I hadn’t posted about this ’til now because I was upset. You’re
going to laugh at me for being so upset, but hey, I’m pregnant, that’s
going to be my excuse.
I’ve mentioned we got Lindsay (ok ok, and myself) a pet hamster a few
months back. Lindsay loved watching the hamster in the evenings,
both in it’s cage, running in the wheel or trying to escape by climbing
it’s water bottle and pushing on the lid, or running around, careening
into things in it’s little hamster ball, while I had grown fond of and
looked forward to our nightly "hand feedings". Peanut would
scurry over and hop up into my hand for a new shipment of treats and
food, which she would happily stuff into her cheeks for later enjoyment
while I pet her back and scratched her ears.
Well, Saturday morning, while Barney and I were finishing putting
Lindsay’s new bed together (another tale to come), I noticed Lindsay
was being very quiet in the next room, so I snuck around the door to
take a peek. There she was, just resting her little chin on her
hands on the table, peacefully watching Peanut run in her wheel and
such. It was so cute, I had to call Barney to come see. The
rest of the day went as a usual weekend does, we headed into town and
played around, then came home and had dinner and put Lindsay to
bed.
Barney noticed the hamster wasn’t running around like it usually does
when we enter the room in the evenings, so he went over to
investigate. He then told me she had escaped. WHAT?! "No really, she’s not in there" he told me. I
rushed over and sure enough, didn’t see her in any of her usual
sleeping spots or anything. I frantically dug around in the
shavings to make sure she wasn’t hiding under them, and sure enough,
there she was. Only, she wasn’t hiding. She was dead!
I couldn’t believe my eyes. There she was, stretched out, cold to
the touch, and lying still as stone.
I scooped her up and, don’t make fun of me, but I tried giving her CPR,
and I don’t know if it worked or what, but she moved! I could
tell she was on her last legs, but I dripped some water into her mouth
anyways and warmed her up in a microwaved facecloth. I felt so
bad for it! After a few minutes, she finally passed away, and I
don’t know why it hit me so hard, but I was really upset. I know
it’s just a hamster, but damn it, I liked that hamster, and we took
darn good care of that hamster. It was a mixture of anger,
sadness, and confusion, simply because I have no idea why such a
seemingly healthy hamster died. She was running around, drinking,
eating, pooping that very morning, and then dead by nighfall. I
don’t get it.
I did some research online and found that maybe it was either a
bacterial infection from eating her bedding, or a congenital heart
defect that strikes hamsters around her age. Whatever it was, it
killed her, and we no longer have our little Peanut. :(
This is the thing that makes having animals suck, because you get
attached to them, and then have to let them go, usually before you’re
ready to. At least Lindsay is too young to understand, although
she did blow a kiss to the empty cage I had moved upstairs for
disinfecting. That was pretty heart-wrenching.
We went and got some fish for her to watch in the hamsters place
though, and she hasn’t even noticed the hamster’s gone because there’s
a new distraction. She now blows kisses to the fish, and points
them out when we go in the family room.
Anyway, that’s the sad tale of poor Peanut, the short-lived hamster. Let’s have a moment of silence. 