RIP Chuck and Morgan

Yep. The hamsters that Harper had for less than four weeks both passed away. Within hours of each other.

Last night Harper came out of her room crying and said that Chuck had died. I went in and picked up his limp and cold body and held him while she cried. All at once he started to make movements, sort of like he was gagging. We were afraid he was choking and the girls were upset and wanting me to be able to help him. I called the vet and Harper and I ended up rushing him there, but when we got there, we were told he was already gone and that the movements he was making were just spasms. Also, they told us he was a girl.

So we took her back home and were greeted at the door by Saren holding Morgan in her hands, wondering why she couldn't get her (because Morgan was a girl as well) to respond. She was lethargic, but still breathing. We wrapped her in a little towel and held her as she died, which took about another half an hour or so.

Of course, since they died within hours of each other I immediately thought it must have been something we did. How else to explain the coincidence? But I have racked my brain trying to figure out what it could have been and have come up with nothing. I guess we're never really going to know. They could have just been sick from the get-go. I have thought about the pet store we got them from and since then I have decided that they probably aren't the most scrupulous or terribly concerned with the health of the animals they carry.

I feel so awful for Harper, who had wanted hamsters for months, since last May at least. She finally got them and was so excited about them and loved them and then this. We had a little funeral for them this morning. Even though she was so interested in and excited by hamsters, she's not very enthusiastic about the idea of getting more. She is thinking that when she is ready for another pet, she might get mice instead.