It's been a very bad month...

by chiroptera Tue 28 Jan 2020, 12:40 am

Hey, guys. This month has been a very hard one for me. On the third, while I was back home in PA for the holidays, my grandfather passed away. He's been having health issues but it was very sudden; the doctor told my grandma he would have months if not years and three hours later he was gone. He was really the only person in my family that's never let me down, he was a great man and I honestly still haven't processed that he's gone.

While my stay in PA was extended for the funeral service and everything, one of the cats got into my roommates' room, where Beetle was living in an uncovered 40gal. She got to him and killed him. It was obviously a horrible accident, I don't hold it against them, but it was not the news I needed.

A few days later they found Olive dead. (We don't know why, she was a pet store animal so it might've just been bad genes.)

Next day or so, Frida passed away. She was having trouble with cysts, and I believe these were probably related to tumors since they kept coming back and she kept getting more. The roommates were medicating her but clearly it was too much for her.

While I was gone, they noted to me that Shelly had a bit of a head tilt and was twirling. When I did get back, it was getting worse honestly by the hour, she was completely eratic, twitchy, and was losing weight quickly.

Thyme was also very frail and breathing poorly. She had been frail for a while, was clearly older (not sure exactly how old, since she was adopted as a surrender at Petco), so I took her to the vet alongside Shelly when I got back. Also brought Oakley and Caramel since both were sneezing/had signs of respiratory infection.

Made the decision to have both Shelly and Thyme put to rest while at the vet, Shelly because it was almost certainly a brain tumor, and Thyme because she was struggling just to breathe and walk and I didn't want her to suffer.

Brought Oakley and Caramel home with some medicine which I was giving them; eventually, I moved Oakley back in with her sisters since she was better after a few days, but Caramel I left in a hospital cage because she wasn't doing as well. I was medicating her twice a day, really wasn't expecting her to make it. She actually had what I think was a seizure one day while I was giving her her medicine, but she got right back up and was moving around okay and everything. She actually seemed to be doing much better the next few days. I was getting ready to put her back in with the others. The next morning, she was gone...

6 of my darlings the same month as my grandfather's passing... I know mice aren't the hardiest pets, but this was seriously excessive... Really hoping this isn't what the rest of this year is gonna be like.

The only good thing to come of this is that I got some new sweeties from my breeder, and I absolutely love them; I'll be putting up an intro post for these new little mousies soon because I do love these a LOT, especially my new little boy... I've been more motivated to pay attention to my mice again (due to depression I've really not been interacting much outside of general care for them lately), so.... there is at least a small silver lining. But yeah, just had to vent a little bit about all this loss because it's seriously been so stressful. Here's hoping for something better going forward.

by MyMouseAndMe Tue 28 Jan 2020, 1:14 am

I'm so sorry for your loss. That is too much to undergo in a month. At least it sounds like your mice were very lucky to have such a great owner. All we can do is love them. I hope things get better for you!

by TruffleBug Tue 28 Jan 2020, 8:32 am

Sending hugs your way!!!

by MerciToujoursMaPetiteBoop Tue 28 Jan 2020, 7:43 pm

What a heart-breaking irony, considering January 25 began the Year Of The Mouse on the Chinese calendar.

Yes, I called it the Year Of The Mouse (not Rat), because my friend from Beijing wished us Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Year Of The Mouse on his holiday cards last month.

So sorry about your grandfather. I lost my Papa last summer. I moved back to the parents' house quite a few years back, at their insistence, after the other siblings all took off to live their own lives. So I was there when Mum got sick five years ago, and helped Papa take care of her for a year, in hospital and at home. But she fought against us and against getting better, and went to Mommy Heaven. But Papa was in much better health, still active and self-sufficient, always running out on errands, doing his own laundry, fixing his own car. Then one day last June he had me drive him to the hospital ... and he never came home. The plan to get him well sounded good, logical, made perfect sense. Why, his doctor was the Chief Medical Office of the whole hospital! But then everything that could possibly go wrong started going wrong with him, and that was that. His body just rejected every attempt to make him better, even though he SO wanted to recover.

May you and your new mousies enjoy lots of health and many good times in the next few years. And remember to tell your grandfather that you love him once in a while.

by chiroptera Wed 29 Jan 2020, 12:12 am

Thank you everyone for the well wishes, I appreciate it. <3

@MerciToujoursMaPetiteBoop

I didn't even think about that... but yeah, it is a sad coincidence. (Also, Googled it, and Mouse or Rat is technically correct!)

Funny enough, I actually called my grandpa "Papa." I'm sorry for your loss as well, it's really hard when it happens so suddenly.

I actually got a tattoo for him, a turtle, with his ashes mixed into the ink. A reminder that he'll always be with me. If you want to see it.

by MerciToujoursMaPetiteBoop Wed 29 Jan 2020, 6:38 pm

chiroptera:

That is a VERY colorful turtle! Looks like he has some hummingbird DNA. Wink

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