R.I.P. Max (2005-2009)

Max passed away last night sometime while we were sleeping (almost exactly 1 year after his brother, Sam). He was a little over 4 years old which is pretty old for a gerbil. But he was always a tough little guy. He lived through 4 different cat housemates (almost getting eaten by 2 of them) and many daring leaps off the couch. He was awesome at scaling all sorts of pillowy terrains. He was always active, running around building elaborate nests and making his cardboard tube art. Even last night when he could barely drag himself from one side of the cage to the other he was determined to chew on his tubes.

He has always been super healthy up until just a few weeks ago. I noticed he was having trouble going up and down the ramps in his tower and spending more time sleeping in the bottom portion, so I took off the wire top and moved everything down into the bottom potion. I thought it was just because he was old. Then he seemed wobbly and started loosing control of his left hind leg, falling over often and dragging it behind him. I thought maybe he had a stroke, which is apparently common in older gerbils. And for a bit it seemed he was getting over it. But he started breathing heavier and getting skinnier and skinnier. I took him into the vet, who was amazed at how old he was, to get some antibiotics. The vet suggested it was kidney failure, and I’m pretty sure that it was. He was drinking lots of water and loosing weight incredibly fast.

I stayed home yesterday to look after him, and trying to make him as comfortable as possible, giving him food and water. It seemed like all he wanted to do was be picked up. So we held him a lot letting him rest in our warm hands. He was so skinny you could feel all his little gerbil bones as he just laid still in our hands.

I’ve been crying a lot these past few days (I’m crying right now as I write this). It’s been really hard watching him especially these past few days as he got worse and worse. I’m sad he’s gone but at least he doesn’t have to suffer anymore. And at least I know he had a good long life.

I feel like I shouldn’t be so upset over a little gerbil, but he was my baby. I’m really going to miss that little guy…

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