He went missing and (ever helpful when hamsters are involved) Stevie the cat suggested Whiskers may have taken refuge in the bathroom. Out came the cupboard contents to reveal a very unhelpful hole in the wall giving access to the wall cavity and entire upstairs floor space. My heart sank.
We emptied rooms, lifted carpets, used angle mirrors, left inventoried food piles in every room with closed doors for days. S set up a motion detecting Ham Cam in the bathroom to monitor the hole. I stayed up late 3 nights running to lie on the landing and listen out for scratching or scuffling.
Nothing.
We agreed as a family that we're not giving up on Whiskers, but we are ready to accept that he isn't coming back.
Last night, W cried and cried until eventually he fell asleep. It was a heart breaking display of deep grief combined with guilt - he had left the cage open.
Loss is always hard but W has had it quite tough for an 8 year old. He's lost 2 cats, 2 grandads, 2 great grandparents and his hamster in under 2 years. I'm not being flippant when I list them together - as an adult I'm sad about the pets but devastated about the humans. As a child, they all hurt equally.
He's familiar with my speech about how lucky we were to have <Grandad / Lily / Great Nana / Whiskers etc etc etc > in our life and how many happy memories we have to hold on to. He glazes over when I say I know it hurts and it's okay to be sad. He's heard it too many times.
Some things can't be fixed - they just have to be carried.
