Loss and coping ...

Pets down to two

In the course of this year, I lost pets to illness.  One loss may have been through poisoning.

Phoebe may have been poisoned -- she became ill and utterly unable to control her movements very, very suddenly.  Much later I discovered a box of automatic dishwasher soap had been chewed into and some had spilled out onto the floor of the cabinet.

Because I cared for Phoebe the best I could she lasted a week. The damage was too severe for her to survive, though, and at last it was mercy that she went.

A note on my care of Phoebe. She was completely unable to take any ordinary food and never drank. I made apple juice for her and put it into an eyedropper and gave it to her drop by drop. At least it kept her hydrated, and with a little sugar getting into her system.

Phoebe's balance in life was I guess like this: she was the most motivated escape artist and explorer, as well as being the most aggressive with the hamsters. I guess she lived a shorter life because she was so prone to exploring and testing limits.

Shasta went much more naturally and peacefully. She didn't live as long as some hamsters do, I guess, and had some funny thing amiss with her hind leg (she ran 'lopsided') for a long time before her end. When she lost the ability to move her hindquarters at all, I had time to prepare myself for her departure. It didn't seem like a painful end for her.

Piper got ill very suddenly and died the next day. It wasn't even 24 hours between onset and death. I believe that she contracted a bacterial infection.