Maks's Legacy

This is Maks. He was Ricky's little hamster brother. Working late one evening, I took Camila on a Petsmart run. (It's like our petting zoo.) I saw this adorable little dark hamster running around one of the cages. He was drinking from his water bottle (a warning sign I would later learn). I asked to hold him and....I absolutely fell in love with him and took him home that night.

Over the next couple weeks, I noticed he was drinking an insane amount of water, which was leading to a very wet cage. After several vet visits, urine samples (don't even ask), and anxious waiting, I learned he had diabetes. I bought the expensive medicine and did all I could, but the poor little guy was just too sick. In four weeks he went from 38 grams to 28. In another, he was down to 18 grams. Six weeks after I bought him, Maksy died. It was a long, sad process that I will spare you.

This is also Maks. We took Camila to a local exploreum last week (we had a blast, by the way). Her mother wanted to buy her something from the gift shop as a "first trip to a museum/educational facility" gift. Naturally the one thing Camila latches onto is a $35 stuffed dolphin. We both agreed that was WAY too much to pay but wanted to find something she liked. So we searched through the store trying to find something she really liked. Nothing made her drop the dolphin. Finally, I saw this little rack of stuffed animals and remembered how much she loves watching the chinchillas at Petsmart. I handed one down to her.

She dropped the dolphin, wrapped her arms around the chinchilla, and exclaimed, "Maks!" We had found our winner.

She had accompanied me to the vet a couple times with Maks and LOVED him. I think she thinks "Maks" means "hamster" and she thinks the chincilla looks like a hamster. But either way I found it ADORABLE that she named him after Maks. In the words one of my friends, "Maks lives on!"

And live he does. The next morning I was informed it had been extremely hard to keep Maks out of the tub. He had gone to bed with her. He went everywhere with us all week last week. He even survived being run over by a stroller. :) But if nothing else, just like Maks the First, Maks is loved. :)