Remembering Kami

Today, for the first time in a while I thought of my Kami. Not many people know about Kami. Sadly, I don't even have any pictures to prove her existance. She did exist tough and I remember her!

Kami was a hairless baby rat. She was a black self with the cutest little bit of fuzz on her face. She was my baby for just over two days, but I was in love with her within moments.

You see... Kami came from a pet store where she wasn't well taken care of and when I saw her she was already starting to have balance issues. I tried taking care of her as best I could, but after about 30 hours in which she only got more and more sick, I knew she had to be taken to a vet. She couldn't eat, couldn't walk... She was congested, had trouble breathing, and had gotten bedding in her eye so that she couldn't close it, and even flushing it out with saline solution didn't help. She couldn't eat on her own because she couldn't balance herself to keep a grasp on the food... She just kept rolling in circles. It broke my heart, and when she finally got to the vet, the prognosis was not good. The vet said that it looked like she had head trauma. I'm not so sure that vet knew what the hell he was talking about! What is more likely is that it was an upper respiratory that turned into a major inner ear infection. Since the vet was taken care of through the pet store where she came from, I wasn't even told when they made the decision to put her to sleep.

Thinking of Kami makes me sad... And it makes me think of failure. Ultimately I do feel that I failed her... I should've brought her home sooner (I didn't because I knew I'd have a fight on my hands with Chris)... I should've taken her to a vet on my own (I didn't because I was broke, as sad an excuse that is)... I wish things had been different. But I am at least grateful that she got to be in a home where she was loved and taken care of (to the best of my ability) even though it was for so short a time. I am also happy to know that she really is in a better place where no one can hurt her again, and I sincerely hope that I will get to see her again one day.

Wow... that actually brought back a lot of tears and too few memories. I like to think that Kami was an angel who was brought into my life for a reason... And while I may not know what that reason is, my sick little Kami made a big difference in my life! I will always remember her!