So yesterday morning about 7am my one remaining hamster died, it was a sad event very much like the time his brother died. Both seem to have had some kind of scent gland infection which both times I failed to notice until both hamsters lay dying quietly.
I feel rotten about that.
I'm glad that when both did die I was there with them, I know they're only hamsters and as such probably wouldn't even of noticed, but it makes me feel better that I was there for them and there for myself. If both times it happened I awoke to find them dead it would hurt me more I think. I was there with them, stroking them gently, urging them to fight on secretly. Of course each time the battle was too much, their scent glands had already seemed to leak some wet kind of nastiness. Of course each time had I noticed earlier I could have two hamsters still.
The first one, Sheva's (yes that was his name) was only about 4 months old when he passed on and Petr was 8 months old about when he died. Russian hamsters usually live to 1 years and 1/2 to 2 years. So I am gutted about this.
As children me and my brother's had many of these types of hamsters and as far as I can remember none of them died this way, maybe it was actually something genetic or maybe it was bad pet ownership on my part, I'm just sad that I had to lose them when I did.
It got me thinking. Why do I do it? Why do I get pets when I can't handle their deaths, when I love them so much that the grief that overcomes me is more than I can shed for many humans in my life, when I already am an over-emotional twit?
I found the answer quite easy though. I do it for them, for the animals, to give them a life, a good life they may not get elsewhere. Even though it pains me so much when they die, the memories of good times overshadow the deaths (why can't we do this more for human deaths?). I will always have pets in my life, I would have more if my mother permitted it, and I would have even more if I didn't have such big issues with animals being in cages. Yes that can be seem as hypocritical as I had two hamsters who did live in a cage.
It was an impulsive buy when I got them and I got them the biggest cage I could at the pet shop (two floors) and made sure to fill it with many tunnels/tubes and just weird creative things for them. Which was much more than they would of gotten with some 10 year old, and I guarantee they got more attention from me than a kid could ever give them. I never lost interest in them.
So my only problem now is, what do I do? I said I would get more hamsters when they both did die, but do I want to have something that is caged again?
I want to do something for them too, they are both buried in the garden, close to each other with a tree stump between them. Probably how they would like it, as Petr was a bully more than a few times to poor little Sheva's. I marked the dirt with a large pebble for both 'graves', I may plant seeds over them in the Spring, just as a gesture to them. I'm sure people may find this over the top, but I do feel as though I have failed them both really, they both shouldn't of died the way they did.
(If you think that's crazy, after my last hamster Chelsea died, I felt so guilty for not noticing her dead body earlier and the fact that I hadn't interacted with her for a day maybe two that I gave up eating meat for her, as a tribute.)
So now to pictures of them. Sadly I only have one of Sheva's on his own, as I only had him 3 and a half months I didn't get the chance to do many =(
Quality of pictures is shit.
Sheva's (The grey) and Petr (The white) doing what they do best - eat
Best I could ever get of them together without them being in the food bowl.
Birds eye view of their favourite spot
R.I.P Sheva's - Died 15th July 2007
R.I.P Petr - Died 1st December 2007
So goodbye Petr the hamster, who I used to call "My little pretty boy", I hope you and your brother are fighting each other somewhere, anywhere, together. <3
TL;DR? If that is the case for some of you then fuck you, you insensitive cunts.
