tonyshuman
Well-Known Member
Petunia was 20 months old and had been with me since she was 5 weeks. She was my longest-lived dwarf hamster. She was euthanized at the emergency vet last night due to extreme pain symptoms and bleeding, with the additional issues that no real treatment was available for her due to her advanced age and serious health problems. She had enlarged ovaries that we thought were due to cystic ovary disease. The vet was wonderful and courageous and did an off-label treatment with a cow drug to treat this disease, but it did not work. The ovaries were probably enlarged due to cancer instead of cysts. I could not bear to put her through surgery to remove the ovaries, and I could not bear to see her in pain like she was, so the vet euthanized her.
As a baby with her sister, Ms. Piggy:
With her non-buddy Munchkin:
When she started to get old and silver:
One of the last pictures I took of her:
Petunia had many nicknames over the years, Monkey because she loved to climb the bars in her crittertrail cage when she was younger, Big Tuna (from the office), and Petuniator (like the Terminator). She was very opinionated. The only being she ever liked was her sister, who sadly died young of genetic issues. She would squeak at and scare my bunnies, did not get along with another hamster I bought to be her buddy, and wasn't very fond of people either. She loved eggs, bread, broccoli, and yogurt, and would box at your fingers to make you drop that treat faster.
I have some funny memories of her to share:
Once we put her cage in the bedroom, and she would walk around it squeaking to herself at night while we were asleep.
I had gotten two different wheels and put them both in the cage to see which she liked better. I put them at right angles to each other. She would get on one and run, get off, and then go to the other and run on it. We said this was because it went in a different direction.
I used to put a wire playpen out for her to give her some "enrichment" time. She spent the whole time trying to escape. I put a sock in there to get her used to my smell and she decided to take up residence in it.
She used to run all over in her ball, and be very determined when she'd get stuck on obstacles. She'd usually be able to get herself free before we could help her.
Her favorite hideout was half a coconut shell made into a hut. It had a hole in the top, where you'd pop it open to pour out the juice, and she'd stick her nose through that hole to investigate often. You could put a treat near the hole and her little nose would poke out.
Whenever she was unhappy with what was going on in her cage--there was another hamster there I was trying to make get along with her, I had my hands in there to clean or to pick her up--she'd run into the wheel and run there for a while. Then she'd stop and go back to the cage, to check and see if she'd "run away" from whatever was bothering her.
It is my firm belief that providing the opportunity for a healthy, happy, long life for one of these little guys, even though their life expectancy is so short (1.5 years), is a true blessing. I was honored to be able to give Petunia 20 months of happiness, and blessed to be able to enjoy her personality.
She was a funny, grumpy, silly little girl, and I loved her. She had a good life with me, though, and I am glad she is no longer suffering. Thank you for putting up with me enough to let me be your person, Petunia, and may you snuggle peacefully in the coconut house in the sky.
:rainbow:
As a baby with her sister, Ms. Piggy:
With her non-buddy Munchkin:
When she started to get old and silver:
One of the last pictures I took of her:
Petunia had many nicknames over the years, Monkey because she loved to climb the bars in her crittertrail cage when she was younger, Big Tuna (from the office), and Petuniator (like the Terminator). She was very opinionated. The only being she ever liked was her sister, who sadly died young of genetic issues. She would squeak at and scare my bunnies, did not get along with another hamster I bought to be her buddy, and wasn't very fond of people either. She loved eggs, bread, broccoli, and yogurt, and would box at your fingers to make you drop that treat faster.
I have some funny memories of her to share:
Once we put her cage in the bedroom, and she would walk around it squeaking to herself at night while we were asleep.
I had gotten two different wheels and put them both in the cage to see which she liked better. I put them at right angles to each other. She would get on one and run, get off, and then go to the other and run on it. We said this was because it went in a different direction.
I used to put a wire playpen out for her to give her some "enrichment" time. She spent the whole time trying to escape. I put a sock in there to get her used to my smell and she decided to take up residence in it.
She used to run all over in her ball, and be very determined when she'd get stuck on obstacles. She'd usually be able to get herself free before we could help her.
Her favorite hideout was half a coconut shell made into a hut. It had a hole in the top, where you'd pop it open to pour out the juice, and she'd stick her nose through that hole to investigate often. You could put a treat near the hole and her little nose would poke out.
Whenever she was unhappy with what was going on in her cage--there was another hamster there I was trying to make get along with her, I had my hands in there to clean or to pick her up--she'd run into the wheel and run there for a while. Then she'd stop and go back to the cage, to check and see if she'd "run away" from whatever was bothering her.
It is my firm belief that providing the opportunity for a healthy, happy, long life for one of these little guys, even though their life expectancy is so short (1.5 years), is a true blessing. I was honored to be able to give Petunia 20 months of happiness, and blessed to be able to enjoy her personality.
She was a funny, grumpy, silly little girl, and I loved her. She had a good life with me, though, and I am glad she is no longer suffering. Thank you for putting up with me enough to let me be your person, Petunia, and may you snuggle peacefully in the coconut house in the sky.
:rainbow:
