing new. From the day we got her, the cats have always kept a watchful eye. They've knocked her cage off of a bookcase twice and she's survived and been mostly easy to catch. This time, though, we tried something new and tried to fortify her cage on a bookshelf. Apparently that didn't work and they were able to pull it out and over, spilling her free.
When I got home on Friday, I saw the cage knocked over on its side and my heart sunk. I knew she was out and hoped that she was just hiding somewhere in the bedroom. I searched for about 20 minutes until Cathee came home and had her join the hunt. We looked everywhere and couldn't find her. We checked relentlessly under the fridge, dish washer, and stove and saw no sign of her. Everything that could be moved was moved and we weren't even able to scare her out or catch a glimpse of her until Sunday night.
Every night I went to sleep worried about her. She's such a tiny hamster and I was scared that she'd wind up getting stuck somewhere to just holding out until she died, never to be found again. I would give the house a quick once-over before heading to bed just to see if I could catch a sight of her. We set up food and water in strategic locations around the house and the first night was the only night that she apparently scavenged some food.
While dozing off to sleep on Sunday night, I heard what sounding like some growling noises and I looked over to see Pippin with something in his mouth. I wasn't alarmed at first, since he and his sister (Josie) have a number of toys that look fairly realistic, but when I asked him what he had he ran way. I jumped out of bed and followed him into the living room where I turned on the light and saw that he definitely didn't have a toy in his mouth. He had Violet, and she wasn't moving.
I called Cathee out of bed and we trapped Pippin after a couple of minutes. He was really intent on keeping the new super-realistic toy he found! When he finally dropped her, we picked her up and checked on her. She wasn't moving and didn't appear to be breathing at first. When I saw her in his mouth, her eyes were totally closed and she was just dangling there. After Cathee held her and petted her for a little bit, she started opening her eyes and breathing and moving again.
After a short time, Violet started to act more alive. It was like she was in some sort of stasis or something. Cathee suggested that it was a defense mechanism... sort of like an extremely good "play dead" and I agree. After she "woke up" completely, she got back to her old self and jumped right out of Cathee's hands. Luckily she was quick enough to catch her. We looked all over her and found no bite marks, she wasn't bleeding, and beyond a wet spot where Pippin had her in his mouth she was in perfect condition. She somehow survived outside of her cage and loose in the house for a full 2 days and then survived being a toy for the cats on top of that. Amazing!
The cats obsession with Violet is nothing new. From the day we got her, the cats have always kept a watchful eye. They've knocked her cage off of a bookcase twice and she's survived and been mostly easy to catch. This time, though, we tried something new and tried to fortify her cage on a bookshelf. Apparently that didn't work and they were able to pull it out and over, spilling her free.
When I got home on Friday, I saw the cage knocked over on its side and my heart sunk. I knew she was out and hoped that she was just hiding somewhere in the bedroom. I searched for about 20 minutes until Cathee came home and had her join the hunt. We looked everywhere and couldn't find her. We checked relentlessly under the fridge, dish washer, and stove and saw no sign of her. Everything that could be moved was moved and we weren't even able to scare her out or catch a glimpse of her until Sunday night.
Every night I went to sleep worried about her. She's such a tiny hamster and I was scared that she'd wind up getting stuck somewhere to just holding out until she died, never to be found again. I would give the house a quick once-over before heading to bed just to see if I could catch a sight of her. We set up food and water in strategic locations around the house and the first night was the only night that she apparently scavenged some food.
While dozing off to sleep on Sunday night, I heard what sounding like some growling noises and I looked over to see Pippin with something in his mouth. I wasn't alarmed at first, since he and his sister (Josie) have a number of toys that look fairly realistic, but when I asked him what he had he ran way. I jumped out of bed and followed him into the living room where I turned on the light and saw that he definitely didn't have a toy in his mouth. He had Violet, and she wasn't moving.
I called Cathee out of bed and we trapped Pippin after a couple of minutes. He was really intent on keeping the new super-realistic toy he found! When he finally dropped her, we picked her up and checked on her. She wasn't moving and didn't appear to be breathing at first. When I saw her in his mouth, her eyes were totally closed and she was just dangling there. After Cathee held her and petted her for a little bit, she started opening her eyes and breathing and moving again.
After a short time, Violet started to act more alive. It was like she was in some sort of stasis or something. Cathee suggested that it was a defense mechanism... sort of like an extremely good "play dead" and I agree. After she "woke up" completely, she got back to her old self and jumped right out of Cathee's hands. Luckily she was quick enough to catch her. We looked all over her and found no bite marks, she wasn't bleeding, and beyond a wet spot where Pippin had her in his mouth she was in perfect condition. She somehow survived outside of her cage and loose in the house for a full 2 days and then survived being a toy for the cats on top of that. Amazing!
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