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SPCA Rescues 48 Hamsters From Hoarder At MacPherson, Now Looking For Fosterers

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) attended to a hoarding case at MacPherson on Mar. 12, and found a total of 51 Syrian hamsters in the flat.

Rescued

Speaking to Mothership, SPCA's Executive Director, Aarthi Sankar, shared that they were first alerted to the case by the Brahm Centre, a local mental health charity.

Many of the hamsters were found housed together in small cages and in poor welfare conditions, and many had acquired injuries.

Video courtesy of SPCA

Hamsters are solitary animals and prolific breeders, Sankar said. When housed in groups, they may breed excessively or get into fights with other hamsters.

Videos SPCA took of the situation showed multiple hamsters in one cage, with some missing patches of fur, and their bedding covered in poop and surrounded by flies.

Video courtesy of SPCA

Video courtesy of SPCA

SPCA ended up rescuing 48 hamsters from the house.

24 of the hamsters which were unwell and required immediate medical attention, or had previous injuries, were taken in by the SPCA.

The remaining 24 were taken in by hamster rescue groups Little Hammy Rescue Singapore and Hamster Society Singapore.

Here they are being assessed by the SPCA's vet.

Photo courtesy of SPCA

SPCA left three hamsters behind for the owner to care for in three separate cages, so as to allow him a few pets for companions.

All three hamsters are males, which will prevent accidental breeding and overpopulation.

However, SPCA emphasised that while people may keep pets for companionship when they feel socially isolated, it is equally important to ensure the welfare of these pets.

SPCA's volunteers guided the resident on proper care for hamsters and taught him how to keep their enclosures clean.

SPCA will also conduct follow-up unannounced visits to ensure the resident does not acquire any more hamsters.

Looking for fosterers

Meanwhile, the 48 hamsters that were rescued will be treated, fostered, and put up for adoption.

SPCA is currently looking for hamster fosterers, as taking in 24 of these creatures means that the organisation is currently "beyond [its] capacity" to take in any other emergency cases.

Photo courtesy of SPCA

Fosterers have to be aged 21 and above, and preferably have experience handling hamsters.

Those who would like to help but do not have a suitable enclosure to house the hamsters in can also reach out to SPCA.

Hamsters require an enclosure that is around 80cm by 50cm.

SPCA added:

"Fosterers should be able to provide a temporary home for our rescued hamsters, including medical care, visits to the vet, and day-to-day care like feeding and changing of bedding.

In other words, fosterers should care for the rescued hamsters like they are their own, until they find their forever homes. The SPCA will be able to provide follow-up veterinary care if fosterers are unable to bring them to their own clinics."

Those who have enclosures in good condition that they do not need can also donate them to SPCA.

Interested parties can fill out SPCA's form here.

Top photo courtesy of SPCA 

Anti-inflammatory Drugs May Restore COVID-19 Smell Loss

(Photo : (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images))

Giving anti-inflammatory drugs, such as corticosteroids, early on could help people regain their sense of smell after being infected with Covid-19, according to a new study.

Over 27 million people worldwide have experienced Covid-related loss of smell or taste. Olfactory dysfunction caused by the disease typically resolves within 2-4 weeks. Yet, in some cases, symptoms persist for longer. Now, scientists are looking at drugs that could help patients regain their sense of smell in the early stages of infection.

Several theories exist about how SARS-CoV-2 infection affects smell. One hypothesis is that the virus directly affects the olfactory nerve cells responsible for signaling odor information to the brain. 

However, the leading theory is that the infection affects cells in the nasal cavity. One way this can happen is through innate immune cells - cells produced and released by the immune system to fight off infection. When infected with COVID-19, the human body produces immune cells that destroy the infected nasal cells to fight off the virus. However, even when no signs of SarsCov-2 are left, the prolonged presence of innate immune cells in the tissue persists. This may explain why a person can recover from COVID-19 but still lack the ability to smell.

"This is something that has been demonstrated for lots of cases with SarsCov-2," Nicolas Meunier, an author of the study and a neurobiologist specializing in smell, told Tech Times in an interview. "After the infection, inflammation remains really high in the tissue. Even when the viruses had been cleared." 

Anti-inflammatories like corticosteroids are important drugs to fight inflammation. Now, Meunier and his colleagues studied how these drugs would affect olfactory recovery. 

In the study, researchers infected hamsters with SARS-CoV-2 and treated them with dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, starting two days after infection. The team evaluated viral load, weight loss, food intake, and olfactory abilities.

To study the hamsters' smell abilities, the team used a "buried food test." This is a test where scientists see if animals can find hidden food in their bedding. The food, often a small piece of cheese, is hidden below the surface of the substrate at different depths. The hamster is then placed in the test environment, where it has limited time to locate the hidden food. Researchers change how deep they hide the food to see how well animals can use their sense of smell to find it.

"We decided to make the test a bit harder for them [hamsters] by putting the food very deep into the bedding. It was surprising to see an animal not be able to detect food digged just five centimeters below. They lose this [olfactory] ability a few days after infection," added Meunier.

Hamsters given anti-inflammatory medicine did better at finding hidden food than those who didn't. The team also checked the nerve cells in the noses of hamsters. They found that hamsters treated with corticosteroids had more of these cells than those who didn't get the treatment. This might mean that the drugs helped the hamsters' sense of smell improve.

"Olfactory neurons [nerve cells] detect the odors and associability to smell, and [...] they were at a higher level after the treatment with corticoids," adds Meunier.

Meunier and his team also noticed that hamsters treated with dexamethasone ate more food than the ones who didn't get the treatment. This might be because they were better at smelling and finding the food. But caution is needed when looking at these patterns. "It is difficult to say that this [extra food intake] is only related to the improvement in olfactory skills because corticoids are known to increase feeding behavior. You usually eat more when you are treated with corticoids," Meunier explains.

The findings suggest that corticosteroid treatments could work well if given early when someone first notices they can't smell properly. Junki Maruyama, a professor at UTMB who was not involved in the study, said in an interview that the results could be applied to human patients, "especially to prevent long-term olfactory dysfunction." 

But Meunier is a bit more cautious. "There are a lot of secondary effects that make these drugs not so easy to give to humans." He finishes by saying that his study is just the beginning of figuring out how anti-inflammatory drugs might help lessen the impact of viral infections on the sense of smell.

 About the author: Bárbara Pinho is a freelance science journalist. Her work work has appeared in New Scientist, Chemistry World, Discover, Chemistry & Industry News, and National Geographic. Her website is https://www.Barbarapinho.Com/ 

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48 Hamsters Rescued From Hoarder; Fosterers Needed

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), together with Little Hammy Rescue Singapore (LHRS) and Hamster Society Singapore (HSS), have rescued 48 hamsters from a hoarder.

SPCA executive director Aarthi Sankar told Mothership that many of the hamsters were kept together in small cages and poor conditions. 

Hamsters are solitary animals and prolific breeders. LHRS wrote on Facebook that many of the rescued hamsters bore fight wounds and bite marks on their bodies.

Half of the rescued hamsters, which were unwell and required immediate medical attention, went to SPCA. The other 24 hamsters are with LHRS and HSS. 

"Fosterers should be able to provide a temporary home for our rescued hamsters, including medical care, visits to the vet, and day-to-day care like feeding and changing of bedding," according to SPCA.

"In other words, fosterers should care for the rescued hamsters like they are their own, until they find their forever homes. SPCA will be able to provide follow-up veterinary care if fosterers are unable to take them to their own clinics."

Anyone keen to foster the hamsters can fill in the form at bit.Ly/12marchfoster

Hamsters require an enclosure that is around 80cm by 50cm. Anyone with hamster enclosures they no longer need can drop them off at SPCA at 50 Sungei Tengah Road.

Those who wish to help LHRS with care and vet bills can donate via PayNow to UEN T22LL1163A or PayPal to littlehammyrescuesg@gmail.Com

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