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.