Spike and Toffee

We've never been a family to have had many pets. There was of course the fish which I accidently killed. Then there was also Tigger the cat, but she had to be given to my Grandma a couple of years after I was born, as Mum became allergic to her.
The only other pet we had was a Hamster we named Toffee due to being a toffee like colour. Toffee was a great pet who was easy to look after. We were often unsure of the sex, but after noticing two large lumps on his back one day, we took him to the vet. That was when we realised they were just his testicles and there was nothing wrong with him.
Toffee did live quite a long life for a hamster, I think it was a good three to four years. I have to admit that I was useless at handling him, I'm useless with animals and always worried he'd bite me. Howeve I don't think he ever bit anyone, he was a very nervous hamster and just wee'd all the time.
We got him one of those hamster balls so that he could walk around the house in it. The problem was that he was shit scared of it. Whenever we tried to put him in it, he'd shake uncontrollably and wee himself.
I don't think Toffee ever really got the hang of the wheel in his cage either. He wouldn't sit inside it and then run, he would climb up the side of the cage, hang on and spin the top of the wheel with his front paw. It was pretty damn impressive to watch.
I'll always remember the day that Toffee died. It was on a Christmas Eve. Charlottes web was on tv, and I'd gone to feed Toffee and change his water. I knew instantly he was dead, I'm not sure why I knew, but I just had a feeling. A few hours later Mum thought it was odd that he'd not made any noise, and his food hadn't been touched, that's when we knew for sure he was dead.
So, being winter and very cold and frozen outside, Dad got a pick axe out to dig a hole for Toffee and then burried him. Mum was in floods of tears and really upset over Toffee dying. Claire and myself, we weren't really all that bothered which I think really annoyed Mum, I think she felt we should have been more upset. We were then banned from having any more pets.