In Memory Of Samantha

You may have noticed that I've been a little bit quieter than usual this week. It's been a tough time, because we lost our beautiful Samantha on Sunday morning. Because of her advanced age, it shouldn't have been a shock, but it was a surprise, because she'd still been so active up until that morning. She had just turned 3 years, 9 months old last Thursday. (That is a very good age for a gerbil, so I know that I was lucky to have Samantha with me for as long as I did.)

I like to write fun, happy news here, but I think it's important, too, to write about the heartbreaking things that happen when you have gerbils. It's a part of having pets. They provide you with so much joy, but they also leave a huge hole in your heart when they're gone. As you can see from the photo of me with Samantha, I really adored her.

The day before Samantha died, she was acting fine, but I thought I felt a mass in her side when I was doing weekly health checks. I was taking her in Monday night to see the vet and have it confirmed. At that point, she was still acting like nothing was wrong. When I went to bed Saturday night, Samantha was happily munching on a pumpkin seed.

Sunday morning, Samantha was breathing very fast and not getting around as well as she usually does. She just seemed a little bit weak. At first, I thought maybe she'd had a stroke, but the symptoms didn't seem to fit. Based on what I saw that morning, I think she died either from complications of the tumor I thought I felt the day before, or of heart failure. I tried to keep her comfortable, but as the morning went on, her condition deteriorated. I contacted the emergency vet, who said she could come into the office at 1:30.

Samantha didn't make it that long, though. As her health declined, I held her and tried to keep her warm and comfortable. She seemed to enjoy this and kept curling up against my chest to sleep. I was lying on the couch just before 11:00, with Samantha sleeping on my stomach, cradled against my arm, when she woke up and started gasping for air. Her death was pretty quick, and she didn't seem to suffer for more than a few seconds if at all. She kicked her legs a few times and then stopped breathing.

Samantha's burial was yesterday morning. She's buried next to her former tankmate, Suzie. It was a very rainy and windy day, but it was a beautiful burial nonetheless. She's been living alone for quite a while now, and it was nice to see her laid to rest with Suzie.

Because of the rain, I couldn't get any photos at the pet cemetery yesterday, but I'll try to get a few photos this weekend. I'm also planning to create a memorial page for Samantha. She was truly one of a kind, and it's very strange to not hear her running in her wheel or scraping at the corners of the tank anymore.

Something I'm considering adding to the Twin Squeaks site is a memorial page where site visitors can add memorials to their gerbils. If this is something you think you'd like, please add a comment to this post and let me know.

Rest In Peace, Samantha
12/14/02 - 9/17/06