After getting up this morning, reading all the loving emails, Guestbook entries,
and all the heartwarming reactions on CuteOverload.com,
All I could do was:
HamsterTracker™-shouts to you all!
Thank you for your loving support!
This might be illegal, but I really don't care;
Can't put Lucy in the waste-bin, leaving her there.
I picked a spot in the middle of the lawn,
So you are in the center from dusk 'till dawn.
Dear little Lucy, you little ball of fluff,
Why did you leave us? I am not ready for this stuff.
You where the sweetest of them all,
Bit only once if I correctly recall.
You where the sunshine of every single day,
soo soo sad that you couldn't stay...
The most difficult thing I've got to do,
Is saying goodbye and letting go of you...
Dear little Lucy, right now I am soo sad,
I am also very thankfull for the wonderfull time we have had.
With great sadness I must report that our beloved Lucy passed away.
I sat with her for two hours, stroking her,
telling I love her, begging for her to get better.
At 20:45 Lucy passed away while I was holding her.
I am soo sad, that I can't talk right now...
Drying my tears as I write this
Lucy's Health Update day 3 (16:15 CET)
This morning at 6:45 am (CET) it was time to give Lucy her medicine again.
So I 'unlocked' her bedroom again, placed it on a towel on the couch,
opened it, and took Lucy out. I then had to give her her medicine,
which is a bit of a struggle. Holding Lucy on her back in my right hand,
with my right thumb, trying to keep Lucy's paws away,
while administring the medicine with my left hand.
Using a stand-in here.
After I took Lucy out of her bedroom I noticed that she urinated just a little bit earlier;
because it contained still some blood, it was horrifying to see:
Heartbreaking isn't it?
I am supposing that not all blood has been removed from her blatter,
therefore it could well be that this has been in her blatter for a while.
I personally have never suffered something like this, but people who have
assured me that going to the bathroom is painfull.
At least I know now, that Lucy's blatter must be as good as empty.
I am hoping this will give her some relief for now.
Good news
Good news is that Lucy produced some droppings!
I didn't see them for two days, maybe it was just too painfull for Lucy.
Lucy is also breathing more relaxed as opposed to yesterday.
For documentation purposes, here's Lucy havin' a nap,
15 minutes after I gave her her medicine this morning:
Do you see the blood in the above video?
This is how it looked like, when I got back from work:
Day 679
current treadmill total: 485,033.00 meters! (17:30 CET)
Lucy's Health Update
Lucy didn't like it when I woke her up this morning to give her her medicine.
I 'unlocked' her bedroom, took it on the couch, opened it there I found grumpy Lucy.
She didn't feel getting out, so I took her out and with a bit of a struggle managed
to get her medicine in her mouth.
I then returned her to her bedroom, and 'locked' it back on her cage.
She didn't want to stay in her bedroom, (with a probably horrible taste in her mouth).
So she went to have an hours worth of sleep in her Meditation Room.
Because it's a huge climb for her, I lowered it today.
I have never disturbed Lucy in her Meditation Room (although I could in case of an emergency),
so it's a safe-haven for Lucy:
Now it is easier for her to get in.
So today I bought an Apple, Carrot and Cucumber for Lucy.
I cut out a disc of the (washed and scraped) carrot, which I divided in two.
Then I 'unlocked' Lucy's bedroom again, now solely for a treat.
(I am hoping this will help in not scaring her everytime I do this).
So I put a piece of carrot in the entrance of her bedroom,
and waited with the camera:
She's eating it!!!
This is ofcourse always important, because if Lucy would stop drinking or eating...
Although I am very worried about her...
HamsterTracker™-shouts to all for sending such supportive messages!
(via email, or guestbook or any other thinkable way.)
Day 678
current treadmill total: 485,033.00 meters! (12:30 CET)
Taking Lucy to the Veterinarian
After posting Lucy's graphs yesterday, I was a bit shocked on the many days of Treadmill-In-Activity.
So I took Lucy on the couch to give her another inspection.
Unfortunately Lucy was moving slower than usual, although she seemed happy sharing some time with me.
I gave her some parsley and carrot which she ate immediately.
At least she is eating and drinking normally!
So after a restless night (checking up on Lucy every few hours),
I got up at 6:00 am, when Lucy appeared:
After having a drink, Lucy chewed off one piece of TP-roll.
As you can see by her posture she doesn't really seem to be feeling well.
So I made preperations to take Lucy to the vet at 9:00 am.
At 8:40 I put Lucy and sleeping quarters in her 'Ambulance'.
At 8:50 we arrived at the vet's waiting room.
The Medical Examination
When the vet just started inspecting Lucy, I noticed some blood on one of the vet's fingers.
So I asked him if Lucy just had bitten him. When he looked at Lucy's bottom it was all red...
"It must be a blatter infection", he said.
He also explained what happened just now:
Because Lucy was a bit stressed by him handling her, she urinated over his hand.
He also explained that if you add a drop of blood to a cup of water, the water will turn red.
So, it looks worse than it actually is.
Then Lucy needed to be weighed; A solid 95 grams of hamster!
When Lucy was on the scale, she was very inquisitive and adorable.
The vet even complimented her on that!!!
Here's Lucy when the Vet is prescribing her medicine.
I need to give Lucy 0.05 ml. of medicine twice a day, for the comming 8 days.
I gave Lucy her first just a few hours ago.
After 8 days, I have to go back to the vet for a checkup.
I am soooooo hoping this will all work out!
HamsterTracker™-shouts to the vet and his assistent
Day 676
current treadmill total: 485,032.72 meters! (18:50 CET)
Lucy checkin' out her new quarters
Yesterday I posted Lucy's cleaned bedroom quarters, ready to be installed.
After Lucy woke up, I immidiately made the switch.
It then took Lucy a few minutes before she wanted to check it all...
Before Lucy went to her bedroom (on the left),
she checked out her 'Dome' (because of the treats that where there I suppose).
" Thank you Naomi, for that nice raisin! " - Lucy
Explorin' the Dome.
" That's much deeper Dude! " - Lucy
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Day 675
current treadmill total: 485,032.72 meters! (12:05 CET)
HamsterTracker™-donation by Naomi
Naomi was very concerned about Lucy so she gave Lucy a little present:
So today, Cage cleaning day I thought I give Lucy one or two.
I prepared from all 'spare' tubing another clean sleeping quarters for Lucy.
As you can see I added something to make her Dome more interesting.
And so she has something to do, I put most of her treats in the dome,
instead of in her bedroom.
I can't wait to see what she's going to do with that...
HamsterTracker™-Shouts to Naomi!
For your tasty donation!
Lucy's health Update:
I've found some large droppings near her bedroom,
so it looks like the few drops of Olive Oil has done the trick.
Although Lucy isn't running in her treadmill,
she does appear to be cheerfull and always hungry (for Pineseeds).
Friday, April 20, 2007
Day 673
current treadmill total: 485,032.72 meters! (19:30 CET)
Lets check in on Nany, Lucy's godchild from Puerto Rico
There's a lot goin' on over there at HamsterfanSite.com,
Nany (Lucy's god-child) gave birth to SEVEN pups, and she also adopted three, from her mom Kiry.
Day 8 for Nany's real pups, day 13 for Nany's adopted pups
Day 7 for Nany's real pups, day 12 for Nany's adopted pups
Awesome Jose!
It's soo cool to see the 5 day difference in Nany's pups and her adopted ones!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Day 672
current treadmill total: 485,032.12 meters! (17:35 CET)
Medicinal Cookin' for Lucy
It has been on my mind the last few days;
yesterday I noticed very small droppings (of Lucy) near her bedroom.
I thought it was a bit strange because I've never seen them that small before.
I read about Hamster-constipation and that a drop of (Extra Virgin) Olive Oil, could help in these cases.
So I started cookin':
Pick two or three cookie like parts from the hamsterfood, add a small piece of walnut.
Add a few drops of Olive-Oil.
Turn treats around in the oil to give it a good soak.
Serve:
" Dude this is Nice, Sooo Italian! " - Lucy
A few hours later, Lucy got up and I shot this 10 second video of her:
It looks like she is fine, doesn't she?
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Day 671
current treadmill total: 485,032.06 meters! (18:25 CET)
Extreme HamsterTrackin' by Katie in Wisconsin USA
Regular sender inner Katie sent in this wonderfull Extreme HamsterTrackin' report:
" Lucy recently accompanied me to the capital of the state of Wisconsin: - Katie
" She liked the capital building, but not the April snow! " - Katie
" We also went to a Detroit Tigers Game.
They went to the World Series last year.
I'm pretty sure they are Lucy's favorite baseball team..... " - Katie
Extreme HamsterTracker™-Shouts to Katie, once again!
Day 670
current treadmill total: 485,032.06 meters! (18:30 CET)
Another Lucy Observation
HamsterTracker™-regulars know about me being a bit worried about Lucy's health,
because of her lack of running in her treadmill.
Lucy is drinking regularly and eating.
During daytime (for Lucy that's night time),
she frequently wakes up to go to the toilet or have a drink,
OR have a snack.
When (during daytime) Lucy wants a snack,
she gets one and eats it all while keeping her eyes closed:
" Mmmmm, I could do with a snack... " - Lucy
" There should be some somewhere here... " - Lucy
Gettin' the snack...
Above is Lucy's 600th published photograph!
" Nice! " - Lucy
Monday, April 16, 2007
Day 669
current treadmill total: 485,032.06 meters! (17:45 CET)
After Lucy scores a 'Lucy-Touchdown'
When Lucy's on the couch with me, she always tries to score a 'Lucy-Touchdown'.
(Then she climbs up the back of the couch,
to explore the table behind it.
Here's Lucy after a successfull one:
Ofcourse I always keep a close eye during these moments,
even though I am pretty sure Lucy will not jump off!
Note Lucy keeping a low profile when exploring not well known surroundings.
" THIS IS FUN DUDE! " - Lucy
Note her ears: she has gained some more confidence!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Day 668
current treadmill total: 485,031.50 meters! (21:05 CET)
I soo totally under-estimated this little (HUGE) project
Yesterday I wrote about the organizing of the HamsterTracker™-wireing.
This took a bit longer than expected,
while I do enjoy the results made:
While doin' this, Lucy didn't notice a thing...
Note: Less wires are visible now...
and there are LOTS of pine-seeds!
The floating (yellow) arrow shows the Hand-Sawn-Support I made today.
The wall it's attached to is like a sponge...
Although it appears to be not straight, I can assure you it is! ;-)
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Day 667
current treadmill total: 485,031.50 meters! (21:30 CET)
A man's gotta do what he thinks needs doin'
Remember how the HamsterTracker™-wire-ing is a bit messy?
Today I started on (finally) clearing this up:
I started to mark every cable using sticky-computer-lables.
Then I did the peripherals using cable-ties to tidy up.
Although looking better, it's still spaghetti...
After 3 hours of puzzlin' and tidy-in' it's starting to look the business!
Now ALL the cables are marked,
and using only 17 cable-ties it is starting to look pretty well!
I needed to reinstall all Logitech webcam drivers, before I got the system running again.
Now I only need to vacuum the floor! ... ;-)
Friday, April 13, 2007
Day 666
current treadmill total: 485,028.91 meters! (18:50 CET)
The 5.76 second bedroom-swap-pit-stop
In order to do a very fast bedroom-swap, you have to have
double bedrooms and tubing etc.
So I started (the tedious task of) cleaning AND drying tubes:
...
'Lucy's Pillow' and some treats AND 'Wild Californian Spearmint' sent in by SLD!!!
The Spearmint was washed with cold water,
dried using a paper towel (toilet paper will also do the trick).
(HamsterTracker™-regular-sender-inner) SLD found this 'Wild Californian Spearmint' during a hike!
Looks quite a puzzle doesn't it?
Here it's all assembled.
Now, I just wait for Lucy to wake up to have a drink,
or use her toilet, so I can make the 5.76 second swap.
which I did!
HamsterTracker™-shouts to SLD!!!
Thank you for sending the 'Wild Californian Spearmint',
that's really special, all the way from the other side of the globe.
P.s.: Lucy smelled like mint all over after chewing on some, we BOTH love it!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Day 665
current treadmill total: 485,026,84 meters! (18:30 CET)
Lucy is trainin' me
Because the HamsterTracker™ server isn't registrating much treadmill data,
I spent a lot of time with Lucy on the couch,
inspectin' her along the way.
Lucy sure knows how to get her way with me:
" Whenever I want to see something on TV
(like Pinky & the Brain for instance)... " - Lucy
" I just put up my Cute-Face in the hope the Dude will change the TV-channel " - Lucy
I helped Lucy, ofcourse,
because she never successfully switched a channel.
Being as light in weight as she is.
Technical stuff:
Today I noticed that the screensaver didn't kick in on the HamsterTracker™-server.
Could this be the problem?
Don't really know yet, but I rebooted the machine to make sure.
It has been running pretty flawlessly lately, therefore it was a bit too easy to neglect.
Please keep fingers crossed (tonight, for Lucy) that this resolves the lack of treadmill activity problem.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Day 664
current treadmill total: 485,025.62 meters! (17:25 CET)
Another (tiny) Lucy animation
Bloggin' about Lucy's face wash yesterday (see below),
I noticed that I shot 10 successfull shots.
I thought it would be a fun experiment to construct an animation of the photographs,
so you could see, what I regularly see.
Unfortunatly I didn't use a tripod (to keep my camera steady),
when sooting this sequence, therefore the background is a bit jumpy:
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Day 663
current treadmill total: 485,025.62 meters! (18:50 CET)
Observin' Lucy
I've noticed that Lucy isn't running in her treadmill these last couple of days.
I've checked the HamsterTracker™-system and it's up and running.
So when we spent some time together I am observing Lucy quite intense.
Lucy observations:
Lucy is Very lively in her Explorer Ball,
She also is Very lively on the couch,
She always demand attention (and pineseeds),
Lucy behaves normal when awake,
She doesn't smell,
Her water consumption is normal
So I use my camera to make photographs,
so I can do a non intrusive examination of Lucy without her knowing afterwards.
Using my camera, the picture allows me to zoom in on a still picture,
as opposed to holding Lucy still, while trying the same.
When trying to shoot these photographs I shot these:
Here Lucy is licking her left hand
Now her left hand whipes her mouth,
while her right hand whipes her nose.
Then Lucy started licking her right hand
A bit more in close-up
Now her right hand whipes her mouth,
while her left hand whipes her nose.
I never noticed this before!
Monday, April 9, 2007
Day 662
current treadmill total: 485,025.62 meters! (17:55 CET)
How I made the 'No Mice' animation
I've been getting some questions on how I made this following animation:
I thought of a script and tested it by giving it a 'dry run' or two.
(During this 'dry run' I didn't actually cut the mouse-cable)
Once the script has been decided upon, it's time to shoot the photographs.
Be carefull to *NOT* move anything in the background (or move the camera) while shooting the photographs.
The most critical photo of them all!
It took 15 (selected) photographs, to make the animation above.
Then reduce the size of all images you want to use.
Next, using PhotoPlus 6, enter all photographs in the desired sequence
Now, simply export the animation as a .gif file.
The End
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Day 661
current treadmill total: 485,011.91 meters! (21:40 CET)
Easter Lucy
Lucy hasn't been running much these lase couple of days.
So today I checked the HamsterTracker™-system which seems to be running fine.
So when I woke up this morning at the rediculous hour of 5 am, I checked on Lucy...
She woke up when I entered the room, and she demanded some attention.
I can't refuse that (as you can understand) so we spent some time on the couch.
Then after I put her back in her cage I gave her her Easter Breakfast:
" MMMMMMMMM .... Dude... I am speech-less here! " - Lucy
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Day 660
current treadmill total: 485,011.72 meters! (11:50 CET)
Extreme HamsterTrackin' by DJane Vibrella & G-Man
DJane Vibrella and (her) G-Man sent in this wonderfull report:
" Grüße an Lucy und Mathijs von Rees am Rhein " - Vibrella
A while ago I went on a small business trip to Turnhout.
During the lunchbreak, I managed to get outside to do some Extreme HamsterTrackin'
The last shot I published last was of Prof. Adhemar with the following building in the background:
I didn't know what that building was, so I went back inside to ask.
When asking about it a very nice man (with a very huge Key-chain) responded,
" That's Turnhout's Court of Justice " - Mr. Huge Key-chain
Then he (I forgot to ask his name in all excitement) showed me to a better place to photo-shoot the building;
The (so called) 'Wood room' on the second floor
This 'Wood room' is all wood and a few windows (as you can see),
there for a purpose; acoustics.
Pretty neat, it was all empty and I did notice a difference in sound when talking to Mr. Huge Key-chain.
GOT-IT!
See, awesome things can happen when Extreme HamsterTrackin' it!
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