SOOO My three huge cats knocked over my kid's hamster cage...

[Carni]

Where is that guy that used to serve up drinks every Friday night? I need one--

I came home early this afternoon and noticed that my daughter's three very large very fat cats were all in the kitchen playing with something...that something was one of my daughter's mini-hamsters :(

I don't want to say that I am one of those women that scream and jump on a chair when they see a mouse... but I am not a huge rodent fan either, like I don't really want to touch them (for any reason)--to my credit I was able to catch him and get him into his plastic ball hamster thing with a lid without stroking out or having some type of nervous breakdown.

Once I got him into the ball I marshalled him off in the upstairs bathroom...

But unfortunately there are TWO of them and I didn't know where the other one was.

Visions of a dead feline mauled mini-hamster flashed before my eyes--or said hamster going into the duct work, furnace etc etc (you get the picture)

I went in my daughter's room and the cage had been knocked over, presumably by the cats (they have been trying to knock the cage over for weeks and she is supposed to keep her bedroom door closed)

The cage itself had completely blown apart when it fell(it's a habitrail plastic kind of an affair) there was paper bedding, rodent food and God knows what all else all over the place (what a funfest that was to clean up)

But low and behold as I assessed the damage (in between warding off obese cats)
I heard a rustling noise and found the other mini-hamster still in his plastic wheel (alive and well) I was thrilled to find him but I couldn't get him out of the wheel -- and safely into the ball with his cohort and the wheel has a hole in the center of it where he could climb out (where was my duct tape when I needed it? Tom Ridge was right)

Long story short I had to hold my hand over the hole in the wheel and of course then I couldn't reassemble the cage because then I only had one hand available--

SOOOOOOO...

I HAD TO CALL MY DAUGHTER'S SCHOOL AND SIGN HER OUT OF THE OFFICE WITH THE WHEEL (containing the hamster) IN HAND! :(

As an added bonus her class was having *rotations* so I had to wander all over the friggin school trying to find her (with the principal no less)with my hand over a hole in a wheel with a hamster in it.

Ever drive one handed while you're trying to contain a hamster in a plastic wheel?

The school office staff thinks I am some kind of a loon for not being able to handle a mini-hamster without the help of a ten year old I am sure.

Anyway I finally found and picked up said daughter and she came home for about an hour to reassemble the cage and deposit the rodents back into their house-- all parties are alive and well but that sucked!

Happy Friday the 13th to me I guess!

[KitchenWitch]

1. yikes!

Hopefully MrScorpio will open the bar later tonight!

[bertha katzenengel]

2. Dear Carni:

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

OH, my god... thank you for making me laugh so hard!

I'm glad the hamsters are okay!

:rofl:

[Carni]

3. I was BUMMING believe me--

This happened with an african water frog two summers ago (that was during our sea creature period which has since ended thank god) and it didn't have a good ending!

This hamster incident really is funny (now) lol but I was in quite a state earlier-I was getting some very odd looks from school staff!

[bertha katzenengel]

5. I know, and I am very sorry if I seemed to minimize your experience.

I know it was traumatic, and I am sure you'll laugh harder and harder as the day goes on, as a way to release that trauma.

Now perhaps the girl will keep her bedroom door closed. :tsk:

:hug:

[Carni]

11. Trust me she probably won't! LOL

Nothing is more entertaining to a ten year old than seeing Mom make a total buffoon of herself.

On the plus side I feel like I have *bonded* with the rodents LOL

[bertha katzenengel]

24. LOL "on the plus side I have bonded with the rodents"

:rofl: Best line I've read on DU in a long time. :rofl:

[mwdem]

10. Oh, God! We had an African water frog once..

He was always getting out of his aquarium, and I soooo didn't want to look for him, but ya gotta do it.

[Carni]

12. Yes! So was this one!

I don't know what the deal is with the African frog breed but those guys can not only move out...they don't appear to want to stay in the water.

I tried to save him as well (screaming the whole time because I am downright frog phobic)but one of the cats was mildly swiping at him and apparently made a fatal blow before I could get him back in the water :(

[mwdem]

15. Mine blew up after gorging on bloodworms (my son overfed him)

He'd actually get out and the only way we notice him was the dust bunnies he'd pick up from god knows where!

[Carni]

17. YIKES!

I hated it when we had a fish tank--One of our cats caught some and then once that was sorted out we bought a fish who was eating all of the other smaller fish and then we had the whole death of the frog intrigue.

Aquatic life in the house just isn't my thing lol

BTW don't ever buy newts...I had a relative that had them and they would also get out of the tank constantly (UG!)

[mwdem]

18. My son is now grown up.

But he did have an iguana that grew very large, had the run of our house, and ended up biting my mouth, slicing open my bottom lip (vertically). Never, never get one of those!

[Carni]

21. OMG!

Actually a good friend of mine had an Iguana (named spike) for several years and he got to be quite large (also had the run of their house)

I liked him and thought he was very interesting but that particular Iguana had a penchant for sitting on the back of their toilet in the bathroom and it was sort of startling as a guest to encounter him there :(

[mwdem]

22. THis guy, Iggy, turned out to be a very aggressive male.

He'd go after my cat, like he was in heat! I had 15 stitches, inside outside my lower lip. Even though that happened, I couldn't kill him as some in my family wanted to. We found an exotic animal lover(biker dude) who took him in and never looked back. We had him for 7 years.

[Sanity Claws]

4. I laughed

I know this was a rant and you were probably looking to get this off your chest but it really is funny. Maybe you'll laugh at its absurdity in a couple of weeks, presuming that the hamsters are still alive.

[Carni]

14. I'm already laughing

It's so stupid all I can do is laugh (of course a drink helped lol)

My life is a Seinfeld episode!

[Midlodemocrat]

6. That is the funniest thing I have read all week.

Thanks for the laugh, whether or not you intended it to be funny.

:rofl:

[Strong Atheist]

8. Agreed! nt.

[Carni]

16. If they get out again I'll relay it here lol

I may be putting them in a lead box though (ASAP) though so it may not happen again!

[Kali]

7. I can't exactly relate (I'm the one with all the odd pets) but I want to

say thanks to you for being cool enough with your phobias to let your child experience caring for animals.

(they can"t jump very far - next time just put them in a waste basket or even a bath tub - pull the shower curtain our of the way)

[Carni]

19. That's what my daughter said

She couldn't understand why I didn't just leave the hamsters in something they couldn't jump out of--I guess I think they are like spider man.

I actually think they are cute when she is holding them and I am just hanging out patting them on the head, or looking at them in their habitat... but if it's me responsible I want something large that I am familiar with and can keep track of easily...a dog, a cat (something I can see easily that doesn't move real fast lol)

[gizmo1979]

9. Vermin chasing rodents all

you need is a serpent.

[DS1]

13. You think you had it bad... Imagine your daughter's Tuesday

back at school :scared:

[Carni]

20. No, she was thrilled

You'd have to meet my kid--where most kids would have been embarrassed she was in her element.

I told her to just call it a day and stay home but she insisted on going back so that she could crow about the whole incident lol

[complain jane]

23. Bad kitties!

:(

[NV Whino]

25. Oh, I am soooo glad I don't have kids

(or hamsters) only cats. Sorry about your day, but that was really funny.
:rofl: