Cecilia the Wonder Hamster
Well, she wasn't really a wonder hamster...but she was cute and fuzzy and noisy and busy and....and now she's dead.
I knew it was going to happen, and I pretty much knew when. See, I went to Cleveland for a few days two weeks ago for a Heart concert (birthday gift from a friend - he was already going and bought me a ticket too - so we had separate seats - boy what a gift - but it was still a fun time) and I noticed as I was giving her food before I left that she had not only lost weight (as much as a hamster could lose) but also had one eye closed. It was sort of crusted over, and she didn't like me poking at it so I didn't. I worried about it on my trip and when I talked to my boyfriend (whose only job during my absense was to check on the hamster), he said 'she's still kicking' and joked about leaving it for me to take care of should she die in my absence. Ha effing ha.
So I thought about it through most of my trip. Would she die while I was gone, or shortly after I got home, or did she just get water on the fur around her eye and is she going to be OK? Well, I came home late that Thursday and had gone straight to bed without checking on her because I drove the *entire* 4-hour trip there and the *entire* 4-hour trip home, not to mention around Cleveland and from there to Sandusky (to go to the islands) and from Sandusky to Toledo to catch 75 home. Needless to say, I was half-dead when I came in (friend didn't offer to drive, so I drove the whole way, dumb me), so I shot my boyfriend a quick e-mail telling him I'd made it home and went straight to bed.
The next day, I had post-birthday plans with another friend of mine, and I sort of vegged all day until she got off of work. Later that day, I realized I hadn't heard Cecilia running on her wheel or messing around in her cage...but that didn't occur to me until I was with my friend. So we bought an eye-dropper so I could flush out her eye in the hopes it wasn't an infection and went back to my place to help out Cecilia...and that's when I found her dead. *sigh* I knew as soon as I bought the eye dropper that it was too little too late.
I had some checks to destroy because I'm changing banks, so I used the box as a little hamster coffin and lined it with tissue paper (which I had gotten in a birthday gift from the friend I went to Cleveland with) and my friend and I buried her around the corner of my apartment building. She's against the wall and right under my bedroom. I obviously live in an apartment on the corner of the building, and she's not under my window because that faces the street and I thought it would be too obvious, us digging there, so she's a few feet around the corner buried against the wall and next to a bush. I think she'll like it there.
It was cute. Well, not cute. I'm not taking this lightly. But I thought her position was sort of neat. She was curled in a ball in her pine shavings and cotton nest (she wouldn't use the tube, for some reason), so she had died in her sleep. That made me happy...I'm glad she didn't suffer. She had a litter of pups when I first got her...the idiots at the pet store put a boy in with four females and they were all pregnant...I bought the one female that didn't *look* pregnant, but she was and gave birth a few days later. Boy they have short gestation periods. Anyway, I gave one of her 8 pups to my boyfriend, and the other 7 back to the pet store (a different one, after making sure they separated boys and girls) - so Cecilia's life goes on. And after I buried her, I gave her food and treats (I bought more stuff for that hamster!) to my boyfriend for his hamster, Nibblet.
I knew it was going to happen, and I pretty much knew when. See, I went to Cleveland for a few days two weeks ago for a Heart concert (birthday gift from a friend - he was already going and bought me a ticket too - so we had separate seats - boy what a gift - but it was still a fun time) and I noticed as I was giving her food before I left that she had not only lost weight (as much as a hamster could lose) but also had one eye closed. It was sort of crusted over, and she didn't like me poking at it so I didn't. I worried about it on my trip and when I talked to my boyfriend (whose only job during my absense was to check on the hamster), he said 'she's still kicking' and joked about leaving it for me to take care of should she die in my absence. Ha effing ha.
So I thought about it through most of my trip. Would she die while I was gone, or shortly after I got home, or did she just get water on the fur around her eye and is she going to be OK? Well, I came home late that Thursday and had gone straight to bed without checking on her because I drove the *entire* 4-hour trip there and the *entire* 4-hour trip home, not to mention around Cleveland and from there to Sandusky (to go to the islands) and from Sandusky to Toledo to catch 75 home. Needless to say, I was half-dead when I came in (friend didn't offer to drive, so I drove the whole way, dumb me), so I shot my boyfriend a quick e-mail telling him I'd made it home and went straight to bed.
The next day, I had post-birthday plans with another friend of mine, and I sort of vegged all day until she got off of work. Later that day, I realized I hadn't heard Cecilia running on her wheel or messing around in her cage...but that didn't occur to me until I was with my friend. So we bought an eye-dropper so I could flush out her eye in the hopes it wasn't an infection and went back to my place to help out Cecilia...and that's when I found her dead. *sigh* I knew as soon as I bought the eye dropper that it was too little too late.
I had some checks to destroy because I'm changing banks, so I used the box as a little hamster coffin and lined it with tissue paper (which I had gotten in a birthday gift from the friend I went to Cleveland with) and my friend and I buried her around the corner of my apartment building. She's against the wall and right under my bedroom. I obviously live in an apartment on the corner of the building, and she's not under my window because that faces the street and I thought it would be too obvious, us digging there, so she's a few feet around the corner buried against the wall and next to a bush. I think she'll like it there.
It was cute. Well, not cute. I'm not taking this lightly. But I thought her position was sort of neat. She was curled in a ball in her pine shavings and cotton nest (she wouldn't use the tube, for some reason), so she had died in her sleep. That made me happy...I'm glad she didn't suffer. She had a litter of pups when I first got her...the idiots at the pet store put a boy in with four females and they were all pregnant...I bought the one female that didn't *look* pregnant, but she was and gave birth a few days later. Boy they have short gestation periods. Anyway, I gave one of her 8 pups to my boyfriend, and the other 7 back to the pet store (a different one, after making sure they separated boys and girls) - so Cecilia's life goes on. And after I buried her, I gave her food and treats (I bought more stuff for that hamster!) to my boyfriend for his hamster, Nibblet.
posted by Donna @ 2:48 PM
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