Things a Dad should know - no 102

I was sitting quietly upstairs reading. The door burst open and the smallest birdwatcher came towards me clutching his hamster with a worried look on his face.

"Dad there is something wrong with Moonshine." (Moonshine is the Hamster.)

I put the book down. "What's the matter with him?"

"He has lumps underneath his bottom, they are huge and swollen." He turns Moonshine over and shows me. Sure enough there are two red lumps. Moonshine struggles to right himself. He seems alert and has a sleek shiny coat. He seems fine.

"He does not look ill." I say. "Is he eating okay?"

"Fine, and he is keeping me awake at night as he goes round on his wheel."

"Well keep an eye on him and see how they are tomorrow."

Unconvinced he leaves.

The next day he comes running into the room. "Dad Moonshine seems to have got better, the lumps have gone down." And sure enough they have. They are still there but not so swollen. In fact they look like testicles. Of course they are testicles, as I find out later when I look it up on the Internet. Apparently Hamsters have very prominent testicles, which to the uninitiated can on first viewing look worrying like a growth of some sort.

So now I know!