Update on Leelah Love

It’s been a few weeks since we brought Leelah Love home on don Ubaldo’s blue motorcycle. I’m happy to report that she’s doing much better—she’s put on some weight, her fur has grown back, her skin has healed up, and her eyes are looking healthier.

How cute is that little foot?

The other day, I had about a thousand things to do, and it was one of those cases where instead of working on All of the Important Things, I did an Utterly Random but Fun Thing instead. To be fair, I did start out by trying to be efficient. Don Ubaldo and I ran a motorcycle errand to go buy a can of Instinct dog food for me to give the cats. (Yes, you read that right–the Instinct canned dog and cat food formulas are actually exactly the same, and in regards to getting more for your money, you’ll get a better deal if you buy the cans of dog food.) That being said, Nature’s Variety is new to Costa Rica, and the highest quality wet food available (that I know of), so I paid five dollars for a can. And I got Beef, so it was a less exotic (and therefore less expensive) protein source than Venison or Rabbit.

So we went and bought a single can of wet food, and then don Ubaldo lent me a few coins to buy a small plastic pot, which I was going to turn into a hide for Leelah. She was currently sleeping in a pink plastic igloo but, like most plastic hamster houses on the market, it was translucent and let in a lot of light. I wanted her to have an opaque hide where she would hopefully feel more secure and be able to sleep in darkness.

When we got home, I cut a doorway into the pot, and then I wanted to cover up a little hole on the top, so that the inside would be darker for her. One thing led to another, and soon I was drinking tea, surrounded by colorful sheets of construction paper, and thoroughly decorating Leelah’s new hide for Valentine’s Day.

“Oh, hello.”

“Would you like to come in for tea & sunflower sandwiches?”

I’m so happy that I found Leelah when I did. I didn’t know if it was the right time to be bringing a new addition into the family. I just moved back to Costa Rica in December of last year and have been extremely busy with the four Schnauzers and two cats, Vivaldi & Song. I also have plans to bring my California kitty, Mona Rose, to Costa Rica by plane as soon as possible. Logically, it seemed ideal to wait until after Mona arrives to even consider getting a hamster. But you know what? Life had other plans. And thank the Universe for that, because this little girl brings me so much joy. I swear, just watching her eat bits of banana makes me so damn happy.

Climbing the dark blue mountain (a.k.a my leg).

My tiny golden crocodile.

What a darling.

So here we are. Life has been so good lately. I know, I know, life always has its beautiful bits. And there have definitely been difficult moments, too. But all in all, the past couple of weeks have just been utterly lovely. Everything isn’t “perfect,” but that’s perfectly fine.

And I’m in love with this face.