I know what you’re thinking, she has this too. Well no actually I think I gave it to my son’s hamster. Last week the kids were on vacation with friends, so I decided to redo one of their rooms. It was a big project, but I got it done with only one incident.
Here is what happened. My son has this hamster. I know…I hate the idea too. I thought I had eliminated all caged animals from my house. We have had other hamsters, hermit crabs, fish, frogs..too many to mention. After they died one by one, I said no more. Well my son cooked up the new hamster plan with his dad and his aunt. I warned that I was out of the hamster business. I won’t clean cages, feed the hamster, or even look at it for that matter. I’ll be sad if my son lets it die, but that will be on him. I have stuck to my word and miraculously the hamster has lived several months without my intervention.
Anyway, when I started painting I decided that I had better put the hamster in the guest room in case the paint fumes might kill him. I get him in there and close the door. A couple of days later in the evening I peak my head in to check on him. He’s fine. He either sleeps or is running on the wheel to nowhere. OK now I’m back to painting. A couple of hours later I hear this big crash sound. Humm…paralyzed husband, no kids, that’s odd, but we do have 2 dogs and a cat so maybe not so odd. I yell downstairs to my husband…did you hear that, is anything wrong down there. Nope he says everything is fine. Perfect, back to painting. A bit later, I wrap things up so I can get him into bed for the night.
It’s about 10:15, and I think I’m done for the day. I’m lying in bed and realize that someone is missing. Hey, have you seen the cat lately? Nope….OMG. I run upstairs and open the guest room door to find a dismantled hamster cage and a cat sitting right next to it. Oh no, I’m figuring the dead hamster must be somewhere but where I can’t find it. I have to drag the cat from the room. I run downstairs and tell my husband of the hamster mess. My immediate plan is the “look-a-like” plan. I’ll make my husband go out with his nurse the next day and buy a new hamster that looks like the old hamster. Good plan right? Maybe our son won’t notice. Back up to the guest room to find the dead hamster. Humm…. I look and look, can’t find it. Maybe it got away. Is that possible?
Plan 2, try to catch the hamster on the off chance that it managed to escape the wrath of the cat. Here is my plan. I reassemble the cage and leave the door open. I get a couple of little carrots and set one outside the cage and the other inside with the rest of the food. I close the bedroom door and pray for the best.
Hot damn, it’s my lucky day. The next morning I actually find the hamster back in its cage. What a relief. The problem is the thing seems rather traumatized. Instead of running on the wheel, he is just standing there on the wheel. PTSS maybe! He is like that all day long. I’m just hoping that he will snap out of it. Well by the time my son gets home on the weekend the hamster seems back to normal. Disater averted this time. In this process I have learned several lessons:
1. I have the lamest cat in the nation. He can’t even catch a caged hamster.
2. I have the smartest hamster in the nation. He managed to survive several hours locked in a room with a cat and find his way back to his cage overnight.
3. I still hate caged animals.
4. There is never a dull moment in my house.
5. And even in the hamster world, I guess what Dorothy said is true. “There’s no place like home.”
Trish
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's learning to dance in the rain."
