just said goodbye to our harry

candice clews · 03-14-2015, 03:19 AM

Harry was our first ever hamster he was a tan coloured, Syrian hamster, who we brought from Pets at Home on the 29th of July 2013, the first day we got him he made many mistakes with the cage we brought and ended up having to buy another one the day we had him. We left him 24 hours and when we first got him out apart from a nip or two he was great and so easy to tame!!! We had so many memories together . About two weeks ago we went to get him out of his cage, like any other day, to find him limping and barely able to wall, we had our cuddles and i thought he had just injured him self or bruised his leg, we moved his food closer to his bed and put a bowl of water in his cage, so he didn't have to walk far to get them. The following day he seemed a little less stumbly on his legs, but we noticed his food dish and water bowl and bottle didn't seem to be emptying. I posted it on this forum and was told it was more than likely old age, and i was given tips to give him some baby food every so often and was also told that cucumber and egg might help too. So that same day we rushed to morrisons to get some baby food, cucumber and eggs. He loved all three of them . The first baby food he tried was baby porridge and sweet potato and carrots. Later followed by egg custard, pork casserole and sweet potato and vegetables. He loved them all! The following days we're the same and he was being hand fed scrambled and boiled egg and baby food daily. Three days ago harry got worse, he was more stumbly and his fur was thinning out quickly, he didn't want to eat or drink, but we ended up getting him too eventually. Yesterday harry wasn't right you could tell by the way he walked and looked. He refused to eat and drink and had become incontinent and was pooing and weeing himself. We had lots of cuddles and wrapped him up in a soft tea towl, so we didn't have to worry about him having an accident on us. We put him to bed knowing that he hadn't got long left, and there was nothing else we could do. This morning we woke up to find that he was on his side collapsed on shredded paper that he had arranged as a bed, obviously where he was going to die. We took the top off his cage and picked him up , he was breathing, but was cold and slowly beginning to become short of breath and he had no energy to do anything. We picked him up and wrapped him in the same soft tea towel. We cuddled him and let him sit on our chests. After twenty minutes, we looked at him,to find that he had fallen asleep but was still breathing, we picked him up to check on him and put him back down in the tea towel. After just under 5 minutes he started to gasp, and we knew his time was up. He took 3 last breaths and gasped quite loudly and he was gone. He passed away peacefully in our arms. We were all absolutely devastated. We said our goodbyes, cut the tea towel down to size, put a piece in the bottom of his favourite blue bed, which he loved and always slept in, we put the top on the house and buried him in a hole, along with his favourite toy, his green jingly ball. We have ideas of buying a rose bush to put on top of where he is buried and putting pictures along the fence.
Thanks for reading

racinghamster · 03-14-2015, 03:38 AM

Thank you for sharing Harry`s final moments Candice. I`ve been in similar situations with a few of mine and with some of the mice I kept as pets and it`s never easy to say goodbye, but I do believe that it`s a natural course and when they get to this stage, it`s better to do what you did and allow nature to carry them to the bridge. So sorry to hear Harry has gone, but he will be fondly remembered here on HC by everyone and I`m sure he will not leave this earth without everyone saying goodbye to him.

Remember the good times you shared. Run free Harry. x

Thin Lizzy · 03-14-2015, 06:15 AM

Candice, I shed a few tears reading about Harry. Thank you for sharing his final moments. What a wonderful hammie and he had a wonderful life with you. Sending all of you hugs.
What a special send off you gave him. Have you thought about an evergreen tree?
Sweet Dreams Harry xxx

cypher · 03-14-2015, 07:12 AM

I'm so sorry you've had to say goodbye to Harry Candice, it's clear how much he was loved & cherished throughout his life right up until his last moments, I'm sure he knew just how much you cared for him & I know you will miss him so much.

Run free & play well at the bridge Harry.

souffle · 03-14-2015, 07:52 AM

I'm so sorry for your loss

He left surrounded by love with his family near.
Play well at the bridge Harry x

candice clews · 03-14-2015, 08:14 AM

Thankyou all for the lovely comments and support, its extremely nice of you all xx

Willow Wisp · 03-15-2015, 12:51 AM

I', so sorry for your loss Candice.
Play well at the bridge little Harry x

candice clews · 03-15-2015, 01:15 AM

Thankyou willow wisp, was our first hamster to pass away, so it was made a little worse by that xx

Josie · 03-16-2015, 06:42 PM

So sorry to hear of Harry's passing, he was with the people who loved him the most ride the wind little one play well at the bridge xxxx

"Do not worry about me when I am gone and on the other side. Life is eternal"

Artisans_uk · 03-17-2015, 03:18 AM

So sorry to hear that your precious Harry has gone to play at the bridge with all the other fluffs we know that have gone before.

Harry was loved so much by your family and I know how hard you worked to make his final days comfortable for him. He has given you lots of wonderful memories and he'll forever have a place in your hearts.

Thinking of you.

Harry, you were loved and you gave back so much to those around you. Play well at the bridge, little one.