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

[Cheesenugget]

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?