Hamsterlessness
11 March 2010 21:41![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
enismirdalHamsterlessness is a strange state. I keep thinking, "Need to feed Quinine and then I can lock up the back door," but actually, I don't need to feed Quinine and chuck out her old day's food, so could lock up right now... And every time I hear a noise from the corner of the room where the cages used to be, I jump up to say hello, only to realise it's a piece of paper rustling in a draught.
I took Quinine back to the vet yesterday. (Originally, the appointment slot was for Bob, but then she didn't need it, and Quinine had just finished her antibiotics for her chin and still had a big lump there, and was getting even more wobbly, so I asked if they could change the name and use it for Quinine.)
He looked at her, agreed that her legs were getting worse - she'd developed some sort of scoliosis in her spine that meant her tail was twisted and it seemed to have caused her to lose flexion in her back legs, so she'd totter on tiptoe, then overbalance and sprawl on one side. It didn't seem painful, just a bit uncomfortable, but meant getting around was becoming quite an issue for her. He also looked at the abscess and we wondered if there was a tumour underneath and the infection was just secondary (it kept scabbing over nicely but remained huge...). So the tally was bad legs, bad teeth, bad eyelid and weird lump, not to mention possible diabetes.
In general, he didn't think there was much more that could be done for her, and we shared the opinion that with small animals it's kinder to say goodbye a little sooner, while they're still interested in life and food and not obviously suffering, than leave them to decline for another two weeks or so until they're definitely suffering and miserable. So we decided to call it a day for Quinine and I returned home with my bank balance and hamster carrying box both depressingly lighter.
It was the right decision. I don't regret it. She'd had a good life, a decent length and most of it in pretty good health apart from the teeth issues. She went from being a wicked little bitey thing at the start, too fast to handle, to a very easy, calm and pretty bombproof hamster overall. She knew me and always came bouncing to the front of the cage to beg for treats. So she'd done all right for herself, and leaving her any longer would have just been selfish.
But I still hate doing that, deciding that as of now, one of my dear pets' lives stops.
It's doubly weird this time because that's it - no more hamsters till I know where I'll be living for at least 2 years into the future. I have three empty cages, and a weirdly large amount of floor space in my bedroom.
I'm quite sad really. Having no hamsters is no longer a natural state for The Eni.
I guess I'd better find myself a decent-length postdoc contract ASAP...
I took Quinine back to the vet yesterday. (Originally, the appointment slot was for Bob, but then she didn't need it, and Quinine had just finished her antibiotics for her chin and still had a big lump there, and was getting even more wobbly, so I asked if they could change the name and use it for Quinine.)
He looked at her, agreed that her legs were getting worse - she'd developed some sort of scoliosis in her spine that meant her tail was twisted and it seemed to have caused her to lose flexion in her back legs, so she'd totter on tiptoe, then overbalance and sprawl on one side. It didn't seem painful, just a bit uncomfortable, but meant getting around was becoming quite an issue for her. He also looked at the abscess and we wondered if there was a tumour underneath and the infection was just secondary (it kept scabbing over nicely but remained huge...). So the tally was bad legs, bad teeth, bad eyelid and weird lump, not to mention possible diabetes.
In general, he didn't think there was much more that could be done for her, and we shared the opinion that with small animals it's kinder to say goodbye a little sooner, while they're still interested in life and food and not obviously suffering, than leave them to decline for another two weeks or so until they're definitely suffering and miserable. So we decided to call it a day for Quinine and I returned home with my bank balance and hamster carrying box both depressingly lighter.
It was the right decision. I don't regret it. She'd had a good life, a decent length and most of it in pretty good health apart from the teeth issues. She went from being a wicked little bitey thing at the start, too fast to handle, to a very easy, calm and pretty bombproof hamster overall. She knew me and always came bouncing to the front of the cage to beg for treats. So she'd done all right for herself, and leaving her any longer would have just been selfish.
But I still hate doing that, deciding that as of now, one of my dear pets' lives stops.
It's doubly weird this time because that's it - no more hamsters till I know where I'll be living for at least 2 years into the future. I have three empty cages, and a weirdly large amount of floor space in my bedroom.
I'm quite sad really. Having no hamsters is no longer a natural state for The Eni.
I guess I'd better find myself a decent-length postdoc contract ASAP...
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 21:35 (UTC)no subject
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 21:40 (UTC)Gonna miss reading about the little furballs
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 22:04 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2010 21:42 (UTC)Sorry to hear about Quinine, though. No matter the size or type of pet, it's horrible when one passes.
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 22:01 (UTC)And yes, I tend to take the odds and ends other people don't want - Rubisco and Baytril were both rescues of unknown breeding, Quinine and Sucrose were from an accidental litter from pet shop hamsters, and Bob/Cyanide was from a good owner, but I have no information on her breeding. So yeah, especially with Baytril and Rubisco, I think the breeding and background made a lot of difference and contributed to them having fairly short lives (about a year for Baytril and about 16 months for Rubisco).
Maybe one day I'll go to a top-notch breeder and get a show-quality hamster to see if they're any different...but I'm a sentimental soul and rather like being the place where waifs and strays find a forever home, even if it runs me up huge vet bills and makes trips away a bit more fiddly!
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Date: 12 Mar 2010 11:35 (UTC)Maybe some new warm and fuzzy needs to be found? A Septrin or Caffiene or Panacur or Drontal perhaps?
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Date: 12 Mar 2010 20:46 (UTC)I'll get a new silly-named hamster as soon as I know where I'm living for the next few years. I just don't want to take on a new one now in the knowledge that our tenancy ends in September and I may leave the country then and would have to pass the poor thing on to someone else.
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 21:53 (UTC)no subject
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 22:03 (UTC)It's hard losing a pet that you love.
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 22:08 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2010 22:26 (UTC)*hugs you*
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Date: 11 Mar 2010 23:30 (UTC)I'm sorry. It's always hard to lose fur babies no matter how little.
<3
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Date: 12 Mar 2010 20:56 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Mar 2010 01:06 (UTC)Losing litte fluffs is horrible. I remember when I had to take the decision to put my first French Lop down, I felt terrible. It sounds like you did the right thing though. You're right; you can't be selfish about these things.
Take care.
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Date: 12 Mar 2010 21:36 (UTC)no subject
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Date: 12 Mar 2010 15:19 (UTC)Sorry dear. *hugs*
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Date: 12 Mar 2010 21:31 (UTC)*hugs back*
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