Anaesthesia and Surgery for Mochi

It's official. My hamster of nearly two years (or exactly two years) is gonna undergo some surgery for her cheek pouches. They only just came up yesterday - the red, soft swelling lumps at her mouth. It could be because of this bacterial spray I used just yesterday too. Damn it. It is supposedly really good with a decade of achievement and all that. I'll be blaming this bottle if Mochi doesn't live through today. It looks like this:

Just got home from the vet. Bectouille came with me! Saw a woman crying right before i went in for the consultation - who knew I'd be the next victim after that? The vet (a female one, thank goodness) picked Mochi up and wrapped her in a towel and started surveying her red lumps. Turns out it was due to impacted cheek pouches or something. I didn't catch all she was saying - I was trembling all over. Then I heard the words - 'anesthesia or put to sleep'. Damn euthanasia. I wish it was illegal here like in other countries. Apparently, the surgery costs 80 to a 100 bucks. And the euthanasia? Just a mere TEN BUCKS. What justice is there in this world?! The vet then said since Mochi is really old and reaching its life expectancy of 2 years (NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!), the surgery may not go well with her. Younger hamsters have less risk of dying. So there's a high possibility of Mochi passing away in the midst of the surgery - and i'd still have to pay for the surgery fees. Okay, that made me feel all mean caring about my money in times of urgency for my pet.  They're going to cut off Mochi's lumps (ugh!) and stitch it back afterwards. I can't be a veterinarian after the awful illness I've seen with Mochi! And the vet's is a pretty sad place. Saw two women crying (excluding moi) in total.

She then let me decide for a bit outside. I started weeping of course. Thank goodness there weren't many people in the waiting room. I stood in a corner and called my mother. Of course, she advised me NOT to go for the surgery. I didn't tell her about the CHEAP euthanasia option. She'd just ask me to go ahead with that. Becky told me to go ahead with the surgery instead. I'd have TRIED saving Mochi's life instead of just deliberately KILLING her for ten dollars. All I can do now is PRAY. ..

Here's some old photos of Mochi below. May she live on after the surgery and be healed from the infection. Amen.

LATER***

All right, I got Mochi back from the vet's - ALIVE! Thank God for this great miracle! I prayed as hard as I could. Here was what happened: I met with Becky again after a few hours and we headed off to the vet's. We waited for a bit and it was waaay overcrowded in the waiting room. Thank goodness Bec decided to go to the loo and she found the same vet who did our consultation sitting in the same room typing away on a keyboard. We finally got her attention and she brought in a different cage that held Mochi in it! Alas, she's all alive and well (and wet on her stomach! Perspiring?)! She showed us Mochi's mouth. There was a red (swollen?) part at the corner of her mouth when they had cut off the lumps. Apparently, there was NO BLEEDING when they'd cut it off, 'cos they were dead skin cells or something! So that didn't require any stitching. I hope it ain't some ominous sign of some other illness... She proposed soft dog food since Mochi had some sort of jaw fracture. Her jaw was the reason she kept rubbing her cheek pouches till they became lumps! She started saying stuff like 'would be able to survive a little longer' and 'one or two months'. That is too soon to die, even after a successful surgery!! Total cost of surgery and consultation for a Winter White hamster? $84.50!!
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