Our little Barley finally left us last night. The tumor squeezed all
the life out his frail body. We buried him this morning.
As I had mentioned previously, he had lost most of the use of his back
legs but was still able to get around. He was still eating and
enthusiastically chewing up toilet paper tubes. He could even still
climb up to my shoulder.
Then last night he was abruptly worse. He was apparently unable to move
about at all. When I picked him up he used his front paws to raise his
head, but that seemed to be all he could manage. I set him down in a
comfortable corner of his cage, resolved to have him put to sleep if he
was still hanging on today.
I didn't have to carry out that plan. He was gone when I checked on him
before going to bed.
I was fairly composed last night; I believe I'd done most of my
grieving about a week ago. That night I had Pippin and Barley out on
the couch. I picked up Barley, and he climbed up to my shoulder as
usual. I got the distinct feeling that he was telling me he was ready
to go--to the big gerbil-wheel in the sky. I cried a lot that night,
already missing him.
I thought about taking him in to the vet last week, but he still seemed
to have life and spirit left. I didn't think it was time to end it yet.
Last night I knew the end was very near. Michael got upset then. We
reminisced about our sweet little Barley.
Barley was born on October 27, 1998 (IIRC). He was only about 5 weeks
old when we got him. (His mom was picking on him, so he was separated
from his parents a bit early.) He was so young that his tail wasn't
fully furred--it looked pink thru the thin coating of yellow fur! He
was smaller than Pippin, who was born October 10.
Barley was a FAST mover; I kept Pippin and Barley in a split cage for a
week when I first got him, and one morning when I was switching sides,
Barley got away from me! I couldn't get him right away, so Michael had
to catch him for me after I left for work. Barley was so quick, Michael
nicknamed him "Road Rage."
Barley was my first argente golden. He was a hyper little guy, even for
a gerbil! He was on the small side, the smallest of my four. He had a
short life, but he did a lot of living. We loved him a lot.
=====
Julie & Michael (homo sapiens)
Alex P. Kitten & The Little Rascal (felis catus)
Reebo, Zooty, & Pippin ~RIP Barley~ (meriones unguiculatus)
<In English, two humans with 2 cats and three gerbils>
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