Last night my gerbil, Gadget, died. I don't know what to say in this journal... I simply felt the need to tell my watchers this.

I've said my goodbyes, I've buried her and I sang her a song, or maybe it was more so for myself. I feel some regrets... I should have played with her more, but with three dogs, that's always hard. But it all just... worked out... the day before her death I had cleaned her cage, and as such she got to go in her ball and run around my room. And even though I know gerbils aren't intelligent, I still think she had fun scaring Scrappy an Bella when they came in to investigate.

I'm guessing that she died shortly after I put her back in her cage, the food went uneaten and the TP rolls were barely chewed.

I remember... just a month or so ago... hehe it'd been a busy month... I'd only had time to feed Gadget every night, her cage went uncleaned for two months, and she'd found a way to make her water bottle leak... Hehe well of coarse I finally had time to clean her cage (I filled two grocery bags with her bedding and chewings). But suddenly... I pulled out a plant... and then... another... and son I found a whole garden hidden in her bedding! What had happened was that she had hid her food, busted her water bottle... and the seeds rehydrated and started to grow. My gerbil was a planter!

...a few days before she died, she was acting a bit odd, like my last gerbil, Gizmo. But Gizmo always acted like that, so I just assumed Gadget was finally growing out of her meek and mild nature and becoming a lovable outgoing headache like Gizmo. But maybe it was just her way of trying to get my attention to tell me her time was coming. I cleaned her cage, played with her a bit, and then returned her to her cage... I'm relieved to know she died happy, relieved to know I made her last day of life worth it (or I assume it was worth it).

Rest in Peace Gadget, if there's a gerbil heaven, tell Gizmo I say hi. We will never forget you.
Where do things go from here? Well... I don't think I'll get another gerbil, not even a hamster. With 3 dogs, I don't have time to train and handle a rodent. Maybe it's time to switch to fish?