Busting for a Hamster

When J was around 4.5 years old he began to express the desire for a pet hamster. Being J this request was made in its own individual way. I can remember clearly the two of us sitting on the sofa sharing a book about pet animals. The book talked about cats. dogs, budgies, goldfish and hamsters as pets and little companions. J promptly showed an interest in the hamsters and stated that "I want a hamster". "Do you J"? I asked. "Yes" said J "I am busting for a hamster". Needless to say the expression "busting for a hamster" went through the family like wildfire and became a stock phrase to be used whenever anybody badly wanted or needed something or other.

At age 6 J finally got his wish and Dora the Explorer came into our lives, a sweet, tame honey coloured hamster who had been handled from a young age by her breeder. Dora has proved to be an ideal pet for J who participates in cleaning her cage and in handling her. Dora is utterly endearing and once she is awake each evening becomes tuned in to the sounds of the room and shows an eagerness for interaction. Calling her name brings her to the side of the cage and hearing the door of the cage opened has her scrambling for the exit with haste.

Someone else who is also "busting for a hamster" is Dru my 2 year old Tortie cat. In retrospect bringing a hamster into a house containing Dru was not one of my more sensible decisions. Dru is a magnificant hunter and has shown herself to be a very good mouser and bird watcher over the past year. So Dora is in a certain amount of danger whenever she is not in her cage. To get around this we have a plastic ball which Dora can be shut into allowing her to explore the house in safety - Dru watches from a distance but somehow cannot always make the connection that Dora is within - my wonderful Dru - she may have a strong hunting instinct but is evidently not blessed with brains as she ignores the plastic ball and Dora within and goes back to watching the cage.

This morning I stumbled out of bed at around 6.40am, went bleary eyed downstairs, fed Dru, made coffee and shuffled into the living room to find something mindless to watch on TV while I sipped coffee and came to. Some minutes later Dru appeared and immedietly crouched down on her belly, then widening her eyes she shot towards the welsh dresser and began stalking something beneath. "Bless" I thought, "she's seen a spider or something". But as Dru became progressively more frenzied in her stalking I began to wonder and worry, grabbing Dru I shut her out of the living room, she promptly pushed the door open and resumed her wild eyed stalking. I grabbed her again and unceremoniously shoved her out into the hall shutting the door firmly. I went back to the living room by now very wide awake. I switched on the main light and called out in my best "hamster enticing " voice (yes there IS such a thing) "Dora" and out from under the welsh dresser popped a little honey coloured head with bright black eyes, moments later she was walking confidently across the living room floor towards me. I scooped her up, made a fuss of her and placed her back in the cage noting the large hole she had chewed in one of the plastic tunnels. I am not sure how long she had been out but she drank and drank from her water bottle so I am guessing she was out a while. The hole was rapidly patched up and then an enraged Dru was permitted entry to the living room once more - she went straight to the cage and noted Dora within - this did not however, prevent her from resuming her stalking of the hamster under the welsh dresser - bless.

I just know there's a hamster round here somewhere