Maybe You Want a Cat?

We came home around 3 pm yesterday from our little trip and whilst I was on my butt trying to catch up here on Hive, my brother and the kids arrived from school. After a while, my niece Ahjay came knocking at our door. She's always excited to see me and being the inquisitive little girl she was, "Tita, why are you adopting a puppy?" she asked. "So I will have a baby in the house," I replied.

"Hmmm... I see..." she said and then went out the door only to peek again and asked further, "maybe you want a cat?" I was smiling of her cute gesture. "Let me think... but why do you ask?" I inquired. "Wait a sec, Tita" she answered then disappeared for some 5 minutes and popped right back in with this wee kitten.

Turned out their cat had given birth to three little ones. She and her sister had chosen two amongst them and she wants me to take the third. How sweet and thoughtful. "Are you sure you want me to have her?" I was trying to check whether she really wanted to give away one of them.

She could not decide and said she'd ask her sister first. Just as I thought... lol!

For as long as I can remember, they both loved cats and dogs. Ahjay however had a history of asthma attacks so my brother didn't allow them to have another one when their Persian cat disappeared a few years ago. But the little girl simply can't keep herself away from them anyway.

This one can melt ones' heart, don't you think? She was crying out loud for her mama😻

Meanwhile, it slipped through my mind that it was her sister's birthday until she mentioned their dad was cooking. We went to their house to see what's needed to be done and found out everything was almost ready but the birthday gal was nowhere around. Their father said she's in her bedroom crying because of their hamster.

And so we went upstairs and indeed she was, her tears pouring nonstop as she sobbed silently on her bed gently caressing the tiny hamster. "He was alright this morning before we left for school but when we arrived, he wouldn't run around like he used to. Now, he doesn't eat nor even drink water..." she explained.

It was a challenge to pacify her. She just turned 12 but still a baby and I don't know anything about hamsters! I then asked her to put it down so we can see how it moves. I explained to her that maybe their hamster was stressed so we should give it time to rest. It breaks my heart to see her cry over their tiny pet and I felt so helpless unable to do anything.

The poor guy was breathing alright and can move her body and legs but it seems to be having some discomfort on its throat. So we did a little experiment of blowing some air into its mouth using a tiny straw. But because it is so small and looking so fragile, I was scared to even touch it.

I was thinking it may have eaten something. She said they were giving him hamster food and he sniffs them before eating and he also drinks by himself.

"We don't even have any vet here in town so we can bring him for check up" my niece lamented. My brother thinks hamsters have short lifespan and perhaps it was this lil guy's time. Our cousin also shared that his girlfriend had hamsters as pets and they usually don't last long.

I don't know how I was able to tell her that hamsters like dogs or people for that matter have a number of years to live. And maybe their little guy has reached his age. She was tearful. Then we heard their dad calling us. "It's dinner time," he said. So we wrapped the poor guy in a warm piece of cloth then went downstairs with it. I was just glad Kaycee stopped sobbing and was all smiles as we sang her happy birthday.

And the kitten? I'll just wait whether Ahjay would really let me have one of them.😅