Freela
Senior Guinea Pig
My early-20s son has a little dwarf hamster, Apollonia. We have had her almost two years, we got her early November 2022. She has to be slightly over 2 at this point in time. He got her mid-way through his degree. He knew he would be leaving for a post-grad in 2 years, but we didn't expect her to live to be 2+ so we didn't expect her to still be with us when the time came for him to leave. But he's now been at college for almost 2 months and Apollonia is still home with me taking care of her, and he feels awful that he couldn't take her but there's no pets allowed on campus.
In the meantime, she's still trucking but noticeably slowing down. She still eats and drinks, but sleeps most of the rest of the time. She has arthritis and is wobbly on her feet. We've made her cage into a seniors residence with nothing to climb or fall off of. I know she's winding down and I know that she's had a great, long life and this is her natural time to go. But I feel so, SO, bad that she is probably going to pass when my son is away, and I'm going to have to call him and tell him, and he's going to have to be sad alone at college. It just sucks. I wish she could stay longer. My son is going to be home for a month from December to January, but I really don't think that she will live that long. He'll be here next weekend, she may well still be here then. He was home for Thanksgiving earlier in the month and got to spend time with her then. I just hate that when she goes, he won't be here with her and he won't have us in person to support him.
In the meantime, she's still trucking but noticeably slowing down. She still eats and drinks, but sleeps most of the rest of the time. She has arthritis and is wobbly on her feet. We've made her cage into a seniors residence with nothing to climb or fall off of. I know she's winding down and I know that she's had a great, long life and this is her natural time to go. But I feel so, SO, bad that she is probably going to pass when my son is away, and I'm going to have to call him and tell him, and he's going to have to be sad alone at college. It just sucks. I wish she could stay longer. My son is going to be home for a month from December to January, but I really don't think that she will live that long. He'll be here next weekend, she may well still be here then. He was home for Thanksgiving earlier in the month and got to spend time with her then. I just hate that when she goes, he won't be here with her and he won't have us in person to support him.
and support