Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The Story of Rattinball, The Stealth Ninja TeddyBear Hamster

So, this is how the story of Rattinball begins....

In February, 2008, my daughter, Steph, was off to college in semester number two. She went to a local pet store and acquired a TeddyBear Hamster that was born some months before. The person who helped her advised it was a male. So she named this hamster Christopher - after the man who helped her as he gave her the hamster as it was a bit too old to sell. A couple of months passed, May 2008 arrived, and Steph came home from college...along with the hamster.

As we all know the transition to adulthood is very challenging to our youth...and Steph, like a lot of young adults, decided she could live on her own. She left "Chris" behind and I suddenly had an adopted pet. Uncertain to how I felt about it, I decided there was no reason for "Chris" to suffer while I figured it out. Chris's house was a very small wire cage filled with random items - like a chew stick, some toilet paper rolls, and a couple of dishes for food and water.

I did not feel this was adequate, so I went out and purchased some proper housing for the little guy...and threw out that other stinky stuff promptly. I did a little research and discovered they liked to nest. We found a product called sweet dreams to be one of it's favorite "fluff-style-nesting materials." I then found a wheel was needed...and a ball...because apparently, they run about 5-8 miles a day...wish I had that discipline!

Anyway, when it was all said and done, a couple of house, a set of tubes, a couple of wheels, a ball, a hut, some fluffy, some stuff for the bottom of the cage...and a twin bed to put it all on later, my new friend had been upgraded from a studio flat...to a lake front condo! And boy, was SHE happy! Yes, I said, "SHE." In the midst of all this shopping, I took Christopher to the vet to have "it" looked over...and they quickly advised Christopher was not a good name for a female.

My daughter decided to try Christopherina (how does she come up with this crap?) But the little gal would not pay any attention to her - or anyone else - when calling her by this name. One night, my husband, teasing me as I had told him she was not a rat, called in a squeaky voice to the little thing as it rolled by...he said, "Come here, Rattinball!" She stopped, turned her ball around and ran back toward him. We got a quick giggle...and I tried the same - but in a much more natural voice. Again, she turned her ball, and came across the living room to me. From this point on, her name was Rattinball as she had obviously chosen it and liked it.

Over the course of time, Rattinball became a close member of our family. We added the stealth ninja title to her when she figured out how to open her ball by running it into the wall while pushing the top of her ball counterclockwise with her feet. If she did this quite right, she would escape! But we always new where to find her...she would be at the fridge...or sometimes behind it...looking for frozen peas or snow peas. She was quite the tool when it came to snacks. She liked fresh fruits and veggies way more than any packaged foods.


In case you are thinking so, she wasn't spoiled, she was REALLY spoiled...but so were we by having her around. She was not a biter (unless you left popcorn butter on your fingers - Rattinball 1, Pops 0 - Valentine's Day 2009) Now that was a funny story...Rattinball was "niffing" (which is sniffing in Rattinball speak) pop's finger. He said to me isn't that cute...right about the time she decided he was food because he wasn't moving his finger while she niffed-it...and she chomped it. Boy did it bleed...and as soon as she realized, she released and was upset that she had bitten her pops...but I had just told him, "You better move it or she is going to think it is food...."

See, while he thought he was being a good pops, letting her roll up onto his feet while in the ball and playing with her almost every night...and even occasionally sharing his Hagen Daz with her...I had been researching facts about the hamster family and I knew they do not see well. So their sence of smell decides whether something is edible or not...and he smelt like buttered, salted popcorn. Now although the books all say popcorn is ok for hamsters, I will tell you it made my Rattinball's belly hurt - so I steared clear from then on!
Once, my niece was eating a Bryer's All Fruit popscicle while holding Rattinball. She had put a small chunk on her tounge, rolled her tounge around it, and was blowing the scent toward Rattinball. Rattinball decided she wanted the popscicle and reached into her mouth, grabbed it, and shoved it into her cheek as quickly as she could. She was a funny little hamster - and it shocked the *%&# out of my niece who decided it was easier just to give her a little bite off of the actual stick...! We had so much fun with her that it is hard to remember all the stories.

Rattinball was a beauty...as you can see in the pictures...she was bathed regularly using CHI Organics Olive and Silk Oil Shampoo. I use this at the salon and it rinses clean. It kept her fur soft, fluffy, and shiny! (One thing to know, don't get a hamster's ears wet...it can cause them infection...which can lead to much worse.) So, in bathing her, we bathed from the neck down just to be safe. As soon as she was nearly dry from her baths I gave her, she would push back onto her tail and use all four feet to wash herself top-to-bottom. It was a very entertaining site. She would push her hair forward...then back...and then forward again until she was satisfied that she was appropriately clean.

Clearly, she brought much joy into my life. My husband and I would joke about what she was thinking...who did something that neither of us wanted to fess up to...and even take her out of each other's lap - for a turn to hold the Rattinball. She watched many a game with the two of us...watched the olympics...escaped from her house and her ball once or twice...let our neighbor girl watch her and play with her as if she were a barbie...and even let the puppy sniff her and lick her a time or two. Granted, the puppy was more scared of her - with those fierce looking teeth - than she was of him! Anyway, as the story goes, not all was wonderful with our little pet.

When she would run around in her ball, a sudden rattle would occur - and I knew that meant it was time to dump the pooh out of her ball. Sometimes, you would dump the pellets out, give her a bath, check to make sure the floor was clean, and she would already be rattling again! That girl could produce the pooh! She also would piddle on the floor sometimes. So between making sure she was clean and the house was kept, and the ball was empty of pooh, sometimes it was crazy how much time that could take up in an evening. But I would trade the next million evenings of cleaning up after her...just to have her back!

Well, as you can well imagine, it is January, 2010. Almost 2 full years since Steph had gotten the little gal...and she was at least 6 months old when she got her. Needless to say, hamsters rarely live to 3 years old. In fact, the Vet said that the oldest documented hamster was 36 months (or 3 years) old. So our girl was getting very old.

Yes, I said Vet...see, my Rattinball was taking a vacation with my husband and I. We left home at Christmas and knew we were not returning until the end of January...we could not be away from her for so long... She had asked Santa for a new ball and some Peas in her stocking! And thank God we did not have someone sit with her and leave her behind. We went to family homes - so now - Rattinball was a cross-country traveler. And then we went to Toronto, Ontario, Canada - so now - Rattinball was an international hamster! And our final destination was Upstate New York. She was back stateside on January 2, 2010. We knew our baby was old. She traveled well and saw much...but one day...we noticed her body was shaking rather heavily and her breathing seemed wrong. This was on January 8th, 2010. We took her to an Animal Hospital near Lake Placid, New York.

The Vet was an amazing and caring lady. She advised us that it could be a respiratory issue that antibiotics would take care of...or more likely, she was just old and her heart was failing.

She gave her a little shot of antibiotics and sent some to give her orally over the next ten days and advised we would know something by Monday either way and if she began to act as though she were in pain, she would assist us in putting her down.

Over the weekend, Rattinball seemed to be breathing easier and her coloring was coming back. I was full of hope. She did not like the medicine, but she was taking it without fighting me and she was eating, drinking, and of course poohing in what seemed like a normal manner.

Monday afternoon, I went to check on her. Like usual, she was sleeping peacefully in her fluffy. I could see her lungs expanding and shrinking in a much more typical manner and her heart beat seemed better. At approximately 5:15 p.m. Rattinball rattled her house. This was how she would call me to come get her out - nearly from the very beginning of our lives together. I went in, and she seemed weak or overly tired. I reached in to let her crawl onto my hand...and she barely got her paw up onto my hand. So I just picked her up gently and told her I would help her. I brought her in to see Pops who was working at his computer. He reached over and petted her little head and she seemed satisfied. I carried her around for a few minutes and took her back to the house.

Knowing she was still tired, I tried to put her back in the house. She held onto my hand. (Hamsters have opposing thumbs just like humans.)

I pulled her back out of the entry and told her, "It's ok, you don't have to go back in there if you don't want to...you can just stay here with your mommy for a bit."

Within the next few minutes, I knew she was not ok. My husband and I sat on the couch holding her, singing her favorite made up song to her, and petting her - as we watched her struggle for her last few breaths. We comforted her to the best of our ability and cried like you will never know. I begged God to help her and to fix her and keep her from feeling pain...but as I sat there with her warm, furry little body, and I held her hand in mine, she let a little fluid come from her mouth and her nose and relaxed out all her muscles. I knew she was gone. Since we are away from home, we took my favorite pajama bottoms - the ones that were obviously her favorite too - since she insisted on chewing on the legs of them all the time - and cut a leg of the pant off. We wrapped her gently in the cloth and put her in a large Ziplock in the freezer. I will be taking my girl home with me for a proper burial at her home. I plan to go to the local craft store and construct her a small coffin out of treated wood to house her for eternity. She deserves the best as she was the best.


The pain has not stopped and I don't believe it ever will. She's my girl, my beautiful girl, in our tiny, little world...in our world, in our world, my beautiful, pretty girl....So the song goes. She will always be a part of my family and I hate that she is gone. I don't want to understand why or how it happens - or that her time was JUST up! I am so glad I was with her in her last moment as I know I would have been comforted by my loved ones - should the roles ever be reversed.


The amount of joy this little Rattinball brought me is unmeasurable. My clients at my salon always ask about her and her tactics for attention...my family treated her like one of us...and although she did tricks for treats like a dog, cuddled and demanded attention like a cat, the truth of the matter is, she was an non-judgemental "person" who's only wish in life was to be loved and to give love. She got her wish, she was very loved!

Although we do not have an exact date, we believe she was born in the fall of 2007 and she passed January 11, 2010 at 5:45 p.m. We did not take a picture of her in my hands during her last minutes, but it is something I will never forget.