Goodnight, Lemonade

On Monday, May 20th, I opted to let the spunkiest girl I’ve ever had, drift off into her forever slumbers.

Lemonade never stopped eating or being active, but I did notice a change in her behavior sometime in April. I noticed in particular that she was having trouble climbing up things, so I opted to remove her higher platform and kept her whole enclosure with bedding at about 6” and platforms just above that. I used bedding or cork pieces to help her up on her platforms, but as time went on, I started to get worried that even that wasn’t enough.

I watched her start to sleep more out in the open. It seemed that she was breathing a little harder than usual, but that can be difficult to evaluate at times, since hamsters can have quite fast breathing and it often looks strange to me.

While I’m used to dealing with aging hamsters and adjusting their enclosures accordingly, I decided that the labored breathing was a bit concerning, so I made her a vet apt.

My lovely vet, who is so sweet and thoughtful with all of my hamsters, picked her up and agreed that she was having trouble breathing. In fact, Lemonade just laid flat in her hands, something I’ve never seen her do, ever! The vet put Lemonade down to weigh her, and the poor little lady could hardly stay upright on her own. I didn’t realize how badly she had gotten, since she always had the stability of the bedding underneath her.

My vet said it sounded like Lemonade had congestive heart failure. She said that sometimes when that happens, so much energy is going to just making the heart go, that other parts of the body get neglected - an explanation of why Lemonades little legs were no longer able to keep her upright.

The vet recommended that she be put down that day. Lemonade’s breathing was labored and the vet said she was not in good condition and struggling to breathe. This was the first time, in all my time going to this vet, that she ever recommended I put down one of my hamsters. Sometimes, she would say, ”the next step is probably euthanasia, but we aren’t there yet…”

I find putting an animal down to be the most difficult thing. It feels like playing God. I know that there are times when it is necessary and it is the best, most ethical thing to do for the animal. But it doesn’t make it any easier.

The vet assured me that they give her a little gas first, to help her go to sleep so she doesn’t feel any pain. It does sound like a peaceful way to make an end with the world, and I’m glad I could give that to Lemonade.

I didn’t get to have that kind of close knit, snuggly relationship with Lemonade, but she was so much fun. She was always out and about in her enclosure, foraging, digging, kicking things everywhere! When I could convince her to come out, I loved watching her waddle around the playpen, excitedly eating whatever she could find.

I’ll definitely miss her round, little snowball-like bod in the hamster room.

Goodnight sweet girl.