About a month ago, Daniel brought his Teddy Bear hamster, Theodora, up to my office So I could help him clean her eyes.
They were all "gunky" and that never happened with her.
So I swabbed the little eyes with a moistened cotton swab until she could open then. And right after work the next day, Daniel drove her to an animal hospital that saw exotics.
The drive should have taken about forty minutes. But it was now rush hour. The animal hospital was also first-come, first-serve and not by appointment.
He waited a couple of hours and was told to come back the next day. So while he was still on the road, I started calling for other options.
It turned out Plainfield Animal Hospital DID see exotics (we didn't know that), but only on days when a special veterinarian was onsite. And today was the day!
Unfortunately, the exotic veterinarian was leaving in twenty minutes. Could Daniel get there on time?
I called Daniel. He thought thirty was more reasonable.
So I called Plainfield Animal Hospital again. And I was told they could make thirty minutes work.
Daniel arrived forty minutes later... and found the veterinarian had waited for him.
The veterinarian had good news.
All of Theodora's vitals were excellent. So the veterinarian prescribed an antibiotic just in case. She said Theodora might need blood work to rule out kidney failure (apparently common in hamsters) if Theodora did not improve.
Daniel took Theodora home, gave her the first dose, and rewarded her with a sliver of broccoli.
However, Theodora did not improve.
Nor she did not get worse...at first.
She handled the antibiotic well. The discharge in her eyes lessened.
But then she started to swell.
Daniel thought maybe she gained weight because some of her activity had lessened. He had brought her home at five months, and she was now two years old. That's pretty old for a hamster, actually.
If you think about it, she's enjoyed not one, but two Christmases with us.
Theodora finished the antibiotic. The next day, the discharge in her eyes returned. at full force.
So Daniel took her back to the first animal hospital early in the day and waited to be seen. That veterinarian also had good news for us.
Theodora's vitals were still great. So the veterinarian prescribed another antibiotic and agreed she should have tests to rule out kidney failure if this antibiotic didn't fix the problem.
And it didn't.
But the swelling went away.
In the meantime, Theodora still loved her broccoli. She still did hamster things.
But she did them more slowly, less often.
Theodora also neglected her grooming.
On Saturday, Daniel and Rebekah took Theodora to a different animal hospital, one that specialized in hamsters. This drive was an hour away.
Theodora was sedated for blood and urine tests and some imaging.
The diagnosis? A urinary tract infection.
So she was hospitalized for forty-eight hours with supplemental oxygen and IV antibiotics. The positive news was that her vitals were still good, and she was not septic, amazing considering the stubbornness of the infection.
The plan was this. If she improved, Daniel would pick her up after work on Monday and take her home.
However, if Theodora did not improve, well, it was time for a different conversation.
Rebekah asked what I thought.
Well, I thought the fact Theodora had good vitals and wasn't septic were good signs.
However, the fact she had a UTI that two antibiotics designed to combat UTIs didn't cure was very worrisome.
So I was fifty-fifty.
But we were in luck again. On Sunday the animal hospital called to say Theodora had improved slightly.
Hurray! It felt just like Christmas!
The holiday feeling was short-lived.
Early on Monday morning, the animal hospital called Daniel again. Theodora had passed during the night.
The results of her imaging had also returned. Theodora actually had a tumor in one of her kidneys, most like the cause of all her trouble.
Daniel made cremation arrangements through that hospital and had a paw print made. Theodora will come home to us in two weeks in a much different form than when she left just three days ago.
We are heartbroken.
And we are heartbroken not just because we have, in less than a year, acquired quite a bit of urns in our house.
And now Theodora.
Not to mention we had another death in the family just a couple of weeks ago.
And let's not forget Faith is still on palliative care with small cell lymphoma.
I mean, those are all good reasons to be heartbroken.
But we are now also heartbroken because this tiny creature, who pitter-pattered her teeny feet into our home and into our hearts, is now gone.
And her passing has left a hole bigger than the wall-to-wall contraption in Daniel's room where she lived.
I'm sure Theodora's soul has scampered away to the place where all good hamster souls go.
But I hope, as she forever eats through fields of broccoli unconfined by rolling hamster balls, she pauses from time to time and remembers the human family that loved her to the end.
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