Lost one of our Steppe Lemmings yesterday.

That was her...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steppe_Lemming

I know it sounds stupid to fret about "just some rodent" but it's amazing how much personality these little guys have. We kept a pair, they had their "marriage troubles", some psychotic episodes (down to outright fighting that required us to "re-familiarize" them in a lengthy process just this June - and they had lots of happy times. Now he's solo and stressed out.

Amazingly enough it was him who made a fuss yesterday morning, a kind of squeaking noise we've never heard him do before, that prompted my GF to check the nest for the female. He actually defended her and bit my GF. That part is maybe what hurts most - he clearly showed that he's aware and intelligent enough to understand that she was not feeling good, and that he really wanted to be with her and her to be okay. I was able to get her out and to the vet, we had three injections done, but there was no improvement towards the evening, it only got worse - seems to have been some kind of lung infection. We agreed with the vet to put her down, she wouldn't have made it trough the night. We buried her in her favorite hollow coconut in the woods near our place, made sure we'll be able to find the spot again when his time comes.

They only live an average 2 years and such a fast metabolism reacts way too fast too any illness. She looked quite okay the evening before and was unable to move herself in the morning.

I've had a lot of pets - family dog, cats, birds, Guinea Pigs, Hamsters - but these are by far the most "colorful character" animals I've ever seen. They built awesome tunnels trough their woodchip bedding and even reinforce them with hay, they have an ongoing social interaction with each other and the world that rivals any cat... and now we'll have to make sure the poor lone guy won't feel down forever.

Just had to vent a little...

I can believe you!

I have renal failure and was told that I will have to let my cats go if I ever receive a new kidney. It was devastating news and both me and the wife cried our eyes out. Thing is 2 of my cats are 10 years and 12 years but one is now 2 years old and is amazing to have around the house. Her personality is amazing.

Hang in there!

Hi,

Why is that? Are they worried the cats transmit some kind of infection on the new kidney? Crappy situation for sure. I can really relate because with our pet's major "marriage crisis" in June we were looking at possibly having to give one of them away to another home. And while giving pets away is slightly better than see them die, it's heartwretching on a different level.

I never hurted so much when a cat just stopped coming home. Sure you are worried and sure you are sad but it's so ethereal. Finding an animal dead in the morning is also something I can mostly deal with. It's the seeing them suffer and die, without chance to do anything more, that really gets me. Especially for such smaller animals there's really not a lot a vet can do - money would not have been an objection.

Sorry to hear that RSC

Sounds like you made the right decision under the circumstances. Thanks for sharing. I'm sure the remaining little fella will be spoiled rotten

It's amazing how little furry people (in all their guises) can bring so much joy. We have a couple of very elderly cats and while nowhere near as cool as having a lemming (sorry but i can't help thinking of the old computer games where i spent hours trying to save those little guys!). I'll miss them terribly when the inevitable happens. Especially my boy cat who just loves 'helping' out when i'm racing....

Thanks Darren!

Cats certainly have a more options to "walk" into our daily lifes, they are "around" and I always liked them for that (like you say with the racing). Thankfully they last a little longer...

Yet for a cat I never felt this deep responsibility either - of course I always took care of them, GF and me actually saved a cat from someone else (I think I posted that here). But ultimatly they are so much more self-reliant than the small buggers we keep in our terrarium. Cats can hunt their own food, for example, they (generally) know what to eat and what not to eat, where they can jump down from and where they can't.

They are more "foolproof" whereas the Lemmings are so fragile to keep, maybe that's what hits me here, there's always that nagging question in the back of your mind "Did I do everything right...". The female had really lost weight since June, we put that down to old age, but maybe it was something that could have improved and it would have made her stronger to survive an acute infection... stuff like that will occupy my mind a few more days I guess until I can put it away and focus on the remaining guy.

They generally really suffer from being kept alone, so maybe if we can find a female somewhere close his age we can try to regroup them. But of course then either we or the other person will have to give one away to a new place.

I'm sorry about your lemming, RSC. They're not what most people in the states would consider a "traditional" pet, but then again I know a guy who's always getting in trouble for having pet king cobras and Gabon vipers (one escaped and caused a major meltdown in the movie theater where it ended up.) It's about the connections that develop, and they can develop with the most unlikely creatures. I once felt a small sense of loss when I noticed the HUGE spider that built its web under the eave was dead - and I'm creeped out by spiders. But I'd seen it every day for some time, and I guess that was enough.



See, I'm the opposite. If they just don't come home I can tell myself that one of their other families kept them, or they just went feral. There's a feral I've unofficially adopted - I feed him so he's mine, and if I can get him to trust me enough to let me touch him I'll eventually bring him to the vet - so it's entirely possible that my missing cats are ferals being fed off someone's back porch. But finding the lifeless body...I think the worst thing is how limp they are. Even having one euthanized is a little easier in a way, you have at least a small amount of time to prepare yourself and you know they go without suffering.

After I lost Hannibal to a car about 6 weeks ago I considered keeping my remaining 2 inside because I felt guilty over Hannibal - I knew he went in the road and never tried very hard to break the habit - but with the help of a friend I decided that it was more important that they lived their lives on their own terms even if it meant they didn't live as long. They definitely are happier when outside - mine, at least. I loved them and made their lives as comfortable as possible, and they knew it.

Sorry for your loss.

Sorry to hear that RSColonel, any pet impacts on your life.

Sorry for your lemming ... it must hurt like hell.

We've lost the office cat a couple of months ago. Some dude - the art director - brought it from home when the studio was started, thinking that its better for him to live in the office mansion and courtyard. Funky black cat with an attitude, lots of stories to tell about him as he got under everyone's skin.

And one evening somebody forgot to look for him before closing the office, so he stayed outside. And got ran over by a car. We've learned of it from the neighbours, but his body was already gone. We hoped, we looked, but he never came back.

And it hurt everyone like hell. I'm not ashame to say I wept... I just feel much more responsible for cats ... animals... they trust us and depend on us and our mistakes can cost them their lives.

It's always sad when a beloved pet dies. I'm very sorry, RSC.

Wow Elanaiba, that is one huge lot of bad luck.

Writing about it here helps, it actually makes me realize why this case is so much harder to take than other pets before. I think much of it is down to the fact that I never had a pet "leave a partner behind", and with these animals it's actually a very human-like monogamous life relationship (contrary to what you get with cats and dogs for example, although I know they can also bond very tightly).

It's also that these cute furry bundles sometimes appear really human - they can stand eating on their hind legs all day long and use their "hands" to hold the food, it's really like having small furry people in there. I know that "humanizing" animals is stupid, but it's happening on an emotional level somewhere, you can't help it.

Thanks for all the responses and for caring.

regards

That's in interesting point. We also keep tropical fish and that's another instance where the keeper is responsible for practically everything that keeps them alive. Food, temperature, water quality, oxygen levels, stress, mating etc. We used to have a big specimen cichlid called Dennis who had a remarkable character. He was always lively, happy and a little bit cheeky and a wealth of facial expressions that told us exactly what he was thinking - you wouldn't think it of a fish but we got very attached to him. Just as much as our cats in fact.

He got sick and we went through a similar thing of 'was it something we did' We kept him alive for a few weeks with treatments and even hand fed him while he was laid on his side on the bottom of the tank for days on end. He'd occasionally show a spark of life which would give us hope but it was a pretty miserable existence so we had to do the decent thing in the end.

Ironically that was harder than losing any other pet i'd had previously, partly because you wonder what if, partly because I had to do the deed, but mostly because that level of dependency really does create something extra.

It didn't really occur to me until now.

Wow Darren, you sure have a big heart for animals, hand-feeding a fish is the most caring thing I've heard in the last years. And you descripe the situation fully.

One particular thing sticking in my mind is that the vet said her breathing was better in the evening than it was in the morning before the medication - but she wasn't moving at all, just laying on side and not even reacting to touch. So I end up wondering if maybe it was just remaining high fever and maybe she would have made it to next morning and could gave got trough it given some fluids and strenght-building stuff.

OTOH the vet agreed that putting her to sleep was likely the most reasonable course, to avoid a few more hours suffering if the outcome would have been death anyway.

It's so hard to make these decisions for these little buggers that can't explain themself. With a cat or dog there's also much more diagnostic options... you don't get that with small animals.

Hang in there RSColonel, I know how you feel. In our household we keep rats, and those fluffly little guys are indeed extremely human-like (I found it odd when my GF introduced me to them). They'll use hands to eat food like burgers, they'll push their cage-mates in the head when they want to get through, they enjoy each others company, ect.

Unfortunately they also have a lifespan of 2 to 3 years (generally less for females, as I understand it due to breast cancer research generally all female rats die early from tumors, still not sure how I feel about that). By the time they're really becoming a part of the home their bodies are failing them in some way. I've never had a rat that left peacefully (we've been to the saline injections point, fall proofing the cage, aspirin in the food, the works), and in the end you need to justify it in your head once the quality of life is so low they can barely function. We've had the same thing, where a spark of health would show through and then vanish, making the calls all the more difficult. The key is to realize you gave them a home and decent life to begin with, and being sick was just a tiny fraction of their life. With such limited options (essentially antibiotics/OTC meds or euthanasia in a lot of cases), you can only do so much. Hang in there!

Hi Peally, yes that sounds like exactly the same road many Lemming Owners are going down in the end. In that regard this end to her life wasn't at least the drawn out painful variant. I've heard of others with open tumours and such crap requiring specific medical care twice or three times a day, for months. Not a nice option.

You said it perfectly - just as you get used to them they wither away. GF has brought up the point to consider other pets, but somehow we also both agree that these are the coolest, cutest, "socially interesting" rodents we can think of. We'd go for rats if they wouldn't need place to climb, I would love rats, but our terrarium is too small for them and we can't make more space available.

So on one hand it seems kind of masochistic to take on a new pair every third year knowing you will see them finish way too soon again, OTOH it's as you say - ours were part of a huge grup that were leftover from an "illegal breeder" who ran a crappy and unhealthy farm, and taking these two to us allowed them a decent life.

I'd love to have a larger pet again but in the city apartment it's really not an option. So I guess the trick will be to learn to live with it. Otherwise there's always turtles... if you want to pass on your pet to your kids

It's really weird how your perception of "Pet-Death" changes with age. I think the last before I lost at 10 or 12, I certainly was sad to hell and back. But now at 30 I recognize that it's a different attachment I get to them, something more based on respect and interest in a different kind of species than just in the pure "plaything/fluffy bunny" sense that kids have for their animals.