You probably have a pet, don’t you? Just a cat or a dog, maybe something more exotic like a bird or a snake?
But you have a limit.
According to the American Pet Association, there are 139,654,267 licensed dogs and cats in the United States. That’s approximately one dog or cat for every couple of people. Not bad.
But what about the people out there who have, say, nine pets? Are they crazy? I think so, and sadly I’m one of them.
I grew up in Douglas County, and my nearest neighbor was a cow. Literally. My family always had a lot of animals. Throughout my childhood, we had one dog, up to eight cats, a tank full of fish, some bummer lambs and a cycle of rats, birds and hamsters. You’d think that, growing up with a house full of animals, I wouldn’t be able to wait to be rid of them, right?
Wrong.
Four cages sit near the front door of my home. Inside those cages are nine Siberian dwarf hamsters: Black Rebel Hamster Mama, Peggy, Spike, Spike (Spike’s brother), T. Rex, Chub-Chub, Tiny Tina, Lex and Al.
My life with pets has been a hamster soap opera. Here’s the story so far: A friend of mine gave me Abdul (who I thought was male, but turned out to be female). I loved my new (and only) pet so much that I went out and bought two cages and lots of tubes. Abdul didn’t like all the space her new home afforded her, so I had to buy another hamster who would appreciate the spacious settings. That’s how Black Rebel Hamster Mama (who happens to be male) came into my life.
Abdul got pregnant and gave birth to Peggy, Spike and Spike (you know, like on “Newhart”: “This is Daryl and my other brother Daryl”). I bought another cage to house my growing population of hamsters and everything was going great until Peggy got pregnant. To this day, I can’t figure out how it happened. She lived in a cage full of girls, I think.
Peggy also gave birth to four babies: Bullet, Lex, Chub-Chub and Tiny Tina. Bullet was given to a friend, but I kept the other three.
As soon as she could, Abdul got pregnant again but died giving birth. The friend who originally gave Abdul to me decided giving me another hamster would help with my loss. So T. Rex joined the family.
Shortly thereafter, I bought Al (the albino). Who wouldn’t want an albino hamster to spice things up?
So, in total, I now have nine hamsters. And if for some strange reason you don’t think nine hamsters is a lot, just think about the costs. I cannot fathom how much money I have spent on my tiny buddies. I mean, I shop for pet supplies at Wal-Mart, and I still spend a small fortune. There’s the $5 bag of bedding (of which I have to buy two; one cedar and one red cedar), the $6 container of food and many $2 treats and chewy toys. In the end, I spend about $15 dollars a week on my little lovelies. That’s more than I spend on food for myself during the same amount of time!
I love ’em, though, so I guess that justifies starving myself to keep them comfy, well-fed and entertained. Or does it?
You know those old ladies with houses full of cats? I think I’m starting to mutate into one, but with hamsters. I don’t want to be an old cat lady. I’m only 21. And I do have a social life … sort of.