One More Day!

Nimbus's birthday is TOMORROW!!!! 

I cannot begin to explain how excited I am. I'm really hoping that everything goes well tomorrow at the vet. I don't know how I'll be able to handle getting more bad news. We've been waiting so long for this moment, and if I can't give Nimbus a dust bath tomorrow after the appointment, I might I will break down and cry! Most likely in the vet's office!

It's been a long, slow process of recovery. And in every single moment, Nimbus has been the bravest little chinchilla in the world. He's suffered through all the vet visits, all the medications and the surgery itself without turning against humanity into a sour, angry critter and never once faltered in his love for play time. If anything, he's friendlier and more tolerant of human interaction! With everything he went through, Nimbus never slowed down. He's an amazing creature.

I'm still deciding what I want to do tomorrow. His vet appointment isn't until - this is going to suck - 2:45 in the afternoon. Yes, a 2:45 appointment for a nocturnal animal. This could be the last straw for Nimbus!

In all honesty, I haven't really prepared for his birthday. I've had my head in the clouds trying to get this whole job situation in control. Sadly, I was unable to travel to Kentucky yesterday due to bad weather... which means I'm in a bad mood. I looked forward to that trip for a week because I really need a break from this town. The interview is rescheduled for the end of next week, so I do have that to look forward to. It's not a closed door, just a postponed one. In the meantime, I sit at home caring for Sansa as she tears up the house wanting to go outside. The post operation paperwork for her spay surgery says she can't go outside until Monday, but I don't know how much more I can take. During the day, I keep her from hurting herself by detaching her from the curtains hanging over the door window, which she climbs like a clawed monkey. Then, in the evenings before bed, I sit on the floor in front of the chinchilla cage to bodily block her from Nimbus when he's put up between play times. Furthermore, I found bloody diarrhea in the litter box this morning. I'm 99% sure it belongs to Sansa, but you never know when something goes wrong like we found out with Nimbus. So, it could be Sparta! I'm on the look-out for the culprit, and I'm praying it doesn't end in a vet visit.

We're certainly going to celebrate tomorrow with that huge dust bath (vet willing), but I wish I could give him something unexpected like a different type of hanging toy. Still, money is tight, and this town is small. There aren't a lot of choices for small pet products. Well, the only way to know is to get in the car and head to town.

To the store!!

* * * * 

I've just returned from the store with birthday paraphernalia in hand. I must have stood in the small pet aisle of our local little pet shop for over half an hour. There just isn't anything there for chinchillas. Well, there is, but it's not chin safe. There were treat mixes full of dry fruit and nuts. There were hanging toys with all sorts of dye and unlabeled woods. I thought about getting the Ball Pen, like a McDonald's play area filled with those colored balls, but they're made of plastic and I wasn't sure if Nimbus would even bother with it. Then, I looked at carriers because of the recent vet visits and we might be moving. According to the packaging, it's suggested that you buy a wire cage that fits inside as well as the carrier (I see what you did there, Super Pet!). Aside from the fact that the pet store didn't have any of the smaller cages, I couldn't afford to buy both anyway. In the end, I found a grass play mat right as I was headed for the door. What luck! It was a very reasonable price, and Nimbus's current play mat is a disastrous health hazard because he pees on it. This one is made for a full-grown rabbit. I plan to cut it into two and place one in the usual spot and the other on a lower level. 

I know he'll love it because he always loves a good play mat, but I was disappointed as I walked out of the store. I love to spoil my pets, and I wish I had the financial resources to do it. I promised myself that when I get a job, Nimbus will get the birthday gift he deserves for being my awesome "bunny squirrel." Also on the list of items to save up for once I get that awesome job is a larger cage. But, that comes much later. 

In the back of my head, I know Nimbus will be overjoyed just to have the dust bath. He doesn't need more things in his cage to know that I love him. For the past couple of days, I've noticed his fur is becoming oily and separating. That dust bath will be the ultimate gift, and I hope to score The Squeak of Happiness. 

Chris and I will also celebrate with a double fudge chocolate cake! I shall try my best to make a little chinchilla face on top, but let's not get our hopes up. Nimbus, meanwhile, will be presented with a raisin on a plate! And, he will think it is the greatest day ever!

An Interesting Article about Chinchillas

I decided to scroll through Google News to see if there were any interesting articles about chinchillas. Maybe there was a new discovery, a recent recommendation on care or a newsworthy chinchilla-related incident in the past few weeks. Here's what I found:

This is an article from The Standard in China. The story, titled "How raisin got my chins wagging," is written by Georgina Noyce, and it was published on January 14. The narrative provides a quick look at how chinchillas can pick up specific phrases from their owners.

"Laughing at a recent article about owner/trainers who have taught their border collie to understand more than 1,000 words - including elements of grammar, based on the use of the dog's toys - I looked down at my lot and wondered where to start.

In the past, my chinchillas (chins) learned a few basic words - bed, home, raisin, no, up, down, here - and all the dogs and cats have a basic grasp of the words most relevant to them."

Read the rest of the story HERE!

Attack of the Nimbus

Nimbus knows who his mommy is. Everyone else is just everyone else to him. Chinchillas are quite loyal creatures, and even Chris, who has lived in this house since October, has difficulty getting Nimbus to interact with him. I'm not at the level of training Nimbus to do tricks or pick him up without difficulty (like the girl in the video below), but I can tell that he's bonded with me and only me... to a certain extent.

A perfect example is when my friend Morgan visited one night. Morgan is this drop dead gorgeous girl, who I had English classes with. We graduated together last month, and since then, she is living her life to the fullest. On a whim, she moved to the Virgin Islands and has been boating, chilling on the beaches and taking her life in a completely unexpected direction. She actually invited me to go with her. I was stunned and humbled by the offer, but I knew Nimbus would be miserable in the heat and noise of such a place. Sparta, too, but it was Nimbus I worried about. I declined, but I still think about what if... I actually found a posting for a reporter opening at a newspaper in the Virgin Islands. I might have shot myself in the foot for not jumping at that chance.

Anyway, Morgan always found Nimbus to be "creepy," and I can see how she came to that conclusion, in a way. Here is this fuzzy large rodent hopping around anywhere he pleases with an odd bristly tail. Nimbus doesn't understand the concept of personal boundaries and once he got over his sense of apprehension at this stranger in his territory, he wanted to investigate and check her out. Well, Morgan wasn't too keen on that, especially not with a chinchilla's preferred method of investigation.

Photo from quickmeme.com

Chinchillas discover the world through their whiskers and teeth. Their eyesight is poor, and if the object isn't moving, they really can't see it very well. There have been many occasions when Nimbus was joyfully running through the house and then BAM. He smacked right into a table leg because he couldn't see it coming. Horrible yet hilarious at the same time. So in order to get a sense of what they're up against, chinchillas will nibble. I know this, but Morgan didn't. Or, at least she didn't understand what that meant. There's a huge difference between a chinchilla bite and an exploratory nibble. Nimbus has drawn blood in two instances. My ex and Chris made a move he didn't like, and because he wasn't bonded to them, he showed them his displeasure. Nimbus has bitten me but never too hard. This happened a lot when giving him his medication, especially in the morning when he was sleeping. However, there seems to always be some restraint in those bites. It's more like a warning of "Don't mess with me right now" instead of a defense mechanism like "I'm protecting myself. Try that again, and you'll regret it." I think Morgan was under the impression that any contact with Nimbus's teeth meant he was about to attack. Really, she's a dog person, and I think Nimbus was intimidating. It's strange to watch a rabbit-squirrel-kangaroo like animal hopping around a living room. And when he takes off in a burst of energy, it's frighteningly stupefying.

Well, when Nimbus went to nibble Morgan to officially greet her, Morgan wasn't having any of it. She told me another one of our friends had texted her to come over. So, we prepared to leave. I sat on the floor of the living room near Nimbus's cage to eat a bowl of cereal before we left. Meanwhile, Morgan headed back to the couch from the kitchen where she'd dropped her beer bottle in the recycling bin. She walked toward the couch in her black stilettos to grab her purse and phone. By pure coincidence, Nimbus happened to be bouncing from the couch to the kitchen on whatever mission he'd planned. He and Morgan met in the middle of the living room. It was the classic trying to step around each other, but both taking steps to the same side. They went left. They went right. They went left again.

Finally, Nimbus grew pissed. This person was standing in his way and wouldn't let him pass. So, he attacked!

Nimbus has a very unusual way of attacking someone when they're standing above him. He goes for the feet. It's happened to me a couple of times. If I try to move Nimbus away from a book or DVD case that he's chewing and he's particularly fed up with my scoldings, he goes for the feet when I'm standing. It's basically him scrabbling at my socks with his front paws while making the angry chirping/barking noise. One day I'll get a video of him doing that because describing the sound just doesn't do it justice. The experience isn't painful or damaging in any way. I think it's hilarious! Well, Morgan didn't see it that way.

In reference to Achmed the Dead Terrorist ("SOB" is used in the linked video)

Still sitting on the floor, I watched as Nimbus dove at Morgan's feet to begin his attack. She screamed and ran.

"LEX! GET IT! GET IT! IT'S ATTACKING ME! OH MY GOSH, GET IT AWAY FROM ME!"

Morgan dashed between the kitchen counter and the dining table (my living and kitchen are connected as one room) and hid herself behind my roommate.

"I'm so sorry," she said to Chris as she clung to his shoulders. "I know I don't know you, but that thing was attacking me." She turned to me. "Lex, get it! Put it up. Oh my gosh, it's coming this way!"

I was trying not to slosh milk everywhere because I was laughing that hard. I shook my head, sputtering. "I can't. I can't breathe!" I laughed.

When my laughter settled, I set the bowl of cereal aside and reached out to Chris. "Hand me the Chinchiller," I said, referring to the granite rock that keeps chinchillas cool. Chris turned toward the refrigerator where we keep one at all times. This left Morgan completely exposed.

"No, no!" she cried, pointing. "He's under the table! He's under the table."

I burst out laughing again. "I see him," I answered. "I said Chinchiller. It's his rock thing."

Chris moved past Morgan and handed me the Chinchiller, and I handed him the warm one from the cage to put in the fridge. After I replaced the Chinchiller, I went for Nimbus and got him safely into his cage. Morgan, however, was scarred for life. She never came over to the house again... and maybe that was because she never had the time or something along those lines, but I believe it was because of Nimbus.

I still can't help laughing at this story, and I've been chuckling this whole time as I write it. Morgan tells this story often, but she does leave out the part about shuddering behind my roommate and shrieking about the rodent on the loose! Obviously, Nimbus has some attitude issues, but he always provides entertainment. I'm sorry, Morgan!! He's just a bit impatient. To any other friends that want to come over, I'd let the chinchilla have the right-of-way!!!

Photo from cheezburger.com

Days 2 and 3

Day 2:

9:00 a.m. Nimbus gets his first dose of medicine. As a reward, we give him a pinch of dust to roll his cheek against. Eyes are bright. Still drinking water. No problems during the night.

9:40 a.m. Time for Nimbus's second medication. I take him out of his cage, wrap him in his blanket and hold him for Chris to give the syringe. Unfortunately, I wasn't holding tight enough and slips out of my grasp. Running through the cat water bowl and under the bed, we face a dilemma of how to safely get him back. However, his sense of adventure takes over, and he comes out on his own! I pick him up, and we get the medicine down. 

11:00 a.m. Give Nimbus his playlist.

12:12 p.m. Leave to run some quick errands, take iPod with me.

3:13 p.m. Check on Nimbus after being home for a few hours. He is up, moving around and eating. His eyes look much better! 

5:26 p.m. Nimbus barks from his cage. I check on and calm him down with a chin rub. Unsure of what set him off. 

8:30 p.m. Nimbus is allowed to play on the bed. He's nervous at first because a friend is over, but he's met her before. He scampers across the blanket draped over the bed. As a reward for his suffering, I fill a necklace box lid with some dust. He bathes and rolls his face in the box lid, overjoyed. Sadly, I realize that the ointment around his eyes that bother him so much is a process we'll have to go through again. When he gets his stitches out, there will be more ointment as he'll have to go under. I worry about money. 

9:05 p.m. Nimbus gets his third syringe of medication. He struggles, and Chris gets 2/3 of the medicine in. He goes to put in the rest, but Nimbus is at his limit. I refuse to put him through anymore and allow him to play on the bed again. We worry about how his stitches are doing. So, Chris brings out a Cheerio and gets Nimbus to balance on his back feet while reaching out with his paws for the treat. I'm able to see his shaved arm and the stitches. Everything looks normal. 

12:30 a.m. When cleaning Nimbus's cage of loose hay and dropping, the chinchilla makes his escape!   Although the door was open, we quickly retrieve him back into the bedroom. Then, we bribe and coax and corral for about 7 minutes until at last I capture him from under the bed.

Photo from memecenter.com

Day 3: 

Zero sleep occurs during the night. I wake up in a terrible mood. 

9:05 a.m. Nimbus is sleepy and moody, like me. We give him both morning doses of medication to get it over with. He pees on my hand but otherwise takes it quite well. 

11:00 a.m. I get my oil changed in town while Chris stays home with Nimbus and Sparta.

4:40 p.m. Nimbus is awake and bouncing around. I can tell he's been eating. Haven't heard him drinking, grinding his teeth against the metal tube of the water bottle. 

8:00 p.m. Time for play on the bed. I clean the top floors and blankets in his cage. At the end of playtime, I start his playlist on the iPod. 

9:10 p.m. Nimbus gets his last dose of medicine for today. He takes it relatively easy then is released onto the bed for playtime. Chris creates a game of Find the Cheerio with cups and small boxes while I clean the bottom tray of the cage. I clear out all the bedding, droppings, etc. then clean the bottom with cage cleaner. After spreading out new bedding, I'm allowed to join in the fun with Nimbus. 

11:18 p.m. Nimbus gets to play one last time before lights out. 

Photo from memecenter.com