Taking day off to care for ill non-traditional/exotic pet

Every morning, I check on my pets and give breakfast before heading to work. My Syrian hamster is about 19 months old. Their lifespan on average is 2 years. In light of this, he remained active, ate well and even managed 2 escapes about a month ago, somehow kept himself unscathed from the cats until I found him and put him back in his home. He has grown patches of grey fur and sleeps more, but otherwise a pretty tough little dude.

Then this morning, he could not walk straight. His head is slightly tilted, his right side including his paw and back leg were not used, and he had a hard time standing up. After watching many vids and reading articles, it appears he had a stroke, common for older hammies. He can still eat, drink, defecate.. He just a little help so I fed him some baby food mixed with Pedialyte. Many hammie owners who went through this recommend hand feeding, keep him warm and allow him to rest for about a week. Some hammies can recover. However, once a stroke is discovered, many more are expected with each one getting progressively worse. The hammie do not feel pain but become disoriented and confused.

I am a paralegal. We are short staffed as is and the workload tripled after one of the legal assistants left the firm (She made so, so many mistakes that even got the client sanctioned due to her incompetence). So on top of having to untangle the mess she left behind, I am also behind on my own assignments. A part of me feel guilty I took the day off to care for my hamster. Knowing that Momocho probably will have another stroke, and possible a few weeks of good life left, it is just a hamster, right? Maybe if it is a dog or a cat, it would justify taking the day off more? I feel embarrassed having to explain to my boss why I had to take today off. He won't approve any requests without a detailed explanation.

Did you ever take time off to care for or mourn the loss of a non-dog or cat pet? How did other people react when you tell them you have a sick or dying small pet or snake?

I have taken time off to care for my bearded dragon when she had fluid in her lungs from her heart problems. Thankfully where I work nobody asks or cares why you take off work as long as you still have the days available to use. Truth is, most people I work with do not understand anything having value beyong their own brat children, so I'm pretty sure they don't understand my love for my animals.

Wishing your hammie the best. 😊

I get snakes delivered to my office and have pictures or some of my past and present pets as my computer background. My coworkers and bosses are well aware of my love for my pets so if I need to take a day off to go to the vet or something it isn't an issue. I sometimes even bring animals into the office if I have to work on the weekend.

I can't recall ever "officially" taking time off for such issues but I might have exaggerated my own complaints a wee bit to cover for it...where I used to work you
pretty much needed a death certificate -your own :rolleyes:- anyway. Adequate paid sick leave but suspicion & guilt trips for using it...sure don't miss working there. :D

Update: Momocho has passed away this evening. He ate and was sleeping and when I checked on him 2 hours later, he was in the process of dying, and took his last breathe. It was a fast process. Upon further inspection, he had a huge tumor in his leg stretching to the lower abdomen. This tumor was not there when I handled him 2 days ago, so it must have been growing aggressively, possibly contributing to his stroke when the tumor cells broke off and went into the bloodstream. He is buried in the forest where his body will nourish the tree and plants. I am glad I took the day off now. At least I was able to spend the last hours with him.

So sorry for your loss. I will light a candle tonight to guide little momocho to the rainbow bridge. No matter how big or small a loss still hurts. So sorry.

So sorry for the loss of your little buddy Momocho. I'm so glad you took the day off too...it's a pity their lives are so accelerated, they're really cute little pets
and you can at least take some comfort that he achieved pretty much a natural lifespan.

Of course you should not feel guilty! The loss of any animal companion is painful - no matter the species. I missed a day of school when my iguana died when I was a kid, last summer I cried when I had to euthanize my goldfish, I took three days off work last fall when I lost my horse (that was especially painful as he was having some 'good days' at the time, even though I knew it wouldn't last and I had no way of taking him with me when I moved). No one that has pets can judge you for grief, we have all been there - and spending time with a pet that is reaching the end is just as important for you as it is for them.

So sorry for your loss. Glad you were able to spend those last hours together.

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Originally Posted by Cheesenugget

Update: Momocho has passed away this evening. He ate and was sleeping and when I checked on him 2 hours later, he was in the process of dying, and took his last breathe. It was a fast process. Upon further inspection, he had a huge tumor in his leg stretching to the lower abdomen. This tumor was not there when I handled him 2 days ago, so it must have been growing aggressively, possibly contributing to his stroke when the tumor cells broke off and went into the bloodstream. He is buried in the forest where his body will nourish the tree and plants. I am glad I took the day off now. At least I was able to spend the last hours with him.

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The sad thing is that all hamsters have that trait where getting a tumor is inevitable. We owned a dwarf hamster (life span is like 2-3 years, he lived up to almost 5). He had 2 or 3 tumors when he started getting older and kept having constant seizures before he passed :(
But factually, it's kind of sad knowing that all hamsters can get tumors pretty easily because it runs in their genes. Some get them quickly, while others get them in a longer span of time. And I'm sorry for your loss; just know that you were there for him and you did what you could.