In loving memory of my little fighter..

IN LOVING MEMORY OF PEPPER WONG

Wednesday night was when it all began, and it just went downhill from there...

Got home and just had this strong feeling to check up on her. When I saw her, she was just scratching profusely and her fur looked lumpier than usual. Just knew something wasn't right. So I monitored her for a while. My greedily little one usually jumps at the food I put in her cage, but tonight she merely managed to sniff at it and pick out one of two bits before giving up. It was late at night, about 1am, when we brought her to the Animal Hospital. Vet said she was inflammed all around. When I left her, she still nibbled at some of the food and was moving around.

The next morning I picked her up. The inflammation was down, but so was her activity level. She was just lying there and had so much difficulty moving about. She looked so weak. My sis took care of her thru'out the day. She went from lying there to small movements. By night, you could tell she was so hungry. As difficult as it was for her to move around, move around she did. She took in some food around the cage and the water I was feeding her. But she went into bouts of tired rests. Her breathing sounded bad, but she it looked like things were slightly better.

I woke up in the morning only to find her lying flat in a corner and not moving. She was still breathing, but when I picked her up, her body was all limp and you could just tell she'd been lying in that position for a long time.... Had to skip work and take her to the vet.

By the time this all happened, I only remember the vet telling me that she had collapsed and chances were close to zilch that she would recover. Still Pepper hadn't given up, so why should I?...

The vet kept her going with oxygen, fluids and a warm environment. For hours, she worked at staying alive. I'm sure she fought hard, cos the vet seemed surprised she was still alive. By night fall, things were still the same - nothing better, nothing worse.

This morning, I got the dreaded call. I knew it before I picked up the phone I guess. And the tone of the clinic's assistant was telling enough.

She'd passed away sometime in the wee hours of the morning......

I made my way down for final goodbyes. It was the vet who attended to her the night it all happened. He couldn't tell why her body had declined so quickly, and asked if I wanted to do an autopsy to find out. I said "No". No scars, no cuts to mar her body. Well, couldn't bury her were I live, cos someone would end up turning her grave at some point in time. So I chose cremation.

I hope she's happy somewhere, eating as much as she likes. That would be my greedy little hamster's piece of heaven.