Archive for the ‘Rainbow bridge’ Category

Good Night Kat

January 4th, 2010

Earlier last month, I brought Kat to the vet again because the lump that was removed from her bum had became much larger (WARNING: graphic image). At that point, blood was coming out of the lump, but not a lot (like when Brain was bleeding), more like droplets. The vet explained that the lump was definitely cancer & the bleeding was because the cancer cells needed more blood supply. The vet was hesitant about surgically removing the cancer as he had previously done so. It would be futile if Kat were to undergo a second surgery with the risk of the cancer coming back again. So I brought her home & pampered her, knowing that her days would be outnumbered. The occasional bleeding was treated with antibiotic cream (as instructed by the vet) & she was still very active up until her very last day.

My 2009 didn’t end so well. On 31st of December morning, I found Kat lying outside of her nest. Her body was already cold & stiff. I saw that this time there was much more bleeding & that could be the cause of her death. I called the same funeral service that had cremated Baby Hamster & Brain & they were nice enough to pick Kat’s body up from my place that very same day. I wish that Kat could have held out a little bit longer & celebrate 2010 with me. But considering her condition, she held out long enough.

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Good Night Baby Hamster

December 2nd, 2009

I was away for Thanksgiving & terribly missed my animals.

Sadly, I came home only to find out that Baby Hamster had passed away in his sleep. Even though my animals were left in the care of someone I trusted, I just kept thinking that maybe I could’ve comforted him during his last moments, and the fact that I went away makes me feel that I was the wrongdoer.

BH rainbow bridge

I brought his body to the only pet cemetery around here and the funeral director was very understanding and kind. He understands that there’s a different type of pet for everyone, not just the traditional ones (i.e. cats & dogs). Baby Hamster and Daddy Hamster were the first hamsters I’ve ever owned and I think that they, especially Baby Hamster, will set the standard for all other hamsters I own in the future. Baby Hamster is one (Daddy Hamster being the other) of the softest, cuddliest, & friendliest hamsters of mine. Despite his old age (I originally thought he was about 1 year & 8-9 months, but his sudden death made me suspect that he’s older than that), he still loved to run around & can tackle my whole apartment if I ever let him. His love for freedom is apparent on the many scratches found on his Habitrail cage; if he wanted to be let out, he’d let me know by scratching endlessly on his plastic cage.

The funeral director was sweet enough to have this done for me:

BH paw prints

It’s BH’s paw prints on clay. I think that I will have this done to all my hamsters from now on while they’re still around.

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Good Night Brain

October 25th, 2009

Brain was euthanized on 20th of October.

The decision wasn’t easy for me to make; I had sometime to think about it & I hope that it’s the best decision for her.

This past Friday night, I discovered that some of the bedding in Brain’s cage was red. She was bleeding again. This time, it was worse because part of her intestine was sticking out, too. This happened during the weekend when the vet clinic was closed & all I could do was syringe feed her & hope that she would last until Monday to see the vet. She stopped bleeding after a night, but she still wasn’t herself — she was very lethargic & stayed in her house throughout the weekend, which wasn’t normal at all.

I finally got an appointment with the senior vet, not the vet who diagnosed Brain last time. The senior vet agrees with the previous diagnosis that the lump is cancer. The reason why the intestine prolapsed is because Brain’s reproductive system has been strained. Even if the intestine was put back in, that’s not the underlying problem. In the classes that he teaches, the vet uses hamsters of all stages of life to study cancer & he explains that the chance of Brain’s cancer to come back is high even after it’s been removed. Not being able to see her anatomy, he suspected that the cancer was either in the urinary tract or in the reproductive system, since both empty out through the urethra where the blood was coming out from. I didn’t want to surgery performed on Brain to remove the cancer if the cancer was going to come back, unnecessarily forcing Brain to undergo repeated procedures. The vet mentioned that Brain’s hunchback meant that she was in pain. After hearing all the options, I didn’t immediately decide for euthanasia. The more I weighed the options, the more conflicted I became, especially not knowing how Brain truly felt.

She will be cremated and her ashes will be spread onto a local pet cemetery ground. I think I will visit it next week.

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Good Night Dee Dee

June 7th, 2009

I’m heartbroken to announce that Dee Dee passed away last night. It’s 2 days shy from a month since she was ill. Yesterday, she showed the same symptoms that she displayed when she was first sick: difficulty breathing, mucus coming out of her mouth, lethargic, etc .. BUT this time her body felt cold. I was honestly scared .. I started her on the same antibiotic again. Towards the end of the night, it became more & more painful for me to observe her .. I feared for the worst. She did pass away peacefully & quickly. I was upset, thinking that she had a good chance of living to a super ripe old age, but that was selfish of me .. it was time for her to go. I buried her in my garden, underneath my begonia flowers.

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Posted in Hamster care, Hamster health, Rainbow bridge | Comments (3)