I suppose it would have been a bit worse if the rabbit had died (we do happen to have one of those as a pet, too). *sigh* Let me start off by saying that never before in my life have I been so attached to a rodent as I am/was to Bobbie. What a sweet little hamster she was. Usually at this time of the night the whir of her little hamster wheel can be heard over the baby monitor, but tonight she is lying under the wheel, dead.
I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that we introduced a very young male hamster to her the other day or not. It will be a week tomorrow since Screech joined our family. I have heard that rodents will sometimes fight to the death, but that's the thing: she has no visible wounds. So I am left to wonder if the dog wasn't cause for her demise. He nipped at her last night as I was standing to put her back into her cage. He got my finger but we thought Bobbie had escaped injury. And now she's dead.
And do you know what the worse part of Bobbie dying happens to be? Yeah, Grace. She is going to be crushed, and I sincerely dread telling her that Bobbie is dead. I told her tonight that I thought something was wrong with Bobbie, but I didn't tell her that I knew she was dying. And I won't tell her that I stood there and watched Bobbie take what would be her last breath. No, the fact that Bobbie is dead will be enough for her to handle.
I'm not one of those parents who feel as if my children should be spared the knowledge of death. In fact, I would rather them deal with the passing of a beloved pet first rather than a human member of the family. But, Gawd, that little girl's heart is going to break into a thousand pieces tomorrow. And I dread that beyond belief.
I wonder what will be done to try to manipulate her thoughts away from the dead hamster? It doesn't help that Screech, the new male, is very young and very wild. I insisted we buy him from PetSmart so we could get him out of that blasted cage.
Ugh. Why did we have to get so attached to the hamster?
May you rest in peace, Bobbie.