Gettin "Cheeky" at Work!

So I was minding my own business at work the other day, about to start my sick calls like I was assigned... and as I am looking at my schedule for the day, amongst the skin and ear issues pops up something a little new. On my schedule, it stated, "Amphibian, name: Hamster. To be seen for large 1-inch lesion in mouth." Instantly my curiosity was summoned... more for the fact that I refused to touch any frog and prayed it wasn't something or possible snake/reptile that was to be brought it. I knew I was working with our snake guru for the day, so I was keeping my fingers crossed it wasn't something potentially cold-blooded.

So I call my potential worst fear into the room, and the lady walks in with a little tissue box. To my surprise and great delight, it was a little 2-year old female Hamster named "Riku!" She had an inverted cheek pounc and mom was afraid it was a tumor or something! (parents always assume it's a tumor, haha!) So we took her in back to perform a re-pouching later that day. I took her little tissue box, set it on the counter on top of her file, and continued about my sick calls. I put a loose piece of tape on top to prevent her from getting out, wrote live animal on the box, and continued about my day...

About an hour later I notice she has a yellow note on her and I walk over to find that her "live animal" sign had come off since it was dry-erase from all the people looking at her, and wondered why someone would put "do not shake" on her note. Come to find out, one of the girls came out, picked up the bo, and proceeded to shake her while asking, "what's in here??"

We, being the humorous bunch we are, couldn't leave well enough alone and had to decorate her. So, she got the aggresive, keep refrigerated, and keep out of reach of children stickers to decorate her sign, haha. She was actually super friendly and I had to stop a couple people from trying to put her in the fridge, and almost had one person convinced it was a Habu snake, which is VERY poisonous! hehe.

So this is Miss Riku... as you can very easily see her little cheek pouch has inverted and is coming out of her little mouth. It looked really uncomfortable and she kept trying to pull it off, poor little thing. It looked pretty gross. And as if you couldn't tell, she was not a fan of 1. being held like this, and 2. having her pic taken this close with the flash going off, haha... she was a good little sport. Plus, it's not every day you get to her a hamster scream!

Doc C, being the genious he is, wanted to keep from having to sedate her since these little ones do not do well under the gas, so she got her poor little head pinched tight, flipped over, and some lubricated q-tips shoved into her mouth to try and put the pouch back in. We tried this about 2 or 3 times unsuccessfully, it kept coming back out, so the doc went for something more drastic... the gas!!

With a little sedation, and two little stitches to tack the cheek back in place, our little furry friend was back to new... almost. Her little face was a bit swollen, but she would make a full recovery. Mom was ecstatic and that was all that mattered!!

This little gal is almost 2 and that's pretty much towards the end of their life, but it didn't matter... she was still a little life in our hands and I got to learn/see something very cool... and now you all do too!

I hope you all don't mind my random work stories, butbeing the animal lover that I am, I sorta assume others find this stuff interesting too. If you think it's gross, feel free to tell me and I'll keep it off the site. If you like it, I'll keep it coming! Interesting stuff happens daily, so lots to share!!