A Weekend of Change

Four hamsters left the New York Hamster House this weekend... Brook Lyn Bridge, Betty, and Jack Bauer were adopted. And One Eyed Willy died.



This morning, I noticed that Willy was breathing heavily. She was also running a lot, though, and eating, so I assumed she was fine. Her eye was clearing up from the medicine that Dr. Pilny and I decided on. But when I took her out of her cage tonight to introduce her to my new roommate Nick, she was breathing really, really heavily. I held her close to me in my hand, and just petted her softly. I tried to give her water, but she couldn't drink it. Her breathing became incredibly labored, and then she died in my hand. I cried a little--I was sad that she was so young when she died. But I really do think she waited for me to die, waited to feel comfortable and safe. Make sure to take a minute today to say goodbye to dear Willy.

I can get really down when a hamster dies... but I have to keep in mind that I am running a shelter here. I've had 92 hamsters now in the past 15 months. Some go on and get adopted, some get sick and die. It's life. And if you run an animal shelter, it's what you end up having to deal with. Some die in their sleep, and some die in my hand. But my goal is to give them the best life possible, and to match each hamster up with the family who will best take care of her. A Columbia student adopted Betty... a cool high school girl and her boyfriend adopted Brook (the boyfriend paid for her cage and made a donation to the NYHH as a present, awww!), and a very sweet couple from the Upper West Side took home Jack Bauer, after they lost their own hamster named Simone the Wonder Hamster.

Ahh, the ups and downs of running a shelter....