Meet Lula, our hamster. Lover of grapes; loved by the cats who want to play-with-her-to death; and zombie. Lula came into our family three years ago and became a zombie last year. Thus, like Stephanie Plum’s hamster Rex, I expect her to live forever.
Lula is a Russian dwarf hamster and the worst pet ever. Hamsters are nocturnal, so she only plays when I want my child to sleep. Given that my kid is the worst go-to-sleeper ever they make a bad combination. Also, hamsters are smaller on the outside than they appear on the outside. (Similar to the Tardis, but the opposite.) Let me explain. The day we got Lula my daughter was playing with her in the locked bathroom while we parents got the hamster habitat ready. Lula squeezed under a smaller than a hamster sized space below the bathroom door and darted between the startled cat’s legs and under the smaller than hamster sized space beneath the refrigerator. Two hours later a feast of sunflower seeds lured her out. From that point on she was banished to her cage and only released into the clear ball of torture, which allows her to roam around my daughter’s room bumping into things and making us laugh. The cats watch the balled hamster snack through the crack under the door, which really is too small for cats.
Lula became a zombie on a fateful day last summer when she died. My daughter and I were watching her play when she toppled over on her hamster ramp, twitched disturbingly, hauled herself up to the hamster ledge using her functioning front legs while dragging her back legs limply behind her. She then collapsed had another twitching fit, and died. She lay motionless while I consoled my daughter, got her ready for bed and read her stories. When lights out came Afthead Junior cried that she did not want to sleep with the dead hamster. I agreed and put the dead creature’s cage on top of the butler’s pantry to be dealt with later.
After our normal 90 minute dance of go to sleep, go to sleep, GO TO SLEEP my daughter finally fell asleep. Ignoring the dead hamster problem, I went to the basement to watch some TV with my husband. Before bed I decided the dead hamster burial/freezing/whatever could wait until the morning and be a learning experience for the child.
The next morning Lula’s wheel squeaked with the running of an exuberant undead hamster. Lula, making a rare daytime appearance was animated.
Ever since her status changed from hamster to undead hamster Lula has been much more friendly. She’s almost always out before my daughter goes to sleep and runs to the bars of the cage to sniff my fingers if I put them up. She even races to the cats if they are in the vicinity: like on top of the cage trying to eat play with her. No doubt she is luring us humans and felines in so we will open her cage and she can leap out and feast on our enormous brains. In the meantime, I give her strawberries, cherries and blueberries to try and keep her at bay.
Afthead 
Wow, a miracle! She must have had a seizure or something and then after a sleep woke up. Did you find out if that sort of thing happens? I need to know! ….. or maybe you have a very Holy Hamster. But be very careful just in case she is a real zombie.
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Oh, I never thought about it being a miraculous resurrection. That’s a much more positive spin on Lula. I also never researched what else it could have been. Mostly I was concentrating on being thankful that I procrastinate, because If I’d disposed of her right away…. ugh. Anyway, I’m pretty sure she’s a zombie. Brains….
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A zombie hamster, I love it! Think of the story possibilities. It probably was a seizure, but the thought of a zombie hamster is much cooler!
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Yep. Probably a seizure…followed by a zombie reanimation. Probably. (Can you imagine if I’d buried her right away? Shudder.)
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Thank goodness you didn’t!
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We have a house guest this summer; my son’s girlfriend’s dwarf Russian dwarf hamster. Is it bad that I kind of hope we have a similar incident and can claim to have a zombie hamster as well? It is and I’m glad Lula is still with you.
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Oh! I’ll be sure to post here if the zombie hamster does anything you should be aware of, but even if yours does not become a zombie, be careful about the smaller on the outside thing. Russian Dwarf hamsters fit through surprisingly small spaces.
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Aren’t you happy you didn’t freeze the poor hamster! 😀
How groovy is it that the zombie hamster came back to life – and in a friendlier version ❤ It's almost like another (nicer) hamster being inhabited it after the event.
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So SO happy I didn’t freeze the poor not dead hamster.
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wtf? and lol those are my first two reactions! You have the most interesting pet stories. I’m glad this one ended with a resurrection of some kind lol
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OH, so good to find you again! I love your posts, and this new blog design is perfect! We moved, from our little old cottage there in CO, and got to the ocean…and I kept up with your knitting projects while we were unpacking, packing, moving, unpacking, packing, moving, unpacking packing moving….yes, three, oops Four times in 8 months. Don’t ask.
But your stories crack me up, charging my days with fun and grins. Thank you for this one! Mercy, I could so relate….you have no idea and this one is about a rat….ha!
The photos are glorious!
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Hello! Welcome back! I’ve been largely away from the space the past couple of weeks filling my brain with all kinds of writing tidbits, but I have missed you! Moving 4 times in 8 months? What on earth??? I’ll have to come check out your online space and see if there are any clues to what you have been doing, or maybe I can find this rat story you allude to….
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This made me VERY curious so I hopped on Google, and it appears that this has, in fact, happened to other hamsters. Or it’s all the same self-resurrecting hamster. But hamsters can get concussions AND have seizures…and be diabetic (which can cause seizures). Whodathunk???
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Ha! I never even thought to research Lula’s condition. Our hamster is not a pet we would take to the vet, so I just chalked her twitching up to zombie hamster and moved on. I don’t think I want to invest in hamster seizure medication or give her insulin shots, so I’m going to pretend I don’t know any better. Glad I piqued your curiosity though!
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Haha, what a funny story! I work at a pet store and will definitely have to consult with everyone about this. I’d guess she’s probably not quite a zombie… but perhaps a super hamster? At least her attitude has improved after being resurrected, though. 🙂
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I can’t wait to hear if anyone at your store has heard of the zombie hamster syndrome. We’ve also noticed lately that she’s developed a love of peanuts. Maybe because peanuts taste like brains???
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