Pets

[TNHawke]

And completely cut out all human food. Every obese dog I see at work (and keep in mind, I see 20 to 30 dogs EVERY DAY), is given human food as a treat/ food/ meals. It's awful.

[Silenxia]

We did that, but perhaps he has a sensitive stomach.

It's amazing how animals seem the pick up things that go on. We had an emergency this morning and both my hamster, dog, and guinea pig seemed to know something...maybe it was the paramedics or what...but I had to calm them down.

[MothballMilkshake]

Did anybody see this story?
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/334/672/ ... cation=ufi
Of all people to do something like that, you wouldn't think a vet would be one

[MistyoC]

Does anyone have good online resources for care of an "orphan" puppy? My daughter got a puppy from a breeder who had her pick the poor thing up at 5 weeks old claiming the mother couldn't properly nurse the 9 puppies, so they weaned them early. It is way too early and not legal in the state. :-( I've advised her to get him on a milk replacer, but I'm not familiar with care of a puppy weaned too early and I'd like to guide her to some good sites on what else is needed.

[TNHawke]

When I've needed to bottle raise babies, I've always just googled "Raising orphan ____". Look through a few sights and see what they all say the same. Big things to remember- keep them on their tummy while bottle feeding, not on their back like a human baby. At 5 weeks, they should be old enough that you don't need to stimulate pottying with a wet washcloth, but it won't hurt to do it, and you do need to keep them clean, since they aren't going to be house broken yet.
The hardest part about a single bottle pup is that they don't get the social interactions with other dogs and learn manners and learn to 'speak dog'. This can make them either horribly shy, even aggressively shy around other dogs later, or make them obnoxiously rambunctious to everyone, pets and humans alike.
There also the issue of immune system. Normally, they continue to get immune support from mother's milk, and the puppies are all exposed to the same germs, so you don't have to worry as much about interacting with other pets before they are old enough to be vaccinated.
They NEED the other puppy and adult dog interaction, but they NEED to not be exposed to deadly germs, such as parvo. It's a tough, fine line.

[Silenxia]

I have a question, what color is this hamster? The source says it's blue fawn, but I'm kind of leery.
[img]
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... e_fawn.jpg[/img]

[TNHawke]

What are you thinking it might be instead?

[Anira]

I have a question, what color is this hamster? The source says it's blue fawn, but I'm kind of leery.

I don't know hamster colors, and I assume from the URL, you're looking at Campbell's dwarf hamsters? What I do know, is fawn is a tan (ginger) color, so I believe it should have some tan coloring if it were a blue fawn.

This is the best page I found about colors, but I'm on mobile, so it's kind of a pain searching. There is an example of a blue fawn in there somewhere.

http://myhammiesworld.blogspot.com/2012 ... s.html?m=1

[Silenxia]

Well I don't know, it is a good picture, but yet it's not the best picture for showing blue fawn. Another good picture that I found showed some light ginger that is what they are, but it was slightly dark so I don't know if it is good or just how the picture was taken. I know how hard it can be to take pictures of a hamster, and dwarf ones are even more energetic than the larger ones (you can always see them running around at the pet store while the Syrians are asleep).

But it does look too dark to be one of the grays, unless Blue fawn is darker on the head.

[Anira]

Actually, when I'm at the pet store, ALL of the rodents are asleep. Only things awake are the birds and ferrets.

The picture you posted does not look like there is any fawn coloring. In fact, it looks like there's some white patches on it (not quite mottled). It would be best to see the animal in person, if you are really concerned about the true color.

I suppose the main question is, are you looking at that particular hamster to buy, or are you trying to find a good reference picture?