Register FAQ Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Navigation
Front Page
Forum
Gallery
Wiki

Ads by Google


Go Back   Hamster Central > Hamster Central Forum Topics > Hamster Healthcare

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-14-2021, 06:38 AM   #1
amithis
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 2
Default 3 to 4 mo. old hamster passed away - blaming myself

We got Ruby, a Syrian hamster, at 6 weeks old from a breeder for my 11 year old son. She seemed like a healthy and active hamster. We got her the Savic Hamster Heaven metro cage and set it up properly. Over the past few weeks, I noticed that she was always up in the little house on the top of the cage or in the tubes that lead there. She dragged a ton of her aspen bedding up into the top and the tube was starting to fill up with it as well. Initially, I was worried she might block herself in the tubes with the bedding but I had seen her run right through it before. I also clean the cage weekly and take the tube apart and dump it all out.
I assumed she was being more active during the night as I know they are nocturnal.

Anyway, yesterday, I went to feed her and she was in the tube with bedding all around her and not responsive. Normally, she would come out to be fed as I often hand feed her and didn't usually leave food in the cage. I tapped on the tube and nothing. Panicking, I broke it open and her body just slid out. She was limp .... just barely moving and her eyes were open.

Now, here is where I made my mistake. I wrongly assumed she must have suffocated in the tube with the bedding around her, and I started frantically calling vets instead of doing my own research. I had it in my head that she might need oxygen asap to recover. It was a Friday night and all the vets near me, including the one that sees our hedgehog, were already closed. Our emergency vet near us did not see small pets like this unless for euthanasia only. I found another emergency vet an hour away that said they saw hamsters and my husband drove her there. When I put her in her travel cage, she moved her paws and was still alive...barely it seemed.

As my husband had been driving there I had tried to research some info. (I wish I had found this site) and I came across a very non-detailed explanation of hibernation. I didn't continue to research as I was trying to console my sons and I figured the vet would know what was going on.

Due to Covid, my husband could not go into the vet's with her. The vet called me and said she was passing. I asked "could it be hibernation?" and the vet seemed very dismissive that it was even a remote possibility. She said "Hibernation?! No, dear, her heart rate is only 20 bpm and should normally be much higher and right now her body is shutting down and brain activity has ceased and all I can do is let her pass more peacefully."

So, here is where I am kicking myself and have been up all night dwelling on this. I told her to go ahead because I worried Ruby would be suffering and I couldn't see having my husband drive her back home just to watch her die a slow death with my kids.

Now, I am wondering if it actually could have been hibernation and, if I had come on here and gotten advice, she might still be alive. Instead we paid $ 200 to have her killed. As I was up all last night researching, I saw an article that said their heart rates can go as low as 5 to 10 bpm when in hibernation (or torpor). Shouldn't the vet have known this?!!!! Why didn't they try to warm her up or give her drops of fluids or anything?

As far as temperature, I'm in FL in the US and it's been fluctuating a lot here at this time of year. Our upstairs where my son's rooms are and where her cage is can range between 69 and 75 degrees. I think it was 70 when I found her. As I said, I had been hand feeding her 1 to 2 tsp of food a day. Now I'm thinking I should have just left out food but I was worried about her eating too much and getting diabetes and she would get wood shavings and stuff all over her dish so I thought just feeding her myself would prevent a bacterial illness.

On top of that, my son and he and I had a miscommunication which resulted in her going a full day and a half without food. Yes, I know. I hate myself already for this.

Ugh. I feel like I really failed her at every turn and I don't know if I will ever forgive myself. I tried to do the right thing by getting her to the vets asap but now I think it would have been better to have just kept her at home and seen if she would have come out of it.

Does anyone have any insight as to whether this could have been hibernation? How can a vet not know if an animal is actually dying and beyond hope??

I won't be getting another one. They are wonderful little creatures. I'm just sharing this for insight but, also, in the hopes that it might help someone else who has a similar unfortunate situation.
amithis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-14-2021, 08:35 AM   #2
Amethyst_ice
Moderator
 
Amethyst_ice's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 8,026
Default Re: 3 to 4 mo. old hamster passed away - blaming myself

Hello,

I'm so sorry you lost your little one and it is understandable you are questioning everything.

Hamsters do not really hibernate and as you rightly said, they can go into a hibernation looking like state called torpor. This is usually if there is a severe drop in temps or severe lack of food resources. It doesn't sound like that was the case. If it was, you lifting her out and handling her etc would liekly have been enough to rouse her if she was in actual torpor. Any I have had, have come out of it in under 30 minutes.

Not feeding your hamster for a day or two would not harm them in the slightest and two teaspoons of food seems perfectly fine. Many people just fill a food bowl or scatter for the week. In terms of getting shavings in the food bowl, that wouldn't be harmful, hamsters store food anyway rather than eating everything there and then.

It is hard to say about the tube situation, they aren't really recommended but if she was alive and breathing when you removed her, I would have expected the availability of air to bring her round.

Unfortunately, even with good breeder hamsters, sometimes things are going on inside that we don't see and their little bodies are so tiny we often can't pick up on anything. I myself lost a little lady after just 3 weeks. Friday she was perfectly fine, Sunday I found her curled up passed away, no obvious signs why.

You didn't pay to have her killed. You were an extremely caring and responsible owner who sought out vetinary help asap and the vet has used their judgement (which obviously, we couldn't tell you over the internet) and you have both made a kind, humane, caring decision to help her along to the bridge.

I know it is hard but don't let this put you off welcoming another little furbaby into your life in the future if your family feels ready.

Play well little Ruby xxx
__________________
Feel free to ask me about rat advice too
Amethyst_ice is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-14-2021, 09:31 AM   #3
amithis
Newborn Pup
 
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 2
Default Re: 3 to 4 mo. old hamster passed away - blaming myself

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. It helped put my spinning mind to rest a little. I'm so sorry about the sudden loss of your little one.

It sounds like perhaps the vet was right and there was no coming back from whatever happened to her. I do at least feel like she was never in any pain.

We have 3 cats, 3 dogs, a hedgehog and hermit crabs. The latter two were requested by my other 11 year old son (they are twins). Wally the hedgehog and the hermit crabs have been with us for 3 years. When his brother asked for a hamster, I couldn't bring myself to say no. I figured if I could handle all the complexities of the other exotic pets, a hamster wouldn't be that difficult. My son and I read care information. I researched cages to choose one that I thought would be large enough, researched foods etc. I never saw anything about torpor though in the research I did prior to bringing her home so that wasn't even on my radar.

I think what it ultimately come down to is my not being around the nocturnal pets at night so not picking up on if their activity levels have dropped. I guess it's possible she was ill prior to this happening and I wasn't around her enough to notice the change in activity level. She was perfectly ready to eat every time I fed her so I assumed a good appetite meant she was ok.

Maybe someday I will try again with a Syrian hamster. I was surprised by how sweet and engaging they are. Very easy to get attached to...making the loss that much harder. I certainly feel like I know a lot more after desperately reading through just about every post on here during the course of the night when I couldn't sleep after this.
amithis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-14-2021, 09:51 AM   #4
Amethyst_ice
Moderator
 
Amethyst_ice's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 8,026
Default Re: 3 to 4 mo. old hamster passed away - blaming myself

Wow what an exciting household you have!

And kudos on doing all the research! Tbh, torpor isn't mentioned much and it's wrongly noted as hibernation much of the time. One of those hamster myths that has continued.

If you do get again I would scatter feed or fill a bowl for a few days rather than try to feed. Hamsters are natural foragers and hoarders so that is more in line with their nature.

The hamster haven is a great cage, just most advisse to remove the tubes.

I hope it doesn't put you off hammies in the future. The all have such beuatiful, unique personalities and howver long they decide to stay with us, that time should always be treasured with no regrets

x
__________________
Feel free to ask me about rat advice too
Amethyst_ice is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
vet, cage, hibernation, tube, night

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.43 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Copyright © 2003-2022, Hobby Solutions
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 08:47 AM.