u/JuniorTheCat

pardon me if this has been asked many times but i have searched and cant seem to find an answer that is helpful to me currently (also, most of the stuff i found was from at least a year ago so i want more current answers)

ive been going to the same GP for like 15+ years, but now that im an adult ive realized that not only does he kind of suck (i feel like he doesnt take my concerns seriously), hes never really been helpful in terms of my mental health nor my transition. i am on T, going through it with foria so im not specifically looking for a doctor that will prescribe me T. hopefully this will broaden my options. i just want a doctor who doesnt suck and that i hate to visit because of that, and wont invalidate me or perform medical malpractice on me lol. i would really really prefer to stay within mississauga. i dont need anyone who specializes in queer healthcare (though thatd be nice) i just need a doctor who will listen to me and actually take my concerns seriously without being transphobic or queerphobic in any way.

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! and also maybe a brief rundown on how to switch doctors as ive never had to do that before. would i just call the new clinic to see if theyre taking patients and then tell them i want to move to their practice? do they request my medical records or do i have to tell my old clinic to send them my records?

thanks in advance yall :) i just want to not hate going to the doctor, it gives me so much anxiety and i know a part of that is just the fact that i do not trust my doctor nor feel that he is actually able to help me in any significant way

so, unfortunately, my hamster passed away two weeks ago. i am still very sad, of course, but i want to adopt or rescue a new hamster since i still have food and stuff and i miss the sounds of my hamster digging around and running at night

the thing is, i dont know what to do with her old stuff since most of her stuff is still pretty much new/mostly unused. there are chews and stuff i would definitely replace since she bit them and wore them down, but stuff like her wooden hide and other wooden items/her sandbox are things that are pretty much in perfect shape. is there any way to sanitize and clean these things? would sticking the wooden items in the oven be enough? and using a small pet surface cleaner for the plastic items be okay?

also, before my hamster died, i had changed her bedding completely since i thought maybe there was something in it making her sick (not the case, she just somehow got bloat). she was in the enclosure with the completely new bedding for one day before i moved her to a seperate smaller enclosure (as per vets recommendation), should i still completely remove all the bedding in the enclosure? or just the part where i know she burrowed and stayed in there for that night? she was bery lethargic at that point and i know she didnt go anywhere but the burrow she made, so is it okay to leave that new bedding there and just replace the burrow area? i would still remove all the bedding to clean the enclosure itself, of course, im just wondering if any of that bedding could be salvaged or if i have to buy another bag.

also similarly, is there a way to clean the sand? i had also completely changed her sand that day and i saw her use the new one maybe like twice before she died. is there a way to clean the sand itself or should i replace that?

and finally any tips for keeping a baby hamster (old enough to be separated from mama of course) would be appreciated. i got my previous hamster at about 4 months old so she was pretty much an adult already but this time id like to adopt a baby from any accidental litters i may hear about. is it much different than keeping an adult? do they eat the same things?

tw, im going to be describing my hamsters decline, it may be sad to read

im not looking for medical advice, i already have it. ive been to a vet, i have another appointment on thursday (earliest possible date they had) to see what can be done, so dont remove my post because im not asking for advice. i just want to vent.

my hamster recently was put on antibiotics for a likely respiratory infection (they said they couldnt be 100% sure without an xray but it would cost me almost a thousand dollars to do it, so they recommended we treat it as an infection and see if there is improvement). there wasnt any, shes only gotten worse. shes lost a significant amount of weight, shes lethargic, her under belly is covered in dry urine or maybe poop i cant tell to be honest (i have been trying to clean it but she really doesnt let me clean enough, but better some relief than none), and now that area seems to have a rash from being dirty (theres a red line, i dont think its blood but it seems painful).

all this to say... im really fucking bummed out. she was seemingly fine just a couple weeks ago, and then shit hit the fan. i feel like a failure, i wanted her to have the happiest, longest possible life with me. i bought her because i wanted to save her from the typical fate that pet store hamsters get, crammed in a tiny plastic box with tubes and no bedding... i should have played with her more and talked to her more. shes not dead but it really feels like she will be soon. ive never lost a pet before, my only other pet is my cat and he is still alive and well at almost 14 years old. i dont know what im going to do when manchas dies, especially if she dies from this mystery illness. i always thought she'd die in her sleep of old age, not wasting away in pain, having her final days with me marred by me having to restrain her to medicate and clean her. i fear she hates me now and that will be the last thing she ever felt for me

anyway, i will leave it there because i started actually sobbing while typing this out. i love you manchas, i hope you pull through but if you dont, i will always love you