Losing a pet

Do you have pets at home? Did one of your pets or maybe more died already? Today I'm going to talk a bit about losing a pet. 

I had 9 pets at home. Two dwarfhamsters, one bunny, three gerbils and three guinea pigs. They bring a lot of joy to my house, actually appartement. As you can see I said 'I had' because unfortunately one of my dwarfhamsters died last week. That's why I wanted to write a blogpost about losing a pet. It's my first time to be honest. 

Now sit back and relax because it's story time. I'm going to tell you more about my petgang, how I felt when one of my pets died and at the end I'm also going to show some pictures so you know how they all look.  

Since I was little I always wanted a pet but I couldn't. Now I'm living on my own I can decided what I want to do and if I have pets or not. 

It all started in September last year, so just 7 months ago. I went to the petstore and saw Luci. He is/was a dwarfhamster. When I first saw him he was still a little boy. The store didn't know how old he was but that didn't care. I knew it that he would be my first pet. I bought everything for him. A cage, some toys, hay, a house, etc. When he was home I let him the first few days getting used to the environment. After that I could get him out of his cage almost every day. He would climb on me, he could run free. 

After a month I saw three gerbils sitting in a small cage in another petstore. I found it so sad for them that I bought them and brought them home. They have now a bigger cage then in the shop. Gerbils are diggers so now they can dig all day long. Their names are: Troy, Athen and Aphrodite. Like Luci boy the store didn't know exactly how old they were. They grew a bit, certainly Troy. He has a moustache right now. 

After a few weeks when I got the gerbils I saw an advertisement on Facebook from an animal shelter. They had 3 male guinea pigs from a few weeks old that they wanted to sell together. When I saw them I was immediately sold. So I reached out to them and  one week later I could pick them up. They were so scared. They didn't know what happened to them. So when I was home I put them in their cage. Now they let me know when they are hungry, they do crazy things and make crazy noises. They also grew a lot already. During the way home I was thinking about names for them and in the end I called them Poseidon, Hercules and Zeus. Yes, the names of three Greek gods. They don't look the same at all but they are three brothers. 

And then someone came with the idea of buying another dwarfhamster. Because I bought a new cage for Luci I had a cage left. So I went to another store. Yes, the thirth petstore. There I bought Helen. She was a few weeks old and I knew she wasn't taken away from the mother because I visited already the shop a few times before. I found and still find this shop the best because they can say how old the pets are. Helen was sitting in a cage with two other dwarfhamsters. These were here brothers and/or sisters. When I needed to choose I knew it immediatly. So when I came home with her I put her in her cage. Helen was very scared. She was screaming a lot. Nowadays this happened sometimes when she is asleep and I bother her by changing her food. She has changed a lot and patience is very important. That's something that's difficult for me. 

And last but not least we have the big boy, Caesar the bunny. I saw him in the same store as were I bought Helen. I already saw him a few days ago when I bought some things for the other furry friends. He was stuck in my head because he was sitting in a small cage and couldn't move a lot. Initially I would go to the store to buy a turtle but when I saw the turtles and were they lived in my choice was made. I would buy the bunny. So I left the store not with a turtle but with a bunny and a big cage. Now Caesar boy is getting a big boy and he loves to spend time with me in the cough. Yes, he can jump on his own in the cough and loves to sit next to me. 

I really like having pets. I can't imagine a life without them. And I'm happy I have chosen all of them. I think I really want to help them all and give them a nice and happy life. But once one of them dies it's hard for me. 

Last Wednesday I gave everyone their breakfast like I do every day. The guinea pigs and Caesar got their vegetables, seeds and hay. After that I checked if the dwarfhamsters and gerbils had enough food. Everyone needed new seeds. I started with Helen then the gerbils and Luci was the last one. I found it strange that he didn't ate at all and he didn't drank a lot. So I searched for him in his cage and there he was. He was laying on his back with his paws in the air. It wasn't a position were he normally layed in. He was also laying next to his house. It's a place were he didn't layed a lot only when he had it warm. So I checked on him. He was cold and stiff. I knew it immediatly my little friend was gone. I cried and cried the whole day. When I found out I needed to go to work but I was happy that it was only half a day. In the afternoon someone who helps me with a lot of things and who I love came to my place and he took Luci with him. Because I don't have a yard I couldn't burry him in my yard. So he burried Luci boy in his yard. 

The day Luci died I felt heartbroken. It was like there was a piece of me that had left. I didn't felt complete anymore. The next few days I also cried a lot and it was only yesterday that I asked were Luci is burried. I didn't expected it at all that he would die so soon. I just got him for 6 almost 7 months and he is already gone. But maybe he was already 'old'. It was just the last couple of days of his life that he ate and drank less then usual but I didn't thought he would die. Not now! Yeah, everyone and every pet dies at a certain time but not after that short amount of time. I hadn't seen anything that he was sick or something else. So it really surprised me. 

I still feel empty but I have still my other pets. They also need a lot of attention. Even after a few days I still can't take away his cage. Also putting another hamster inside is something I couldn't do at all. It's Luci's cage and not from someone else. How long it will stay on it's place I don't know. But what I do every morning and evening is saying goodmorning and good night to Luci boy. Also to the other pets. But when Luci still was alive I also say it to him separately. It's just a habit that I will never change. 

I still remember last Wednesday. Also the whole time I thought my little friend isn't anymore. He was the smallest one of them all. I will miss him and he will always be in my heart. Thinking about him and thinking about the nice things he did is the best thing to do.

What I have now is that I worry faster then usual when my pets act strange or do things they normally don't do. I don't want that another pet already dies. 

If you have a pet I hope he or she will still have a long life ahead. The most important thing is to enjoy every moment together. 

I have also an Instagram and Youtube account were you can follow all their crazy adventures.

Toinon