Munchalot
11-24-2014, 04:53 PM
On Friday, my sweet little robo girl Pipkin passed away in her forever sleep, though I am only just able to write a memorial for her.
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a578/Munch-alot/The%20Mini%20Munch/0df0d420-4329-4cf5-9f07-efee039d20f8_zps8229759b.jpg (http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/Munch-alot/media/The%20Mini%20Munch/0df0d420-4329-4cf5-9f07-efee039d20f8_zps8229759b.jpg.html)
My poor little munchkin had been feeling her age for a few weeks now. This last week she was looking terrible, bless her. She went down hill so suddenly, though she had been slowing for a little while.
She was my very first robo. Last year, at the end of August, I wandered into Pets at Home after my driving theory test, not expecting to really buy anything. I was only passing the time whilst waiting for the bus - I certainly did not expect to walk out with a hammie. But when I went to look in the adoption tanks, this sweet little thing of a robo was curled up in the corner of her tank, without so much as a log bridge or box to hide under. I asked to see her, and so an employee opened the tank for me to see. The poor little fluff was petrified, and I was pretty angry when the assistant insisted on grabbing her to be held, when quite clearly there was no way anyone was keeping a hold on her. She dropped her twice on the floor, before I hurriedly said I would take her. Poor little mite. They had no idea of her gender, or how old she was, only that someone had dumped her there because they didn't want her anymore. All I could gather was from her sign on the tank, which said she had been up for adoption since January. So I estimated she must have been at least a year old, even if her previous owner had only had her a few weeks.
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a578/Munch-alot/The%20Mini%20Munch/46eec177-8167-4329-861d-0a0b5c19e901_zps8c2fbf67.jpg (http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/Munch-alot/media/The%20Mini%20Munch/46eec177-8167-4329-861d-0a0b5c19e901_zps8c2fbf67.jpg.html)
And so Pipkin came home with me. I let her walk into a clear jar and I looked from underneath to sex her, as I didn't want to frighten her more by holding her, and decided she was a girl.
She had always been an incredibly nervous ham, which I was prepared for. She hated big spaces, and for several months lives in a Mini Duna cage. This was as large a space as she could tolerate, and it took a long time for her to even use that space. She would sit in the corner under her platform and just stare into space, petrified of any noise.
Gradually though, she warmed up to life in our hamily, and gradually got brave enough to come and snatch a treat from my fingers, with much persuasion. In time, she upgraded to her bin cage, which she loved.
I've always been so proud of Pipkin as she progressed. The first time she took a treat from me I could have burst with happiness. In the latter half of this year, she grew brave enough to hop into her tiny hamster ball, to be transported to her play box (a big box filled with toys that she loved exploring). She still didn't want to be held, but we were quite happy doing things her way.
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a578/Munch-alot/The%20Mini%20Munch/468cdedc-6f8b-465b-9d09-29eb32b233e4_zps2f260cdd.jpg (http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/Munch-alot/media/The%20Mini%20Munch/468cdedc-6f8b-465b-9d09-29eb32b233e4_zps2f260cdd.jpg.html)
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a578/Munch-alot/The%20Mini%20Munch/279c11e3-9842-47a1-ae3d-47c6fb97cc5b_zpsbc86a5ae.jpg (http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/Munch-alot/media/The%20Mini%20Munch/279c11e3-9842-47a1-ae3d-47c6fb97cc5b_zpsbc86a5ae.jpg.html)
I had been wanting to upgrade her to a Barney cage once Tansy got her ZZ2 and moved out, but we never got that far. I noticed she had started to slow down, and was dubious of moving her, as she was so comfortable and happy in her bin.
Then, a few weeks ago, she took a turn. She was slow and lethargic, hunched over, tiring easily and not using her wheel. She still took treats, but she seemed to have gone a bit senile. She would be overly enthusiastic when I put my hand into the bin to give her a treat, scrabbling at the sides of the bin and snatching the treat so fiercely she often didn't bother to so much as sniff, and bit my hand instead. She would wander around the bin as if lost, and she began to gnaw randomly at the edges of her log bridge and around the edge of the hole in her coconut den. She had never been a nibbler, but she did it so much she began to wear the fur from her nose.
I knew she was coming to the end when, for the first time in a year and three months of having her in my life, she finally allowed me to hold her. I was very cautious, but I let her climb in her little ball so I could look at her nose. Sitting on my bed with the ball in my lap, she climbing onto my hand, and just sat there, curled, whilst I cradled her in my hands. I never imagined I would be able to, but I gave her a kiss, and knew things were drawing to a close. I was prepared to take her to the vets if she needed some help passing over. I emptied her bin of everything that wasn't necessary, gave her lots of bedding and tucked a hot water bottle underneath where her nest was.
Then, on Friday morning, I discovered she was gone. Curled up tight and peaceful, passed away in her little coconut.
My beautiful, sweet, timid little Pips, I will miss you so much. We may not have been as close as I'd have hoped, but we had our own way of doing things, and that suited us fine. I am going to miss the sounds of your burrowing and scratching, and you whizzing on you wheel. I will miss your little whiskery nose poking out of your bed to see what treat I have brought you.
Sleep tight little Pips, my sweet baby, my very first robo. You will be so missed. xxxxx
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a578/Munch-alot/The%20Mini%20Munch/0df0d420-4329-4cf5-9f07-efee039d20f8_zps8229759b.jpg (http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/Munch-alot/media/The%20Mini%20Munch/0df0d420-4329-4cf5-9f07-efee039d20f8_zps8229759b.jpg.html)
My poor little munchkin had been feeling her age for a few weeks now. This last week she was looking terrible, bless her. She went down hill so suddenly, though she had been slowing for a little while.
She was my very first robo. Last year, at the end of August, I wandered into Pets at Home after my driving theory test, not expecting to really buy anything. I was only passing the time whilst waiting for the bus - I certainly did not expect to walk out with a hammie. But when I went to look in the adoption tanks, this sweet little thing of a robo was curled up in the corner of her tank, without so much as a log bridge or box to hide under. I asked to see her, and so an employee opened the tank for me to see. The poor little fluff was petrified, and I was pretty angry when the assistant insisted on grabbing her to be held, when quite clearly there was no way anyone was keeping a hold on her. She dropped her twice on the floor, before I hurriedly said I would take her. Poor little mite. They had no idea of her gender, or how old she was, only that someone had dumped her there because they didn't want her anymore. All I could gather was from her sign on the tank, which said she had been up for adoption since January. So I estimated she must have been at least a year old, even if her previous owner had only had her a few weeks.
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a578/Munch-alot/The%20Mini%20Munch/46eec177-8167-4329-861d-0a0b5c19e901_zps8c2fbf67.jpg (http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/Munch-alot/media/The%20Mini%20Munch/46eec177-8167-4329-861d-0a0b5c19e901_zps8c2fbf67.jpg.html)
And so Pipkin came home with me. I let her walk into a clear jar and I looked from underneath to sex her, as I didn't want to frighten her more by holding her, and decided she was a girl.
She had always been an incredibly nervous ham, which I was prepared for. She hated big spaces, and for several months lives in a Mini Duna cage. This was as large a space as she could tolerate, and it took a long time for her to even use that space. She would sit in the corner under her platform and just stare into space, petrified of any noise.
Gradually though, she warmed up to life in our hamily, and gradually got brave enough to come and snatch a treat from my fingers, with much persuasion. In time, she upgraded to her bin cage, which she loved.
I've always been so proud of Pipkin as she progressed. The first time she took a treat from me I could have burst with happiness. In the latter half of this year, she grew brave enough to hop into her tiny hamster ball, to be transported to her play box (a big box filled with toys that she loved exploring). She still didn't want to be held, but we were quite happy doing things her way.
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a578/Munch-alot/The%20Mini%20Munch/468cdedc-6f8b-465b-9d09-29eb32b233e4_zps2f260cdd.jpg (http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/Munch-alot/media/The%20Mini%20Munch/468cdedc-6f8b-465b-9d09-29eb32b233e4_zps2f260cdd.jpg.html)
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a578/Munch-alot/The%20Mini%20Munch/279c11e3-9842-47a1-ae3d-47c6fb97cc5b_zpsbc86a5ae.jpg (http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/Munch-alot/media/The%20Mini%20Munch/279c11e3-9842-47a1-ae3d-47c6fb97cc5b_zpsbc86a5ae.jpg.html)
I had been wanting to upgrade her to a Barney cage once Tansy got her ZZ2 and moved out, but we never got that far. I noticed she had started to slow down, and was dubious of moving her, as she was so comfortable and happy in her bin.
Then, a few weeks ago, she took a turn. She was slow and lethargic, hunched over, tiring easily and not using her wheel. She still took treats, but she seemed to have gone a bit senile. She would be overly enthusiastic when I put my hand into the bin to give her a treat, scrabbling at the sides of the bin and snatching the treat so fiercely she often didn't bother to so much as sniff, and bit my hand instead. She would wander around the bin as if lost, and she began to gnaw randomly at the edges of her log bridge and around the edge of the hole in her coconut den. She had never been a nibbler, but she did it so much she began to wear the fur from her nose.
I knew she was coming to the end when, for the first time in a year and three months of having her in my life, she finally allowed me to hold her. I was very cautious, but I let her climb in her little ball so I could look at her nose. Sitting on my bed with the ball in my lap, she climbing onto my hand, and just sat there, curled, whilst I cradled her in my hands. I never imagined I would be able to, but I gave her a kiss, and knew things were drawing to a close. I was prepared to take her to the vets if she needed some help passing over. I emptied her bin of everything that wasn't necessary, gave her lots of bedding and tucked a hot water bottle underneath where her nest was.
Then, on Friday morning, I discovered she was gone. Curled up tight and peaceful, passed away in her little coconut.
My beautiful, sweet, timid little Pips, I will miss you so much. We may not have been as close as I'd have hoped, but we had our own way of doing things, and that suited us fine. I am going to miss the sounds of your burrowing and scratching, and you whizzing on you wheel. I will miss your little whiskery nose poking out of your bed to see what treat I have brought you.
Sleep tight little Pips, my sweet baby, my very first robo. You will be so missed. xxxxx