Rest in peace

Violet's hamster, Harry, passed away earlier this evening. Harry was 3. Or just about. We're not sure of his exact birthdate. He was quite elderly.

The last couple of days Harry's age really started to show. He moved slowly. He didn't eat much. He slept a lot. He'd shake really badly when he tried to stand up. But he never seemed to be in pain, just very weak. Then all day today he didn't wake up. At one point he turned around in the nest he'd made himself of fluff. But by evening, he was gone.

Harry led a good life. He was a very active hamster until his last week or so. He would go for long runs in his ball. He especially loved crashing into and chasing the cats while he was in his ball. That really freaked them out. Tee hee. He loved eating, especially sunflower seeds. He'd stuff his cheeks so full that he could hardly fit into his tubes.

Harry was also an escape artist. Three times he opened the door to his cage, snuck out, fell off the table it sat on, and landed in the garbage can. He scared the begeebees out of me the first time I went in there and found his cage door open. The I saw him. Curled up in the garbage can sleeping. First we tried safety pins to hold the door closed. That had worked when we had parakeets to keep them from escaping the bird cage. No luck, he squeezed out. We tried twist ties, he chewed through those. Finally we had to use 2 binder clips to hold the door closed. It was like he was barred in. But we couldn't risk him getting out, getting lost or hurt. What if on the fourth time he didn't land in the garbage can? That's right, all three times his journey ended with him falling in the trash can.

Violet spent most of the last 2 days in the room with his cage (we call it "Harry's room" it is our homeschool room/guest bedroom). She read and played in there. I'm sure he liked that a lot.

So goodbye Harry Hamster, you'll be missed. You were a really cool hamster.