Ivy died- so miserable

[Ruth Edwards]

Our lovely hamster died yesterday. it was quite sudden and i think she had eaten something bad. i feel terrible that this little animal wasn't allowed to grow old first. She was nearly 2. I don't know what she ate but i had put a cardboard box in her cage recently and she'd been chewing it, a tea bag box. could it have poisoned her?
my husband says you have to expect this sort of thing with small animals, but my son and i are really upset. maybe that's odd for a 50 year old woman with a full time job and family to keep me busy.
it was horrible - Ivy has healthy and happy as usual on Saturday, but we found her cold and she'd been sick on Sunday. tried to keep her warm and give her a bit of water but after a couple of hours she went into spasms and squeaked a lot then died.
I miss the little hamster but i'm not sure i feel my son and i are responsible enough to look after animals.

[Jennie F]

Oh Ruth, so sorry to hear about Ivy. It must be hard right now for you and its not odd to mourn her, no matter how old or young. Pets are part of the family. I wouldnt think that you and your son arent responsible pet parents, after all you helped and provided a good life for little Ivy until the age of 2, so that's a lot of love and care you have given to her over the years. Dont be hard of yourself hun, sometimes these things happen and maybe she was recalled to hammy heaven after blessing your family for two years x x x

[Pebbles82]

Please don't feel like this. Two years old is really really old for a hamster She would be about 80 in human years. It is unlikely to be the tea bag box - I've had an Easter egg box in our cage that was chewed and no ill effects at all. It's more likely she had some kind of seizure or stroke or heart attack. These things can come on quite suddenly.

It is perfectly normal to feel grief stricken, whatever your age. Our Syrian had to be helped on his way about a month ago and I felt terrible for ages and quite ill at times and cried a lot. It's just a normal grieving process and however they die we question what we did or could have done better. Big hugs.

She is pain free now and playing free over the Rainbow Bridge. Sadly their lives seem quite short to us, but in her two years she has been through her teens, middle age and old age, with all the behaviours that go along with those stages.

It is nothing you have done. I had moments of feeling like that too.

[souffle]

I'm so sorry for your loss.
Sometimes you never know what happened and that is sad.
It is never odd to grieve for a life shared and a little one loved. They have a big impact on our lives and mourning their loss is the same for them as it is for anyone we love.
At 2 years she was really quite a good age so you should be proud of how well you cared for her and how much pleasure she gave you.
It won't have been the box I don't think. Generations of hamsters have chewed on boxes and paper and all have been fine especially when the box was a food container and any toxic items in the paper or ink would never have been permitted. Don't ever think it was your fault and that you should not care for another animal because that isn't true.
Hamsters live on average between 18 - 30 months so she was right in the middle of average. They cannot vomit but when they pass they can lose fluid from the mouth so I expect that is what you saw. As it was so sudden it was most likely very quick and probably her heart that gave out or possibly a stroke. Her way of passing was painful to watch but it is most likely she was unconcious during this episode and did not feel anything so take comfort from that.
Of course you miss her - that is normal. One thing about hamsters is though that each one makes your heart grow a little bigger. When they pass there is room for them plus room for a new little one to share your life (and make your heart grow) and enjoy the same wonderful times that Ivy had. When and if you feel ready then listen to your heart and fill that space.
Run free at the bridge Ivy and send a rainbow to your family so they know you are safe.

[jopop]

I'm so sorry to hear this Ruth. I'm certain it was nothing you did.

In no way would I consider it "odd" that you feel so sad. Each and every life effects us, it is how it is meant to be. They each take a piece of our heart but they leave you with a little piece of theirs.
Allow yourself the feelings and remember how lucky you both were to have had each other.

[Ruth Edwards]

thanks so much for your caring thoughts. I will wait a bit before having another hamster. i'll see what my son Dylan wants to do.
one thing that surprised me about having a hamster, is that it's easy to find nice people who will look after her when we're on holiday. our neighbour Iris (sounds like a nice hamster name actually) is 80 and she loved having ivy to stay. ivy would sleep in her jumper while they watched tv together. even my mum had her for a few days while we were in Greece.

[Cotton]

Ruth, it is not odd to be grieving the loss of Ivy. Pets have a special place in our lives and hearts. Sorry for the loss of little Ivy.

[Pebbles82]

Your neighbour sounds like the perfect hamster sitter. Hamsters have also been used as therapy pets I think you'll know when it feels right to get another one and a little one will ask you to take it home I wanted to get another one a couple of weeks later, but wasn't quite ready.

We made a little memorial flower bed in the garden for Charlie and put a little rainbow bridge stone with his name on and we felt much better once we had made it look so nice. Cleaning the cage out set me off again. I left it a week. Plan something nice to do the next day xxx

[Drago]

I am so sorry for your loss As others have said, the box is very unlikely to have been an issue as thousands of hamsters all around the world have boxes which they chew on and sleep in so don't worry yourself thinking it was your fault! Like others have said, stroke/heart failure are more likely culprits than anything else and unfortunately, unless symptoms are clearly, this is a tragedy that really can't be stopped.

It is in no way silly or unusual for you to feel such grief over your hamster! Who's to say that just because someone is physically smaller, it means they matter less? Losing your hamster is losing family and should be treated as such by friends and family! Just know that you cared for her well and she had a good long life with you. May she Rest In Peace

[Rads]

Ruth,
Sorry to hear about the sudden loss of Ivy, it is distressing and from experience you feel absolutely awful and are blame ridden, but as every other contributor here has said there is nothing you could have done, when these little fur balls have a stroke or heart attack it is very sudden, our previous little fur ball Forrest got very dog eared very quickly in approx. one week he went from healthy and happy to having to be pts as he had developed a large tumour which had come from nowhere. We felt awful over this as you can well imagine.
Forrest has a Rosemary bush growing over him now as a memorial.
So don't stress Ivy will be chasing about and causing her own version of hamster havoc where ever she is.