Today Miss 14 came into the living room, her eyes brimming with tears, “Mom, something’s wrong with Koda! He isn’t moving.” I jumped up from the sofa and ran into her room, followed by my husband and, sure enough, there was Koda, lying on the floor of his cage. Not moving.
My husband and I peered into the cage, breaths held, praying the hamster was still alive. After a few minutes, I called it. Koda hadn’t moved in the 5 minutes we stood staring at him. Then we saw him inhale and exhale deeply. That was all. He didn’t move, he didn’t open his eyes, he just inhaled and exhaled very deeply… We’ve called it twice in the last two hours and each time we see him take a deep breath. We’ve decided to stop calling it. So now we wait.
Poor Miss 14 is beside herself with grief. She’s picked Koda up and talked to him. She’s stroked his fur and begged him to stay with her. There is nothing more heartbreaking than watching your child watch her pet die. Each of the kids has paraded into Miss 14’s room to peer at Koda and offer words of support and comfort. Right now, I’m so very proud of them.
My hope is that he’s not suffering and that he will go gently.
