Farewell To Our Beloved Nellie

I didn’t post anything about this right away, because we needed time to work through our own grief, but last month, we lost our beloved Nellie to an abdominal cyst. The photo to the left was taken by 40 Nights Photography when Nellie was younger. It’s my favorite picture of me and Nellie together.

Last month, Nellie was really not doing well, and I didn’t want her to suffer anymore, so I had to make the difficult decision to have her put to sleep. Nellie fell asleep at the vet’s office, and she passed away peacefully in her sleep just moments before the vet was going to put her to sleep.

Nellie came to Twin Squeaks when I contacted Michele, a breeder in Omaha, after Maeby’s tankmate Lindsay passed away. Nellie came to Twin Squeaks, and after two weeks in a split cage, she and Maeby were new friends. Nellie and Maeby were best buddies, and when Maeby passed away in her sleep in August, Nellie was still in the nest with her, keeping her warm, and gently grooming her.

In her final months, Nellie spent time playing on the couch, running in her wheel, coming out of the tank for hand-fed Cheerios and sunflower seeds, and destroying every piece of cardboard that I gave her.

It’s been a rough few months, because three of our gerbils (Maeby, Buster, and Nellie) were all quite old and all passed away within months of each other.

Nellie was laid to rest next to Maeby (Nellie’s marker is still being engraved). The girls are together again, and that makes it all a little bit easier.

Nellie is survived by several relatives at Twin Squeaks, including her nephew Herman and her great-great nieces Hallie and Liza.