Miscellany

Moral duty and hamsters

13 April, 2011 /

We have had so much fun with the inhabitants of New Hamsterdam, founded on Christmas of 2009. Teddy, short for the Empress Theodora, is my older daughter’s hamster, and she is a sweet little thing who has escaped three times and returned to tell the tale. (Actually, she has remained mum about her midnight adventures — no tale telling.)

However, the other day she fell while Older D was trying to give her a section of orange. I didn’t see it happen, but she is clearly hurting. She eats and drinks, but she can’t get around very well at all. There appears to be something amiss in her hind quarter.

What do we do? Take her to the vet? We’ve always assumed that we would never take a hamster to the vet, since they cost about $6 and a single vet visit is nine or ten times that much. Plus, could the vet do anything? How would you splint such a small creature? And if it’s the tail bone or something you couldn’t splint anyway, what then?

The poor little thing is in pain, and she’s our responsibility. But I’m at a loss as to how to act on that, other than to hover anxiously.

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4 Comments

  • DebD

    13 April, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    oh dear! We had these same dilemmas with our guinea pigs. 10x is way underestimated, unfortunately…. because it will probably require an x-ray at the very least. We spent over $300 on a GP that ended up dying from its illness (ours were always ill, not injured). It is *such* a difficult decision. If I had to do it over again, I’m still not sure how I’d do proceed, knowing what I know now. Especially when pain is involved.

  • Janet

    13 April, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    I went ahead and made an appointment. I don’t feel like we have any choice ethically, small size and high expense notwithstanding… and this is a teaching moment (unsought!) too.

    I do hope we cash in at less than $300 though!

  • Carrie, Reading to Know

    13 April, 2011 at 4:27 pm

    Yowee! That’s a hard one. I had hamsters growing up. Your picture made me, “AWWWW.” I’d go for a hamster again with our kids – when they are older. I had about three of them and they were so fun. Small. Contained. I remember each one. Give us an update when you get a chance! (I hope you cash in much lower as well!)