The life story of 小胖...

Today's the day my beloved hamster, 小胖, passed away. So ironic, just 2 days after I've written a post for my hamsters. She died due to excessive loss of blood during an surgical operation to remove a tumour around its bum. This is how her story goes...

In Febuary 2007, 小白 and 小胖 came into the family. Both were white-faced Roborovski and they were extremely adorable. Ever since they arrived, I've treated them very well. I got them a very comfortable cage with a big wheel. They simply love the wheel! They can be seen running on it non-stop for more than 15 mins. Fearing that they may get bored, I even bought many extensions and tunnels to join to the cage, giving them extra space to run and hide. There's also 2 "coolant" tiles for them to chill when the weather gets too warm. Food wise, they never get to worry. In fact, they always get to eat very good food and snacks. Not only do they get top grade hamster food, they also get to eat cheese, peanuts, raisins, fruits, veggies and biscuits. I thought they even lead better lives than I do!

小胖 is very tamed, female, and she always like to stuff a lot of food into her mouth. She's also much fatter than 小白, hence came the name. Although she is very stupid(intellectually and looks), she's a very loving mother! She has already gave birth 5 times and is a mother of 13!(could have been more, if the first 2 batches had survived) All her babies were SO CUTE! However, I have to give them all away as I can't keep too many hamsters. Now that she's gone, I regretted not keeping any of them.

Everything was fine until a month ago, I discovered a small protrusion on its belly. Thinking that she's probably pregnant again, I did not take much notice abt it. During these times, she still behave and reacted quite normally, nothing seemed wrong. However, as I changed the cage every week and examined her, I noticed that something wasn't quite right. Usually when she's pregnant, her belly will swell, but this time, the swell is only on one side of the belly. After another week, I realised that the area around the swell keeps getting bigger and the hair around the region started to come off. By the 3rd week, I'm convinced that she's not pregnant at all, but I still do not know what that growth was. I had wanted to wait till my exams are over before I bring it to a vet, but it seems like I need to take action fast. Therefore, I took it to see a vet today together with my gf. The growth is already the size of a 10-cent coin.

At the animal clinic, the vet confirmed my suspicion. It was a tumour. She gave me 2 choices, 1 is to let it be, and probably she'll live for another 2-3 months before the tumour burst through it's belly and cause it to die; or 2 is to perform a surgury on it to remove the growth, however, there's a lot of risk involved and here may be complications. The decision wasn't hard to make. I'll want to save it. I know that there will be high risk involved, but I'll rather take the chance to save it than to let it suffer and die in pain. I can still remember the look on it's face when it was lying down at the clinic. She suddenly became so quiet... as though she knew something was going to happen to her. I can even caress it gently on it's head and body, usually she'll be very scared and wun even let me touch her. I felt uneasy. I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing.
I was then told to come back later, they will call me to inform me of the outcome.

The wait wasn't very long... 20 mins after I got home, I received a call from the clinic. The vet told me that she passed away. I dunno what to say. I did not expect her to really just die like that. When I decided to send it to the clinic, I meant to save her, not to hurt her. The vet then told me that it was a muscle tumour and she lost a lot of blood after the growth was cut as it is attached to its muscle. I had to go down to collect its body. I felt sad. Perhaps it's my fault that I din send it to a vet earlier. Or maybe... I shdn't even send it to a vet in the first place. Too many "what-if"s...

Later on, I made a coffin for 小胖 using toilet roll and went down to collect its body. She was cold and hard by the time I see it for the last time. I touched it one last time before transferring it to the coffin. I'm glad my dera was beside me at that time, as I was really quite depressed. We then buried her under a tree near my house. The least I could do is to give her a decent burial. Now, the cage suddenly seem so empty. Only 小白 left. And he probably dunno that his companion has gone to heaven. He just sits there by himself. Sigh.

I just hope that 小胖 will get to enjoy life in heaven. I never thought she'll leave me so soon, she's only 1 year old. I'll certainly miss her. In a way, I'm glad that she passed away in her sleep, at least she din have to suffer anymore. And I hope she had enjoyed her life while she's alive, for I've always treated her well. Last but not least, I even gave her a proper burial. I think she shd have been a happy hamster. Rest in peace.

We'll carry on, we'll carry on, and though you're dead and gone believe me, your memory will carry on. We'll carry on, and in my heart I can't contain it, the anthem won't explain it... (quoted from the song Welcome to the black parade by My Chemical Romance)