I hope there's a hamster wheel in heaven

What do you do when your pet dies? Do you bury it in the backyard - if you have a backyard - or do you flush it/throw it in the trash/take it to the vet for proper disposal?

This morning I went to feed "Baby," our pet hamster. Or, should I say MY pet hamster because kiddo "disowned" it a few months ago?

Baby was lying in a very unnatural position in her little nesting area.

Upon closer inspection (me poking it), I found that Baby was dead.

I might have shed a few tears.

Okay, fine. I totally cried.

Normally, we bury all of our deceased furry friends in the backyard. We have about 4 cats, a dog and a slew of hamsters and gerbils back there.

As much as I loved Baby, I just didn't feel like burying her. So I wrapped her in toilet paper (that's a proper burial sheath for a rodent, right?) and carefully laid her in the trash can. The cat was way too interested in the trash after that, so I had to take the trash to the outside garbage bin.

For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you know all about my hamster trials and tribulations...but for those of you who don't, I'll share the story of how we acquired Baby.

Rewind to October 14, 2010 - my daughter's 13th birthday. She is at church with my parents and calls to ask if Grandpa can buy her a hamster for her birthday. We already have a cage from the previous hamster, so I say yes...

She came home with FOUR hamsters. FOUR. FOUR. Not one. Four little girl hamsters.

Fine. We dealt with it. She took care of them fairly well, and it didn't end up being an issue.

For a while.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving...when all of a sudden, there were 9 hamsters in the cage.

What? You might be trying to do the math - how did 4 become 9 overnight? Because apparently, one of the "girls" was actually a boy...and all of that "fighting" that we thought was going on? Yeah, well, it wasn't fighting.

A week later? Four more hamsters appear out of nowhere. We are now at a total of 13 hamsters.

They were completely adorable, but seriously, who wants 13 hamsters?

By March, we were down to two hamsters. We gave some away. Some escaped the cages and the cats ate them. Some got sick (they all got sick and I ended up spending $140 at the vet for hamster freaking medicine but that's an entirely different, much angrier post altogether) and were fed to our snake. Some were given to the hamster rescue society at a local middle school...

So we had two.

Last month, "Mama" got out of the cage and our cat found her. That was actually quite hard for me, because she was a really sweet hamster and actually had a little personality! I'd never had a hamster recognize my voice and run to the cage door before when I spoke. She was so cute!

So we had one.

And now we have none.

As sad as I am, to be honest, I am relieved that it's finally over.

Now we are down to 3 dogs, 2 inside cats and 1 outside cat, and a snake.

Anyone want a snake?