The hamster Saga
3 weeks ago on Sunday I found Furry, Sophie's first hamster, dead in her cage. We loved the hamster, had had her for about 10 months. She was very sweet and never bit. Sophie could actually handle her. The whole family was very attached and just devastated. Sophie and Chuck buried her little body in the backyard. The rest of the day was just awful and I did not sleep well that night. I woke up on Monday in a terrible mood and still sad. I have a pretty stressful job and Mondays are tough anyway. Sophie went out and noticed that there was a hole where furry was buried. Chuck had looked up hamsters on the internet after the burial and it said something about how they could go into hibernation and look dead, but still be alive. I wanted to take this "opportunity" to teach Sophie about death and now the hamster's body was gone. I had been telling her that even though her spirit was going to hamster heaven, her body was going to remain in the dirt. Poor thing was so confused. I thought the body had probably been dug up by a raccoon and it just broke my heart. Chuck came home that afternoon and found Furry's body and buried her again, so she definitely was dead and we told Sophie. Chuck cleaned up the cage very well and took Sophie to the pet store to pick up a new hamster. She chose a small sand colored female. She was adamant about getting a "girl". Fast forward two days. We pick up the hamster and we notice she looks dirty. I tell Chuck it must be "wet tail" (a bacterial infection often fatal) and to take her back to the pet store for advice the next day as he was off from work. He got her out of the cage around