Yesterday completed full day number two since Sam & Elliot came to be with us. We've settled into quite a routine and have already learned some things along the way. We're much better at feeding, meaning milk gets sucked into their noses. When that happens, it can be aspirated--don't you hate that feeling...when something you're drinking goes up you nose?
They're fed with a medicine syringe like the ones you use for babies, but as they both settled in and gotten more used to us, they've started competing with one another to get to the food. I looked in a drawer in the kitchen I used to keep baby stuff handy so I wouldn't have to run upstairs all the time when the girls were babies and found a couple of extra medicine syringes. They were both smaller than the other one, but actually work better. They glide easier when pushing the plunger and allows Sam & Elliot to suck the milk out of the end rather than pushing it into their mouths. Another plus? Sam & Elliot can both be fed at the same time. With close supervision, I've allowed Mackenzie & Maura to begin feeding them and it works out much better with the two little syringes. Someone suggested a hamster bottle, but I'd tried that and it did not work. The milk came out too fast for them. All the information I've found online indicated baby medicine syringes were the best way to go. Thankfully, my de-cluttering journey had not been completed as far as that kitchen drawer yet!
Sam & Elliot still sleep a lot, but as they start to get more active, I'm going to have to find something better than an AVON box for them to stay contained. For now, they're small enough and sleep so much, that it works fine. It fits well on the heating pad and they have a nice snuggie area in the corner of our bedroom.
Bedroom, you say? Well, it was the safest place where we could close the door when we weren't in the room and where we knew they'd have complete supervision. With two cats and a dog in the house, you can't be too careful! Princess Amber Star is a cocker spaniel, a hunting dog, after all! Buddy is almost 17 years old, our orange cat, but I still wouldn't trust him and Josie, she's about 8 and I definitely wouldn't trust her!
They hardly ever pay attention to the hamsters any more, but you can bet if they got out of the cage...that'd be another story. Since Buddy is the oldest and sleeps a lot, usually on our bed, I felt bad about kicking him out of the bedroom. He also likes to sleep in my office chair so I made him a big, fluffy bed under my desk on my favorite blanket. Notice I said my favorite blanket. I've never liked him laying on this blanket because it seems to collect cat hair like nobody's business and it's hard to get it all out! But we all have to make sacrifices, I guess! Plus, I'd always be kicking him out of my chair. He seems to have adjusted well.
Since I have to work and do everything now in three-hour increments, I guess I'd better get working! I'll post more pictures and updates as the journey continues.
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