Remember Little Miss Pitty-Pat? She is the Syrian hamster that I adopted to be entertainment for MacKenzie after his “baby” and companion, Yellow Boy, passed away.
Pitty-Pat is a big, companionable hamster who actively squeeks at me to hand over some fresh food when she sees me. She isn’t afraid of me, but won’t let me pick her up at all; I never handled her while MacKenzie was here, because… cat claws and teeth!!
Last night I gave Pitty-Pat some treats and headed off to bed to read for awhile.
Just as I was getting ready to turn off the light and go to sleep I noticed a little brown body slip into the space between the dresser and the wall. Oh, no… Pitty-Pat!! I was out of bed in a flash and the fun began. Here’s the timeline of the major events:
- 1:45 am: I glimpse the hamster ducking behind my dresser in the bedroom.
- 1:46 am: There is some door slamming and the emergency pillow containment systems are deployed.
- 1:48 am: I found a flashlight and I’ve managed to pull out the dresser from the wall in a hamster-friendly manner while blocking all the exits with pillows. Whew! Why is this dresser so heavy?
- 1:49 am: Pitty-Pat runs out to check on my progress. I think that she squeeked off a little hamster raspberry as she dove back under the dresser.
- 1:55 am: I begin rescue operations using the flashlight and an old curtain rod to try to sweep Pitty-Pat out from under the dresser and into a box baited with apple slices.
2:00 am: She went into the box!! I carefully uprighted the box and tried to get out from behind the dresser with her. Aww. She was so cute in there. I was thinking of taking a picture of her when suddenly…
2:01 am: She decided to bail on the box. There was an explosion of squawking as Litte Miss erupted out of box, landed on a pillow,Ā and scurried back to her under-dresser playground.
2:05 am: After searching the garage a box with a lid was located.
2:11 am: I tried the “sweep the hamster into the box” trick again. Who knew a hamster could squawk so loudly? Finally she decided that she wanted the apples and I had her! - 2:15 am: Little Miss Pitty-Pat was safely returned to her cage. It looks like I didn’t latch the door correctly before.
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Where are my apples!! - Pitty-Pat immediately demands that her apple slices be handed over!
- 2:20 am: The exhausted hamster owner returns to bed. Little Miss Pitty-Pat also headed to bed with her apple slices.
How’s your stay-at-home going?
Yarn, Books & Roses 
Hilarious ! š And you in your night-time pyjamas, eh ?
I hope she really serves the purpose of keeping MacKenzie happy, for she doesn’t like being picked up and cuddled. And for why does one have a small pet, otherwise ? š
She runs in her wheel all night and the sound is soothing. You know, pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pitty-pat… MacKenzie would chill out on the table right next to her for hours.
Then it really does work. Goodonyer !
Mind, you wouldn’t want to be right next to her, I should think .. š
It is a silent wheel! I was so happy to find it at the pet store. It clips to the side of the cage and all I can hear is the little sound of her feet. It’s so soothing in a funny way. I don’t keep her in the room, however, because she is pretty noisy chomping on her food!
Oh, heaven forefend ! [grin]
You bring back memories. One of my boyfriends got a hamster, Houdini,…and my cat, Lana (Svetlana Marie), thought she was great entertainment, especially in her hamster ball. The cat would bat the ball across the kitchen and the hamster would roll back against the cat. Safe in that ball, the hamster was fearless. One day, we learned the hamster was just fearless. Houdini escaped his exercise ball near the cat dish and picked up and started munching the cat’s food, while Lana (the cat) simply watched. We quickly scooped Houdini back in, that time. Later, we learned the trick of setting out carrots to trap the hamster when he got out. However, we did handle him as much as he’d let us.
Pitty-Pat is just plain fearless, too. She escaped over Christmas (I think that she had a little grandson helper that time…) and spent several days dragging wool from MacKenzie’s bed into her cage and made a huge pile of cat food next to her cage. I didn’t understand what was happening for several days because she was returning to the cage every day to sleep in her nest. What a riot! MacKemzie evidently didn’t mess with her, and she always ran right up to him when he sat next to her cage.
I did try to handle her a little as she is happy to run right past me to get out of her cage, but she completely freaks out and is so fast and strong that I can’t hold her. There is also the outside chance that she might bite me… since I’m immunosuppressed I just don’t want to take that chance.
Well Iām exhausted just hearing your tale. Iām glad Miss Pitty-Pat ended up safely back in her cage and you were able to go back to bed:)
I kept thinking… I can’t believe this is happening!… as the misadventure kept evolving. It was pretty frustrating when she escaped again after the first capture. It was kind of like hamster meets the Keystone Cops… So funny I had to share, but I’d rather have a nice night’s sleeps. š
Aw! She’s cute. That sounds like an adventure she put you through!
Yep, she did that!! She was so worn out I don’t think she ran in her wheel at all after that.
My 10 year old cat Dawnie is snoring next to me on the lounge. Scottish folds can be very lazy and prone to arthritis so that’s where ‘chasey’ comes in. She loves being barrelled around the house and then hides under beds etc.,however that’s not the end of it. She discreetly leaves her tail hanging out for me to pull and shake (not too hard mind). If there’s not enough chasing I get yelled at, and off we go again. What a dag. Animal intelligence is a fascinating fact! Apart from that I am making many thermoses of tea and coffee to have in the parklands(isolated and fascinating) I am desperate for a ‘real’ coffee and dream of the day. However it’s a small hardship compared to others situations I realise. I love your hamster ‘tales’ and meant to mention the apricot roses š¹. How gorgeous are they and perhaps a fragrance?
These animals are so cute as you interact with them and it is pretty obvious that they have emotions too. I couldn’t believe that she was outrage to be back into her cage without the apple slices that she had traded her freedom for… of course I handed them right over!
These are different times, aren’t they. I have been going out a little but to my disgust the sunshine activates one of my autoimmune diseases and I really pay for it the next day with swollen joints and muscle pain. I envy you your outings to the parks.
The roses don’t have any blooms on them yet. The label and online information don’t say anything about scent, so I think that they are all about looks and hardiness. I plan to plant them with alyssum that does have a nice scent that I like.
I forget to say that I long for a Starbuck’s coffee so much! It’s not worth the risk, however. Someday…
What about Starbuck’s coffee you can brew at home?
I do have a machine and some good coffee, so I make myself a latte each morning. It never is quite what it is like in the store, however. Like I should complain about something so minor, right?! š
I miss buying coffee too. I have a real espresso machine, but I rarely do the milk. It makes such an awful sound, I just do espresso.
I ran out of milk for a couple of weeks and really liked the espresso too.
Oh my goodness! So funny, the way you tell it!
Well that all sounds like a very exciting night for you both! My friends Hamster escaped under the floor boards and youād here it charging around, she would leave food for it but it only came for it when she was in bed. Have you got a hamster ball? Now MacKenzie isnāt there a hamster ball would enable her to have some out of cage adventures with less risk. Sheās perhaps going to get much braver now thereās no cat around. Sheās very cute.
I don’t have a hamster ball because she just won’t let me pick her up at all, and I’m a little worried about her nipping me. I may get one anyway and we’ll see if I can train her to enter the ball on her own. She’s pretty unafraid of me as long as I don’t try to pick her up.
What an adventure for both of you! So glad she got back to her cage safe and sound with not too much stress for you!
I was really happy to get her back okay!!
Less stressful than yours, it seems š
Glad Miss Pitty-Pat was rescued and what a surprise she was hungry at the end of her adventure š
Well, I was only able to capture her when she decided to eat the apples, so once she was back in the cage she expected me to hand them over right away. She has a good memory, that one.
Well I am sure she enjoyed that Apple and you won’t leave that latch undone again ššš
Oh, I will be double checking that latch every time I open her cage from now on!
Oh wow my stay at home is not that exciting:) So glad you caught her and she’s safe.
I’m so glad I got her back safely too. Imagine, home 24/7, and I couldn’t even handle taking good care of a hamster. What a comedown that would have been!
Pitty-Pat and her latest escapade! She is so adorable…and sneaky, too. š I can’t believe she escaped and was collecting yarn and cat food! Clever hamster! ā¤
And going back to her cage to sleep every day! She is a happy hamster, she just wants more territory!
Your Pitty-Pat stories make me smile! Perfect medicine for our time!
Pitty-Pat: I aim to please. Do you have apple slices?
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