Seemingly Healthy Syrian Hamster Suddenly Dead. Any explanations?

[bunbunjujudaiko]

Hello all,

My sister's syrian hamster, Bunbun, recently passed away out of the blue. He was approximately a year and a half old and my sister has had it since it was very young (a month old?) He was the healthiest hamster I had ever seen. His coat was shiny/soft, no chronic health problems, ran on his wheel, my sister checked up on him every night and let him out to play on her cleared out bed, and fed him both mixed dry food and regular vegetables (within their dietary restrictions).

He had been eating normally, being active as usual. However the only alarming thing that happened was about a week ago. He was pooping solid but bright red bloody poop. After he pooped (like 18-20 pellets) he went back to normal and we fed him more greens because we thought he may have been constipated.

Yesterday, my sister said he was active but walking slower than normal. Today, in the morning, he was sprawled (belly down) against the corner of the cage near the water bottle with one eye wide open and one eye shut. He was unresponsive to touch/sound and was breathing deep and slow inconsistently. The fur surrounding his mouth seemed to have been wet and then dried.

I have very little experience with hamsters but I was left to take care of him because my sister had a prior engagement that she had to go to. During my care, he continued to stay the way we found him. After searching through these
hamster threads I found a few that suggested he may have had a severe heat stroke (her room was really humid even with the AC, it's the summer here, and he lives in a glass cage) so I put him in my room (with ac) in a box. He seemed to be doing better (his breathing was still deep and labored but it became more consistent) but after awhile he took a few very deep breaths, moved a little and then passed away.

This all happened within a span of 9-10 hours. I urged my mom to take him to the vet but she said no because of the high cost. Does anyone have any idea what caused him to die? My sister still has two dwarf hamsters that are alive and seem to be doing well.

Thank you to anyone who replies! Bunbun had a special place in all our hearts and we really appreciate any help we can get.

[souffle]

I am sorry to hear of your loss.
Blood from any vent is never good and requires urgent vet attention. It does sound as if there has been either a blockage in his bowel or more likely a ruptured tumour which sadly he would not recover from as the bowel is much to small to be operated on in hamsters
I'm sure he passed over quickly when it was his time.
Play well at the bridge Bunbun

[bunbunjujudaiko]

Thank you for your inside information. It really helped make things easier for my sister.