Phin's Christmas

Well Phinneus, despite being Jewish, received another Christmas present! Matt's mother gave him [me] a $10 gift card to Pet Supermarket! $10 to spend on pure joy for the little fella. He deserves something nice after the antibiotics which are inflicted on him twice a day; after all, nobody likes having a syringe full of nasty pink medicine forcibly shoved in their mouths.

Post Vet Visit and The Eve of Christmas

Phin's vet visit, I am happy to report, went very well! He behaved himself quite nicely even though we had a long sit in the exam room before the vet came in. During this time he busied himself with my shirt, which he licked and nibbled and tugged, and then anointed himself with. Good Phin, I definitely want the vet to see you with spit all over your back. But I digress. Phinneus behaved himself very admirably for someone who was being poked and prodded and having cold metal instruments pressed against them. The vet reported that Phin's was the best hedgehog heartbeat he had ever heard! Then he said Phin's lungs sounded good and he looked healthy, but just in case the runny nose were to turn into a more serious condition, he prescribed a round of antibiotics to be given twice daily for five days. Let me tell you, trying to syringe 7.5 ML of sticky pink medicine into a uncooperative hedgehog is a major battle. It always ends up in his eyes, stuck to his forehead, or dribbling down his chest. Good grief, my guinea pig Yossarian had the same round of antibiotics and loved it. Yossi is now a veritable drug fiend. Phinneus, why can't you love drugs as much as your step-different-species brother Yossi?

Well today is also Christmas Eve- yay! I do love Christmas time more than any other time of the year. It really is the most wonderful. Even though Phinneus is Jewish and has had his holiday, I still plan to lavish him with mealworms tonight as a little feat. Matt brought Pherb with him when he came, and Pherb shall be lavished with treats also! Shoot, I just realized that I forgot to get Pherb some Christmas presents! Oh well, I am sure a nice square or two of toilet paper and some fruits will be plenty for him. He's a nice, simple boy...unlike some I know.

Pre Vet Visit

Tomorrow Phinneus has a vet visit. We are not at school, and so we have a different vet, but he has done wonders with my guinea pigs in the past, and has knowledge of hedgehogs. Phin hasn't been wheeling in weeks! He also has a drippy nose, and seems to have a decreased appetite. I want to get to the bottom of this if I can, so off to the vet! My mother is coming too, so it will be almost like a little outing. I hope Phin behaves himself. In the past he has done well with vets and no on has had to get out gloves or anything like that. He has also *knock on wood* been behaving himself.

Party

Here is Phin's impression of Rudolph.

Last night was my birthday party and both hedgehogs and Phinneus made an appearance. My mother got me a set of wooden hedgehog pieces in all their spikey glory; they are made to be stacked up into a tower in any way the stacker can concieve of. It is a game of skill and imagination. I was trying it last night but certain family members thought it would be hilarious to bang on the table and knock it over.

Later in the night Phinneus himself came down, wrapped in his towel. He was cooed and cautiously petted by just about everyone, especially the three little nieces. Everyone marvels over the dry sound of his spikes when they are rubbed together. It really is quite a remarkable sound you wouldn't expect from a living animal. It sounds exactly like dry grains of rice being shaken.

Phin was a good sport and didn't make a stinky mess like he usually does in public. He consented to entertain and disgust by loudly crunching on some mealworms (which his grandma graciously bought as a Hanukkah present). Then he anointed with the rug some- he really loves that rug- and settled down to sleep. A typical evening for the little guy.
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Preparations

Today, after my exam, I will finish my preparations for winter break, and then Phinneus (and possibly the newts) and I will embark for home. Phinneus has been to Cedarburg before but never for so long. He will have his cage and familiar things, CHE setup, and light timer to give his life normalcy. Lately he has been on another wheel strike I and so far I haven't been able to figure out the cause.

Luckily for us, Phin is good at road trips.

Blizzard Birthday

So...all the birthday preparations I had in place for weeks were ground to a halt as Wisconsin decided the time was ripe to blast a blizzard through. Luckily, Phinneus and Pherb were tucked up cozily with Matt and I, and one of my good old friends braved the weather to come and celebrate with us. Phin remains grumpy, and I remain an optimistic birthday girl. Screw you winter weather hazards, I will have a 21st birthday!

On The Eve of Birthday

Today is the eve of my birthday and Phin's 9 month birthday. We are going to Matt's tonight for some quality celebration with some quality people. I certainly hope Phin's Bad Mood will pass, as he bit me for the first time ever last night, and I hope spare out guests the same uncomfortable fate. The bite was not necessarily malicious; he was licking zealously and then moved in for the chomp. Then again, with him, it could have been ferocious warning licks leading up to a bite.

In other news, since the Festival of Lights, aka Hanukkah, has passed all of Target's Hanukkah stuff was on sale for 75% off so I snagged some cute window sticks for Phin's cage. It is now emblazoned with several Star of Davids, a dreidel, and a Menorah complete with little sticky flames. I figure Phinneus, being a hedgehog, won't care if the decorations are a bit late. At least he got a Hanukkah present, right?

In Memory of Suzie, the Lost Hamster

Not too long ago I bought myself a hamster as an early holiday present. I didn't mean to- that is, I saw her and learned her background, and just couldn't leave her. Suzie was a white Teddy bear hamster who was born without eyes. She was very soft, very sweet, and very adventurous. She had the most perfect pink feet and delicate little ears. Sadly, yesterday (Wednesday) I noticed signs of illness in her which pointed to the dread Wet Tail, which is a form of serious diarrhea. When I first noticed I did not realize what a dire situation she was in, and since I was booked solid for the day with classes, projects, and work I did not have time to take her to the vet. Matt offered to pick up some medicine, syringe her water, and monitor her on some fresh, clean bedding in a hamster "ICU". He was an excellent nurse and cared for her while I was away at work. Unfortunately it was too much for little Suzie and she passed away around 5.20 in the evening while Matt was holding her.

We didn't have Suzie for very long, but while we did she was a wonderful and benign little ball of fuzz who loved her wheel and loved to be taken out of her cage to explore. She was named by my friend Emily after the main character in the play 'Wait Until Dark' who is blind and who ends up saving the day.

Suzie will be greatly missed.

Hark! The Herald Hedgehog...pees?

I have entered Phinneus in the Carolina Storm Christmas Hedgehog Photo Contest. Here is the link! You will have to scroll down to #39 to see a familiar hedgie face. There are tons of cute and clever photos though, so I'm sure you won't mind seeing all the other holiday hedgehogs.

Getting Phin to pose for a Christmas photo (he's Jewish, perhaps that explains some of the reluctance?) was NOT an easy task. I prepared a warm bath with Aveeno oatmeal powder which he attempted to drown himself in, and then I sat with him wrapped in his towel on my lap so that he could dry off and stay warm. I sacrificed homework time for this- which at this time of year for a college student is quite a thing to do. Next I attempted Round #1 of photo shoot. This did not go well. I ended throwing my hands up in exasperation and putting Phin back in his bin for a while. I was ready to attempt the next round many hours later, and this one went better...although I caught the wee rascal trying to secretly pee in my hat. I got him out just in time! One of the photos showed a distinct yellow puddle around his back legs. I got a good amount of quality holiday photos despite this, which I will be sharing on my blog posts throughout the month of December. Did I mention that December is the best month of the year? My birthday is on the 12th, and on the same day Phinneus will be 9 months old. My little hoglet is growing up! Phinneus also gets to celebrate the festival of lights, and I get to go all out getting ready for Christmas. Pherb decided not to be Jewish, and instead will be agnostic and celebrate X-mas. What a cheery holiday bunch we are!

Anyway, be sure to check out the Christmas Photo Contest. I don't need to a win a Carolina Storm Wheel ( I already have one) but I wanted to submit a photo purely because I like to show off my little grumpus.

Tasty New Dish

I have begun the long slow process of adding a new food to Phinneus's diet. My hog is on the small side- he doesn't over eat, and he runs quite a bit on his wheel. His weight hovers around 300 grams (give or take a large poo). I decided that it couldn't hurt to introduce a food that wasn't weight loss, since he certainly isn't in need of weight loss. I picked up a bag of Wellness Indoor Cat food; because he loves his Wellness Kitten food so much, I thought another type of Wellness would suite him. Right now Phin's kibble mix consists of Solid Gold Katz-n-Flocken (the original food he was on when I got him- a lamb based mixture), Wellness Kitten food (chicken), Blue Buffalo Spa Select (chicken), and now Wellness Indoor Cat (also chicken). When switching or adding a new food to a hedgehog's diet you must do it very slowly so as not to upset their digestion. I only add three-five kibbles pieces per day. So far Phin eats about half of these, which is a good sign. It means that he might actually like the food which means that I didn't just waste $13 on a bag of cat food. Hooray!