Around 8 o’clock, I took him out of his cage, and mom held him while I cleaned his bottom. I also noticed that his chest was wet with drool. His teeth appeared to be overgrown, but I didn’t want to take care of that right away, for fear of stressing him too much.

After he was clean, I sat down on the couch and laid him on my chest. He stayed there for over an hour, cuddled in warmly under my hand, and fast asleep.

At 9:30, he started to stir a little, and so mom and I took the opportunity to get a better look at his teeth. I had to weigh the potential stress it would cause him against the fact that he could very well starve to death if this was left untreated.

Turns out I didn’t have much of a choice to make.

He had another stroke, in my hands. It was very fast. As he was breathing his last, I held him, and stroked him, and told him it was okay. He could go. I leaned over, kissed him, and whispered into his ear, You’ve been a wonderful boy. You can leave now, it’s alright. And he was gone.

There’s nothing I would have done differently. No better way I could have imagined for him to spend his last night. And yet…it hurts so much.

Well, he was still here when I got home from work. I was so worried I wouldn’t be coming home to a live hamster…

Doesn’t look like he’s eaten much, but I got some baby food to tempt him with, and also some Pedialyte to add to his water (he’s drinking, just not very much).

He seems okay. He likes being held and petted (I think he enjoys the warmth of our hands). He’s not too happy about being cleaned, but we’ve made sure to give him lots of TLC afterwards.

I know he could possibly hang on for some time, or he may not live out the weekend. I just want to make sure he’s comfortable for as long as he is with us.