RIP Schmumfy

Traveling across the country can take a toll on a person…or a hamster.

I think I noticed this before I left for Georgia, but Schmumfy had been breathing erratically and would take very fast breaths all the time, even while sleeping. During the road trip to Georgia I’d cover her and try to keep both hamsters (I have another one named Harry) as “comfortable” as possible.

When we got to our home we set the hamsters up in their cages near our couches so we could play with them and keep an eye on them—they’re seriously cute, people! (Like right now Kenny just went over and said, “Hey there, Little Man!” and gave Harry a fruit loop!)

Okay, so they were doing just fine except for Schmumfy’s breathing. We were hoping it would start to get a little more regular now that we weren’t traveling anymore.
On Wednesday night Kenny and I took her out of her cage to play with her and I noticed that her bottom half seemed very big and she was almost dragging/waddling her back legs. She also hadn’t eaten any of the food I had left her over the past few days, which is really unlike a hamster since they hoard food.

Well, on Thursday she slept all day (they’re nocturnal animals), but about five minutes after Kenny got home from work she woke up. He went over to her cage to give her a peanut (her favorite) and she walked over, tried to get it and fell. He said, “Oh no! Schmumfy fell.” So I got up from my comfy spot on the couch and went over; she tried to get up to get the peanut again and fell again.

This time, though, we noticed that her breathing slowed WAYYYYY down. We watched her for a good 15 minutes and saw her breathing going from slow, slow, slower, and then it stopped. Schmumfy had died. It was really, really sad. I’m just happy it happened when Kenny was around so he could be with me.

We wrapped her up in one of Kenny’s Converse shoe boxes and burried her out back by a tree. She was barely two years old and a hamster’s lifespan is usually around three years, so I’m thinking she had a tumor or sickness/disease or something like that.

Long story short, it was a very sad time and she will very much be missed.