a sad story

we have had a dwarf hamster named "rico" for almost three years and peanut has been his caretaker. she has LOVED the hamster. he has been everywhere with us and has been a tiny little family member. a couple of weeks ago, rico lost the use of his back legs. he would spin around on his back trying to get up. peanut would have to hold rico and the water bottle and "feed" him water because he could not get on his back legs to drink. pitiful, sad, and hard to watch. so, yesterday i decided enough is enough. i called the vet and they told me that they would put the little guy to sleep for me. when they saw rico, they had nothing but pity in their eyes. little rico was just laying on his back. so, they put him to sleep. terrible story, i know, but this is our life! peanut was devastated when she got home from school and i told her. then she did her homework and did not cry anymore. i guess little hamsters are hard to lose but nothing like a dog or cat. aren't you uplifted?