My little Hamster has died :(

[Lyris]

A friend of mine once had a hamster called Rafiki

He came home one night drunk and picked Rafiki from his cage and started to play with him. Due to his drunkeness he dropped poor Rafiki who fell to the floor and broke his legs.

My friend could see Rafiki was in lots of pain and wanted to put him out of his misery but couldn't face doing the deed.

So, he put Rafiki in a tupperware container, pierced holes in the lid and gassed him to death in his oven, tears streaming down his face as poor poor Rafiki drifted off to his eternal sleep.

****ed. I hope your idiot friend has become more responsible in the last few years.

[Wools]

The last of the Prinnysquad Hamster Corp has perished. Cheeky Chico has fallen.

Sorry to hear that Prinny, sounds like he was a trooper till the end.

[prinnysquad]

Cheers. He was a bit of a tough guy really, I'd have whinged like a bitch if I'd had a something like that growing in my ear. It was a massive tumour, but he just seemed to get on with things, with no fuss. Glad he went here, I was thinking of taking him to the vet soon anyway to do the necessary.

It always seem to be pitch black and pissing down when I'm on pet-burying duty

[vanpeebles]

Awwwww no poor Chico, he had a good run of it though.

[prinnysquad]

He sorted you out a few times!

[vanpeebles]

He did and he had 3 kitties on the prowl.

[dazzling_bubble]

The last of the Prinnysquad Hamster Corp has perished. Cheeky Chico has fallen.

He's lasted 18 months longer than his lunatic rockstar brother Groucho. At least 2 years 4 months old, the longest yet. Poor little sod was a right trooper. Last summer we noticed he had something growing in his ear. We took him to the vet and he said he had a tumour growing out of his ear canal, which was inoperable. It looked really awkward and unpleasant. Over the past 6 months it got bigger, very big in fact, and he had a tumour on his chest, but didn't seem to be in pain or let it bother him. I didn't think he'd last longer than a few weeks as he was almost two years old at that point, but he defied everything and kept plugging away, chopping goodies and going on mad runs around the room. I think he's just died of old age, he seemed to have trouble eating and drinking yesterday, and today he's went to sleep and not woken up

The last of the Corp. A sad night

oh i am so sorry to hear that poor little thing, makes me sad to hear that

i love my little molly and dont know what i would do without her she is the cutest little thing ever with such a personality, alot of people disregard smaller pets but i think she has more personality than my dogs.

on the positive 2 years and 4months is a pretty amazing age for a hamster he was obviously looked after really well

[dataDave]

Awww Chico!!!

Strangely our Jojo, originally the GFs that I had to adopt when she came back home, died last year, one day before I left for Singapore. That felt suspiciously on-que.

We had some quality time together - she was my SotN buddy when I'd play thorughout the night (she was mainly nocturnal).

I think I posted on here about her going bald in one area with suspected mites, well she grew her fur back after that slight hiccup (Either thanks to the three-quid vet treatment, or my special anti-mite mix of 1 spn. mouthwash, witch hazel and a pint of water in a squirty nozzle) and lived comfortably until dying of old age.

[prinnysquad]

And we're back in the room.

The other guinea pig, Stripe, such a lovely-natured special little fella, succumbed to illness today. This one has hit particularly hard.

It started three weeks ago, we noticed he was hot, sweaty, and not eating. His stools were impacted, and not coming out. We took him to the vet who kept him in all day, gave him antibiotics, and suggested it may be a teeth problem. We had to syringe-feed him a powder/water mix every one or two hours to get his weight up, for 3 days. That was exhausting but we did our best. Back to the vets on Thursday night, his weight had gone down despite our efforts, so on Friday morning he went under anaesthetic and had his teeth filed down.

He came home very chipper and eating soft foods again. We were chuffed. Significantly poorer, but chuffed. By Sunday, however, he was sat hunched in the corner of the cage again not eating, and having terrible problems passing stools. We had to remove them by hand.

Back to the vet Monday morning, who kept him in for observation. We got prescribed new antibiotics (syringe-fed) and a painkiller, in case the teeth/gums were tender and preventing eating. After a vague improvement, whereby I had to soak his little nuggets in warm water, and he'd only eat banana, we took him back for a check-up last Saturday. He'd gone up in weight a little bit. We got new antibiotics and a stronger painkiller. Poor little guy's kidneys must have been working overtime.

Over the last week we've had a deterioration, mixed with moments of hope. His eyes have been brighter, but he's only eating nuggets and bread (which they're not really supposed to have or like, so we've used sparingly). As he perked up a bit and tried to move more, we noticed he was dragging his front paws. Back to the vets on Wednesday morning. He was weighed and had reached a high of 795g (hope) and his paws had sores on, and could be treated with cream (hope).

So since then it's been a daily routine of x2 antibiotics a day, x2 painkillers, x2 cream, handfeeding banana, bread and soaked nuggets. We've tried an array of fruit and veg, offered him fresh stuff every day. We couldn't have done any more. On Thursday he'd been to the food bowl at least 4 times, and had loads of water too (hope). He'd also had some fruit.

Yesterday and today, though, the little guy has been breathing very heavily. He's been off his food again, turning his nose up to everything bar bread and smidgens of pear and peach. We put him on the grass and he just sat huddled up. That's just not Stripe. He's lost all of the fur on his underside and still can't pass stools properly. He's felt sweatier today, and a little bloat of (what felt like) liquid in his chest. Heartbreaking to see him struggle round the cage in such a condition, paw tucked under his chest, putting the weight on his upper wrist.

We rang the emergency vet and took him over. He'd eaten some peach and a couple of nuggets on the way over (hope). She diagnosed heart disease, with liquid swelling around the organ. After the weeks of meds, her prognosis was very poor. He was as good as gold when being examined, looking around and taking everything in.

I would have given anything to have something work, but he's been through hell and back recently, and it was best to let him go. His little body had been subjected to a huge amount of medicine, and the symptoms seemed to be getting worse. I gave him a last cuddle and handed him back to the vet. When she took him, he turned his little head and looked directly at me, eye to eye. I usually laugh at piggy's faces when they look at you head on, they look so daft, but this time it was different. It was quite moving and harrowing in its own way, like he knew this was 'it'.

It's been such a long and undignified demise that I'm struggling to hold onto the good memories. It's not right, the way this has panned out. He didn't deserve this. He was easily the piggy with the most character. When he was hungry he'd squeak the house down, when he heard you coming through the front door. When you opened the door to his room, he'd sprint out of the sleeping compartment, leap up to the upper level with a thud, run over and lean out of the cage, nebbing at whatever you were doing. When he was really trying to get your attention he'd throw the food bowl upside down. Many was the time I went in and found the bowl upside down and over the other side of the cage. He grab pepper tops and run off with them, delighted. He'd go mental on the grass outside, and liked to fall asleep lying on your chest, purring away. A great little guy, full of beans.

That's why the last three weeks have been demoralising. Physically and emotionally exhausting. Watching such a character fade away, but with moments of hope thrown in, where it looked like he was turning the corner, then slipping back. Dreadful. We've tried so hard but he was just too poorly. My mind is full of what ifs? He'd shown progress - small but noticeable - up to Friday - what if he was getting better? He'd eaten a bit on the way over - what if this weekend was just a blip? What if he'd tried more medicine? What if we'd kept hand feeding for a week or two? But deep down I know he wasn't getting properly better, and new problems emerging almost daily. His chest was ok last week; today it was terrible, and he'd suffered enough recently. He'd gained some weight, but still wasn't eating even vaguely properly after two weeks of post-operative care. I couldn't subject him to another week of sitting hunched in the corner of the cage. His body was battered and broken, hair falling out, unable to walk, unable to eat, deeply unhappy. I'll always remember the little guy, but hopefully not like that.

[dataDave]

This is why I'll never have pets like this again. Luckily all mine have died peacefully.

I've had to look after dying kittens that I found abandoned once. That was harsh.

[dazzling_bubble]

R.I.P Bill my beautiful Beagle he was 17 and the most kind hearted dog you will ever meet.

I just wish I could have said goodbye, my parents did it whilst I was away and didn't tell me.

I will miss you so much

[prinnysquad]

You have my sympathies. I'm still pig sick today. God knows what I'll be like when one of the cats goes.

[dazzling_bubble]

He was very unwell recently. A couple of weeks ago I took him to the vets and he said he could feel a lump in his stomach, we assumed tuma. We didn't want to pump his body ful of drugs like you said and he didn't seem in any pain. The last few days he wasn't eating and could hardly stand and was ill quite alot. I suppose it was to be expected but it still hit like a tonne of bricks. He's been in our family for over 10yrs, I was 11 when we got him and I've never known anything different.

I guess people will say its 'soppy' to be so upset over a pet but he was more like my brother, an extended family member.

[prinnysquad]

People who say that are twats. A pet is not 'just' anything. If you've invested a lot of time and effort into a pet and it's part of your routine, and you've grown to understand and care for its character, then it's very much part of your life that goes missing when it dies.

[dazzling_bubble]

People who say that are twats.

thank you