My darling Prinny is gone

[racinghamster]

Most of you will know about my wee chinese female Prinny who I rehomed from Abby on here last summer. She was estimated to be around a year old then, so I expected her to be with me for quite a while. Sadly, that was cut short yesterday. I had to see an emergency vet as typically, it was a Sunday and I wasn`t willing to wait until Monday to see my own vet.

Prinny wasn`t appearing to be able to pass urine on Saturday afternoon. I saw pee in her toilet roll tubes on Friday, so I knew she was fine then. I got suspicious of this and she didn`t look too well yesterday, which is why I decided to called the emergency vet, who asked me to bring her in, which I did with the kind help of my neighbour, who drove me down to the larger veterinary hospital. The vet turned Prinny up to look at her genital area and my heart sank. We spotted some blood. :( I felt sick because I knew this wasn`t a good sign at all. We were given diluted oral Baytril and I dosed her with a syringe three times yesterday, but all she wanted to do was cling to me and be with me. I was with her almost all of yesteday, holding her to keep her warm, give her kissses and do everything I could to get her strength back. She just wasn`t eating or wanted to drink from her bottle and only lapped up a small amount of water from a small dish I provided.

I woke this morning to find she had passed in her nest. :( I had a terrible night and was physically sick this morning. I`m doped up with painkillers and feel numb about losing my wee soulmate. Anyone who has kept and lost a chinese hamster will know exactly what I mean when I say they are ambassadors for the hamster world. I never knew Prinny would be the little friend that she turned out to be and I`m totally and utterly gutted today at losing her so quickly. Her health was very good and she showed no signs at all that she was about to start passing blood.

The vet wasn`t sure if it was urine related or womb related, but she did say because the blood was bright red and not gooey in consistency, she was confident that it was a urinary tract infection. I wasn`t so sure...

Prinny was a one off and I don`t know how I will every find another with the same charisma she had, but it will probably be a long time before I`m able to do so as I have a heavy heart today.

Rest in peace my little sweetheart. My eyes havn`t stopped welling up since I lost you. x

[souffle]

I am so very sorry to hear of your loss.
She really was a twin heart hamster to you and she will always remain with you tucked safe inside your own heart now.
It all sounds very quick and she obviously felt comforted being so close to you during her final hours.
Play well at the bridge Prinny. You will be so much missed xx

[vanilla-yazoo]

i am really sorry to hear this, i know she was a treasure to you, I know what its like to loose a chinese too, my wee girl kelick passed before her time because of an accident whilst I was at work, and even tho i wasnt at home, i had this deep feeling something was wrong.
prinny was a gorgeous girl, who had the kindest mum to look after her, but she knew it was her time to go.
she sounds like she needs to have a special memorial, for being such an angel
x rest well little one x

[Honeylilly]

Im so very sorry for your loss, racinghamster.
Play well at the bridge, little one x

[shazzy]

Oh I am so so sorry to hear this RH :( as you know I lost my little willow a short while ago far too soon and have felt empty ever since. They really are wonderful little animals. Prinny was treated like a princess by you, and take comfort in the fact that you were able to sooth her in the last few hours and she passed peacefully in her nest. I'll tell willow to go find her at the bridge - I'm sure it'll help having an HC friend to show her round. Rest well little Prinny xxx

[racinghamster]

Thanks so much everyone for your kind sentiments. I`m still bubbling like an idiot and I never knew a little chinese hamster could make me feel so lost. I never cried like this when I lost any pet mice or other small pets except my rat Winston years ago. She really did touch me more in many ways and now I know what it feels like to lose a chinese hamster and can sympathise with all those before me who have been through it. I feel as if I`ve lost a finger and I`m trying to adapt.

It was such a sudden illness and death that I think it`s all just shocked me. Had she been very old and slowing down, I think I would have accepted it better. But this really has hit me like a ton of bricks and it feels like it too.

I havn`t been so teary for a long, long time and I think it`s going to take me a while to get over this.

[Hamtastic]

I'm so sorry, RH! Most of us who have been following HC since you got Prinny know just how much you loved her. It showed in every post you made. I believe Prinny was well aware of how special she was to you and had a great life in your care. May she find loving friends at the Bridge and be a happy ham once again.

[Lynternette]

I'm so sorry that Prinny has had to leave you. Take comfort in the fact that she loved you and you her. Her passing was quick and she didn't suffer. I'm a big softie. I cry for every hamster who passes. I'll send a tear for a kiss to Prinny, xxx

[CoolcatNatNat44]

Im so sorry about Prinny RH :( R.I.P <3

[TraceyH]

Oh no, I'm sorry you've lost her.

[debs]

Sweet dreams
:(

[Vectis Hamstery]

I'm sorry to hear of your loss.

Run free, Primrose

[KatiePillow]

I'm sorry to hear of her loss RH, but she had a fantastic life with you, and she didn't suffer for long, and passed peacefully from the sounds of it.
I'm glad you got to spend that sunday with her and it really shows your bond that she wanted to be with you until the end.
Sleep tight Prinny :(

[racinghamster]

Thankyou so much everyone. I can`t read my obituaries for tears today because Prinny`s loss is so raw still. I cannot believe she`s gone. It`s as if she was brought into my life just to be cruely snatched away. It`s so unfair. I keep telling myself that at least the time she had with me was wonderful and I will miss feeling her fur tickling my leg every night on the bed when she ran up my pyjama trouser leg and would stay there and nap and then come out looking for a snack! I will miss her so much.

[Lougarry]

I'm so sorry for your loss, she was clearly very, very special to you. Sleep well, Prinny, until you are reunited with your mum xx

[PinkPrincess]

It was such a sudden illness and death that I think it`s all just shocked me. Had she been very old and slowing down, I think I would have accepted it better. But this really has hit me like a ton of bricks and it feels like it too.



I can completely sympathise with you, we lost Honey suddenly last month and I think, like you, I would have been better prepared if she had been getting old and slowing down but she was only 16 months old and I thought we had lots more time together. Although your time with Prinny was cut short I'm sure the time she did have with you was filled with love and happiness. :) I hope this will bring comfort to you and that one day you will be able to think of her with a smile instead of a tear. Play well at the bridge Prinny and watch over your mummy. Thinking of you xxxxx

[Quedos]

I'm sorry for your loss RH and I know exactly how you feel.
If nothing else she is now playing at the bridge with her sister and I'm sure they have met up with many of our friends who are watching over us.
I know tha Prinny has had a fantastic life with you - a better one than I could offer her, and you could tell she loved you even before i left that night.

Run Free Prinny ( and Squeak) xxx

[fluffymunchkins]

Such a sad loss :( Its clear she brought you so much joy, and I'm sure you have many precious memories even in a shortened time.
She is at peace now, sleep tight Prinny xx

[Mikayla]

I'm so sorry :( No one who met you could put into words how much you loved her.

May she rest in peace.

[Womblehands]

Rest well little girl, My thoughts are with you xxx

[AliKati]

I'm really sorry to hear of your loss. You always speak of her with so much affection, she was quite vivid in my imagination. It's not the satisfactory comfort but I think she knew how much she was cherished and cared for. Goodbye, Prinny.

[Pompompoms]

I really sorry for your loss, it only ever hurts so much because we love them so much. Play well little girl till it;s time to see your mum again xx

[racinghamster]

You have all been so very kind with your lovely sentiments and even today, I`m struggling to read them without welling up. I know that will ease soon and I need to pull myself together. I will be laying Prinny to rest today and buying her a special garden ornament tomorrow to mark her grave. She will be under my young plum tree in the garden and everytime I see a plum, I will think of her.

I know one day I will be looking for another little one who is looking for a new home, but it might be some time before I can do that. It`s been so painful to lose Prinny so quickly and so unexpectedly.

[Jodzie04]

I am so sorry for your loss.
I am sure she had a wonderful life and was so lucky to have you.

[racinghamster]

Thanks Jodzie. x

[Amazing Miss Alice]

Racinghamster i am so, so sorry to read this. Such awful news. Poor Prinny :( At least she is no longer in any pain and can play with new friends at the bridge until the time you can go and collect her.

I am sending you all my love. And look after yourself. Prinny wouldn't want her mummy to suffer. <3 <3

[p_anda]

My Chinese hamster had a suspected bladder infection/UTI, and she wasn't anywhere near as ill as you described Prinny. :( I imagine it was more likely to be reproductive organ related, maybe a prolapsed uterus. I'm very sorry for your loss though. :( It's horrible when it happens so quickly.

[racinghamster]

Thankyou Alice and P anda for your kindness and words of encouragement. P anda, I have to agree with you about the uteral issue as I now believe this is what this was and not a uti. I just don`t understand why she would stop passing urine unless she had something pressing down internally that stopped her doing so, perhaps a tumour. I won`t know now of course and maybe I`m cluching at straws but I keep thinking that maybe I could have asked my own vet to do a post mortem just to give me some closure on this. I hate to think she was in pain due to passing blood from a rupture or a poisoned uterus. :(

P anda, can I ask please, when your chinese had a suspected uti, what symptoms did you notice and what was he/she treated with and did it help? Thaks for your input on this. It`s helping me to get through my loss.

[MummyofMonkey]

I am so sorry for your loss.

RIP little Prinny x

[starbug]

I'm so very sorry for your loss. Play well at the bridge, little Prinny.

[Mona's Humans]

so sorry for your loss,

Run free little one x

[p_anda]

Princess only had a couple of symptoms, one was that her backside was soaked after every time she'd been sleeping and she smelled very strongly of urine. Otherwise she was eating/behaving normally, didn't look like she was in pain and had no blood in her urine. At first I though she was incontinent, but then she was only weeing herself in her sleep, so that obviously wasn't the case...the vet just did a routine exam, feeling her stomach, etc. and said it was most likely to be a bladder infection, maybe a gallstone [?]. She was given Baytril for 10 days, but I actually continued it for 14 days, just in case. It cleared up about 12 days into treatment.

It was a bit disturbing though until I didn't know what was wrong with her, sometimes she'd come out of her nest and she'd be soaked in pee from the waist down, her fur all matted, etc. :(

Hope you're coping well

[racinghamster]

Thanks P_anda. I had the opposite happen as Prinny couldn`t pass urine which was what caught my attention as to her wellbeing because she always peed in her toilet roll tubes and very well. I`ve had a hellish couple of days getting over her loss but I know those dreadful feelings will pass in time. I was just saying to a friend of mine today on another forum that although this emergency vet I saw felt her abdomen to try and feel for anything suspicious, she didn`t say out loud whether she actually did feel anything in her abdomen and just sent me away with orally diluted baytril and no pain relief and said she would fax the details of my visit to my own vet to let them know I had been in and seen another vet as an emergency. I`ve still to contact my vet to let them know that Prinny didn`t make it as I`ve been too upset, but I will pop into the surgery next week and let them know.

I thought a couple of weeks on baytril would have done the trick, but it wasn`t to be. She was just too ill and passing red blood rather than urine. :( I feel she either had pyometra, a uterine tumour (although she had no abdominal swelling going on), or urolithiasis, where stones form in the bladder and prevent urination. The latter does seem probably but without a post mortem, I will never know.

[Gizmodo ^_^]

I am so so sorry RH. You gave Prinny an amazing life, and your love for her always showed

Sleep well Prinny <3

[Hammie.A]

R.I.P Little angel.
Sleep tight <3

[Silver]

RH big big gentle cuddles to you for loosing little Prinny.

I truly believe she was as much in love with you as you was with her. I also believe the special ones live on with us in our hearts forever.

And when this life is over for us she will be waiting for you to join you in the next life.

You have a lovely time at the bridge Prinny, & every so often look down on your Mummy & blow her a kiss

Silver xxx

[racinghamster]

Much appreciated everyone, thanks so much for remembering Prinny. A week on and I still feel like a lost soul without her. It was all so sudden and that`s probably why I have felt cold and empty all week.

[PICKLES09]

I'm so very sorry you lost your Prinny :-( She will always be remembered in your heart and memories, until you meet again... Rest well Prinny and have lots of fun at Rainbow bridge. xx

[racinghamster]

Thanks Pickles. x I`m sure she`s missing me as much as I`m missing her. It`s just aswell when they do pass on that we hope they are somewhere out there.

[Pomegranate]

I'm sorry RH. :( She had an amazing life with you.

[racinghamster]

Thanks Pommy. Looks like we`ve both went though a sad loss recently. x