(no subject)
Chiku, 2006-2008
Chiku & Peanut were my first pets. We got them from a pet store in Suntec City. After years of wanting to get a pet, but not being able to because I still lived with my parents, once I got my own place, I went out and got 2 hamsters.
When they were small, both Chiku and Peanut lived in the same cage. They were even close friends, eating together in the food dish and sleeping together in their little house. But as they got older, Chiku started bullying Peanut. We eventually had to separate them so that Peanut could recover from her battle scars. After that, they couldn't live together again, and had to lead solitary lives after that. It remains one of my regrets that we never got around to re-introducing the two of them.
Chiku was the smarter of the two hammies. When put to the test, she always outperformed Peanut. Whether it was figuring out how to jump off a table or climb out of a small enclosure, whatever it was that we put them through, Chiku always figured it out first. She was naturally inquisitive, always smelling everything, wanting to climb everywhere. When we put her in her exercise ball, she was always running towards the door, as if she knew that beyond that lay freedom. We were always so amazed at how smart she was, for a hamster.
When she was 1.5 years, Chiku started to get sick. She developed what we thought was a persistent ear infection. We had to bring her to the vet a few times, and had to give her several rounds of antibiotics. But none of that helped. Over the next few months, the left side of her face started swelling and grew into an abscess. But through all this, Chiku remained upbeat. She was only upset when we had to administer the medication. Otherwise, she still carried on her merry way, eating and running around.
Over time, the abscess continued to grow and finally was so large that it started to affect the way she walked. On the night when I realised how sick she was, I wept bitterly. At that time, I had just given birth, and felt terribly guilty for neglecting my pets. I thought that this was the end, and that she was dying because we hadn't realised early enough that she was sick. We were not ready to say goodbye to Chiku, so we did some research on what we could do for her. A came across a vet that specialised in small animal surgery, and brought Chiku to see him. She stayed in the pet hospital for a night and was operated on the next morning. We were told that her chances were slim, because the abscess was close to her neck. But, miraculously, she survived the operation. She even seemed to be quite unperturbed by it all. When we were to pick her up from the surgery, she was all bloodied and stitched up from the operation, but was still walking and eating. We happily brought her home.
After the harrowing experience of the surgery, we thought that it would be the end of her ill health and that she would die of old age at home. But that was not to be. She developed another abscess on the other side of her face. This time around, as the abscess grew, we knew that this was really the end for her. Being already 2 years old, we did not want to subject her to another round of surgery. So we decided to put her to sleep.
On Sunday, we brought her to her regular vet (not the surgeon), who assessed her condition. The vet said that her prognosis was not good and supported our decision to put her to sleep. And so it was. I cried in the vet's office as I said goodbye to her, but this time, I knew that we had tried our best with her. Chiku was still active all the way to the end, still running and eating. I stroked her, said a tearful goodbye and left the room. When they called me back in again, it was done. I wasn't able to be with her at the end, but hoped that she had remembered me at those last moments.
And so it is. While I feel the pain of losing my pet, I know now that I tried my best to give Chiku a good life. And having her gone makes me cherish Peanut and Jojo (our bunny) so much more. Peanut is still very active and healthy, so I hope that she will still live for some months more, and eventually have a peaceful death at home. And Jojo is still young, just 2 years old. I hope that she will be with us for many more years to come.