Baby died (Thursday 24/08/06)

Last evening dad called only to tell me that Baby had died. He also told me that he will bury it the next day at the backyard of his workplace. Baby is our hamster which had been around for almost more than 4.5 years. Sure it's old enough and by right it has passed way it's time as a hamster whose normal lifespan is only about 2-3 years. So I was kind of OK with its death as compared to the family's past pet rodents which have died out of cancer and another two, jumped into a bucket full of floor cleaning detergent. Thus Baby's death out of old age was, to me, more acceptable.

Yet I still felt sad upon hearing the news although I knew that I should be satisfied having had taken care of Baby well since I came back from Tassie.

My last visit to Baby was only about 1.5 days before it died. I could see it was already in a dying condition - lying weak outside it's normal favorite lying site, not on four legs anymore, eyes practically shut, and heartbeat beating very, very hard and strong. I knew it was going to die, and I knew too that it would be in just a few hours time.

But Baby still touched my heart, as it always did, even on its last hours. When I came close to its home, it sensed me, and quickly woke up and started to move around. It pulled its seemingly massive body towards me, with eyes shut, and tried to show that it could still move around even though I knew it couldn't. It even tried to feed itself, though I really wondered how could it be possible for Baby to feed itself when it was really weak and the food was hard and crunchy, typical food for rodents.

As I watched Baby move, I took the opportunity to speak to it like I always did although I never knew if it did/could ever understand me. Yet there was this thing I believe about connection and instincts that come together with sincerity and love that helped pass messages from one living thing to another without having to use a common language.

I told Baby to rest well. And I made sure it rested before I walked away from its home. Baby's fur and body still looked good. And I knew I would be happy to see it die this way. But I still cry. And I can't believe I'm crying for the death of a rodent. Shit.

For information on diet and lifespan of a hamster, pls. check the following website Hamster Diet and Water Consumption