R.I.P Franklin :(

[Sarah McGarry]

This evening when I went to give Franklin a cuddle i found him snuggled up in his bed passed away. I adopted him from p@h about a month ago and since then he has been in a zoozone 2 with lots of places to run and hide. He passed away so quickly and I dont know what of. I was just getting to know him for the wonderful little creature he was and he has been taken away from me. I will miss him cleaning me when I get him out of his cage and happily running round his wheel. Run free little man mummy loves you. xxxxxxx

http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/q728/odetoisis/Franklin_zps80d50eb0.jpg

[neily]

So sad, but you gave him a great home for a month! I have adopted a hybrid from p@h too, so this worries me. So sorry for your loss :(

[Sarah McGarry]

thank you he was such a special little guy :( xx

[The Hamster's family]

Very sorry for your loss... Might be something that he had from before he was with you... At least, you gave him more space that he could have dreamed of... you made him very happy... I sincerely hope you get to feel better very soon...

Sleep tight little one and enjoy the Bridge and all its goodies...

Annie xx

[Kaztrekie]

So sorry for your loss so soon after getting him
Run free on the bridge little one

[racinghamster]

Oh no Sarah, what a shock. :( He looked so full of life and had such a wonderful home with you, I`m truly sorry and very sad to hear Franklin has passed away. Chinese hamsters of late do seem to be dying young and I`m wondering if it`s a trait. Quite a few owners have posted recently about their chinese hamsters passing or becoming quite ill all of a sudden.

Rest in peace little Franklin. x Sorry for your untimely loss Sarah. x

[petal10]

So sorry :(

[psl]

So sorry to hear that
R.I.P franklin

[Sarah McGarry]

Thank you for the kind words everyone. I keep wracking my brain to think what was wrong with him and I just hope that I gave him the best chance possible and I am so upset. The only good thing about this is that Luna my Syrian is going to move from her hamster heaven to the zoozone 2. She will love it but I am going to scrub everything well because I don't know what happened with my baby Franklin. Thank you again everyone I knew coming on here would make me feel better :-) x x x

[DrKMcK]

So sorry that you lost Franklin after such a short time. That's just rotten! You may never know why this happened but you do know you had a happy little furry. You gave him a good month with a great home. Hammy's who groom their owners are happy hammies. Good-bye little Franklin :-(

[Pompompoms]

Oh no, I'm so sorry :(:(. It won't have been anything you've done, so try not to worry yourself. Sometimes there is something there we just can't see, and the bridge calls them on so far before what should be there time. I'm glad he knew love and good care with you before he passed. Play well little one xx

[souffle]

So sorry to hear of your loss - his last days were spent happy and loved.
Play well Franklin x

[Sarah McGarry]

Thank you again for the kind words. I just cant help thinking I could have done something. When I spoke to the people at p@h they said they feed them apple so they don't dehydrate and that I should have done the same. I asked them weren't they worried about diabetes and they said hamsters dont get diabetes. So I dont know but I didnt give him apple I just give him two water bottles and I know he was drinking. I just think my confidence is a bit shot about it really because I thought I did everything right and I read up so much on Chinese hammies :( Luna's doing well in her new zoozone two he seems to like it! :) xxxx

[Arraminta]

So sorry for your loss!! He had a fab month with you and was very loved..

Play well at the bridge little one x

Arraminta x

[m98025]

Please don't listen to the P@home staff, you clearly did everything you could for Franklin and he looked very happy for the short time he was with you! As you can see from the experience of many forum members, hamsters definitely DO get diabetes and Chinese are one of the breeds that are most susceptible. In all the years I've been looking after hamsters, I have never known a healthy one to dehydrate- they have all managed to keep themselves perfectly well hydrated from their water bottles (and although I have obviously given little bits of veg etc as a supplement, that has never been in sufficient quantities to prevent dehydration if they were not drinking properly). I'm not saying that dehydration never happens, just that it seems relatively rare in healthy hamsters! I have heard this justification before from them when challenged about feeding hams apple and orange and cannot understand why they think hams are so prone to dehydration - makes me a bit worried that maybe they don't give them enough water, or if there are some other health problems prevalent in the animals they sell? If Franklin had been with them for a while, I wonder if the poor diet they fed him as he was growing caused him some internal damage, which you had no way of knowing about and may explain his sudden passing?

On a happier note, I'm glad that Luna is enjoying the zoozone! :)

[shiny]

Sarah I am so sorry about Franklin :( I remember that lovely photo of him from when you got him. The store advice is simply nonsense; hamsters don't require apple instead or water - who told them that rubbish?!

You looked after Franklin, took the time to find out about diet & diabetes & gave him a loving home. Some hammies just seem to die early, you will probably never know what it was, I don't expect it was related to diet or anything you did as it was so sudden.

Don't lose confidence, you have shown yourself to be a responsible & sensible hamster owner & I'm sure Franklin had a lovely life with you.

With best wishes,

shiny

[Sarah McGarry]

Aww thanks again that makes me feel better! I was so upset that they blamed me when I was sure I had the info right! But I am not going to let them undermine what I know because I have spent HOURS on this forum and I have enjoyed learning more about hammies. I am going to give another hammy a home when I start to feel better about Franklin. Thank you again everyone for being so wonderful! Everyone on this forum is soooooo nice :) xxxxxxxxx

[kyrilliondaemon]

Sounds like you did right to me. I'm sorry Franklin passed but he'll have had a great last month with you and I know he'll have been glad

[shiny]

I'm sure a new hammie will find you when the time is right :) xx

[DrKMcK]

Sarah, Losing Franklin was bad enough. For them to blame you was just wrong. I wouldn't go near them to purchase anything ever again. Somewhere, sometime, the right hammy will be there for you. And we'll be here to celebrate with you when that happens.

[Sarah McGarry]

Aww thank you. I wont be going back there for another hammy anytime soon I think i am going to ask people on here if they know anywhere in my area that I can adopt a hamster off. I am just going to wait and let the little bundle of joy come to me :) for now I am showering my other little hammy with lots of extra love and affection as it has all brought home to me more how precious our time with them really is. xxxx

[LavoChain]

Hi Sarah, are you on the piggie forum? If so I'm MOC on there, I think I've spoken to you a couple of times.

I'm really sorry to hear about your ham, at least he had a wonderful month with lots of love and space. So much different to what the likes of pets at home offer them!

[njwilde]

This comes quiet as a shock, Sarah, it only seems like yesterday when you got him and we all got excited, he was such a cute little fella. I am really sorry and I can only imagine how horrid that must be for you. On a brighter note, 4 weeks are still a lot longer in a hamster s life than for us so I am sure he had a great time at yours and memories of his older life in a small cage would have been diminished.
Play well Franklin at the bridge and say hello to my loved ones up there xxx

[Sarah McGarry]

Hi Sarah, are you on the piggie forum? If so I'm MOC on there, I think I've spoken to you a couple of times.

I'm really sorry to hear about your ham, at least he had a wonderful month with lots of love and space. So much different to what the likes of pets at home offer them!

Aww thank you he was such a little darling. Yes I am on the piggy forum as well! I have 16 piggies but also have a huge interest in hammies too :) are you new to this forum? If so welcome! They are all sooooo lovely on here :-) x x x

[Sarah McGarry]

This comes quiet as a shock, Sarah, it only seems like yesterday when you got him and we all got excited, he was such a cute little fella. I am really sorry and I can only imagine how horrid that must be for you. On a brighter note, 4 weeks are still a lot longer in a hamster s life than for us so I am sure he had a great time at yours and memories of his older life in a small cage would have been diminished.
Play well Franklin at the bridge and say hello to my loved ones up there xxx

I know I was so excited to have him with me. I even sat in the bath every night and let him run over me to tame him. Even though I didn't have him for long I was really close to him. I just hope he enjoyed himself and hope his passing was as peaceful as it looked. X x x x