Waiting for Mimi to pass.. - Page 2

souffle · 10-19-2008, 03:39 AM

I am deeply sory to hear of the loss of your father Carlea. That must be a hard burden to bear and you are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope time will help heal the pain and you will be able to remember the happy times with a smile in the future.

However tight money is animals need feeding/housing/bedding and vet care. What if your new hammy becomes ill and needs antibiotics. breaks a leg or something? Start now and put away a dollar a week and you will know you have the money for treatment. Only you can judge how Mimi is and if you think she is in pain however I must stress that a normal healthy hamster will not act the way you describe and will not sleep in its own urine unless it is unwell. Does she have a discharge that is causing the wetness? It could be a kidney problem or urine infection. Perhaps you can judge when the time has come for Mimi and could put her to sleep but personally I could not judge if I would cause the animal any pain. A vet will give an anaesthetic gas to render the hammie unconcious before giving an injection to put it to sleep so it feels no pain from the injection. In the UK hammies are not considered exotic pets. In fact they are considered childrens pets at our vets and charged at half the normal consultation fee. I guess we are lucky. If you feel she is not suffering then I hope her path is gentle when the time comes.

ref84 · 10-21-2008, 08:43 AM

I'm sorry but this post has really upset me.

Your hamster sounds as though it's unwell and the best you can do is go out and buy a new hamster without, it appears, even checking with a vet to see how much it would cost you for a consultation??

Surely you could have saved the money spent on the new hamster to put towards taking your poorly hamster to the vet and then bought a new one after rather than leaving one suffering whilst you move your affections on to the new one??

I understand you saying the new hamster cost less than $10 but still, that could have been put toward at least giving your original hamster a dignified and peaceful end?

Sorry for the rant but I read this post this morning and can't stop thinking about it. I just hope your hamster doesn't suffer too greatly or for too long.

furrypolka · 10-21-2008, 10:01 AM

I am sorry to hear of your personal situation, but in all honesty if you can't afford vet care then you certainly shouldn't be taking on the responsibility of another hamster when you already have one that is ill. This post has upset me, too, and I hope you do the decent thing and take Mimi to the vet as soon as possible. Find the money from somewhere, she is your responsibility and she is suffering and this just is not fair.

**Spuds Mum** · 10-21-2008, 03:13 PM

I am really very sorry to hear of your recent loss Carlea. I hope the love of your family and friends is helping you through this sad time.

I am afraid though I have to say that worrying about your beloved older hamster and then going out and buying a new one, like other members have said, concerns me.

That $10, plus the money you were planning on spending on wheel etc at Petco could possibly have helped your little one in some way. You could have spoken to vets that deal with exotics and explained the situation, asking whether there is any solution such as paying the money you have then paying the rest in installments after.

The other issue is of course that if your older hamster has something contagious, your new hamster could in fact catch it - then you would probably be left with two hamsters for which you cant afford vet treatment!

I do understand that in the states vetinary care can be very much more expensive that here in the Uk, but to my mind whenever you take on a living creature you have to assume full care for its total wellbeing in exactly the same way as a parent would look after the health and wellbeing of a child, even though that also can be incredibly expensive.

I do hope Mimi passes quietly soon if she is so bad. I do think it sounds as though she has something such as pyometra or a tumour.
I also hope that you learn from this and seriously consider what will happen for your new hamster if it ever finds itself in need of your help in the same way.

Good luck to you and Mimi xx

SnuggleHam · 10-22-2008, 04:31 AM

I'm going to have to agree with everyone elses statement, there is no use on carrying on about it since id only be repeating what everyone else said. I suggest doing the right thing and calling some local vet places, and at least ask them how much euthanasia would cost. That much cant hurt. One of my passed syrian hamsters got a serious cheek pouch infection, and he was fairly old already. I knew it wasn't a problem we could fix, but I called around to see about putting him down peacefully. The place I brought him ended up close to home, and they didn't charge me a dime to euthanize him. They were very kind about it.

Another hamster I had ended up with a ruptured bladder and we took her to another vet to be looked at and then ultimately euthanize and I don't think we paid over 20 US dollars. While your doing the responsible thing and calling around. Ask if they will treat hamsters. Ask what visitation costs are and what emergency visitations will cost. Make yourself a special fund you don't touch and save up for the chance you'll need to take your pet to see a vet. Its no excuse not to call around.

Hopefully your hamster is only suffering from old age. Many hamsters have passed peacefully in their sleep, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that if they don't appear to be suffering, at least they go in familiar surroundings. But I want you to understand that the user base of hamster central are responsible animal lovers, we love to help offer advice and support, but we wont take kindly to irresponsible owners. So if you don't heed our advice in the future and we end up seeing you posting about your new hamster fallen ill (crosses fingers it doesn't) and you claim to not have the means to care for it as you should, don't expect anyone to respond as sympathetic. This is not a threat its a fact, and I'm sure you could understand where I am coming from.

I think your heart is in the right place and clearly you love your pet, or you wouldn't be here seeking advice. But I hope you will go the extra distance as you should with your new ham.

Carlea Skunkrawk · 10-22-2008, 06:07 AM

My boyfriend and I decided that we're going to give Mimi until the end of the month, before we make any decisions. Just because maybe she'll die on her own in the next two weeks or so, and I can do my local research if I can find the time.

SnuggleHam · 10-22-2008, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carlea Skunkrawk

My boyfriend and I decided that we're going to give Mimi until the end of the month, before we make any decisions. Just because maybe she'll die on her own in the next two weeks or so, and I can do my local research if I can find the time.

You can find the time. If you can find the time to post here, you can find the time to make a quick couple phone call that need not last more then a few minutes each.

Carlea Skunkrawk · 10-22-2008, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnuggleHam

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carlea Skunkrawk

My boyfriend and I decided that we're going to give Mimi until the end of the month, before we make any decisions. Just because maybe she'll die on her own in the next two weeks or so, and I can do my local research if I can find the time.

You can find the time. If you can find the time to post here, you can find the time to make a quick couple phone call that need not last more then a few minutes each.

Yeah, in two weeks time. It's hard to find time immediately when you work two jobs and go to school in theater full time. I post here in the evenings and in the morning, between things. I can't do it this week (I have an interview to go to, I have to get a drug test and take my boyfriend to get one, I have to get a quote on some damage on my truck, I have a test to study for, a two scripts to be off book on, ect), but maybe next week.

SnuggleHam · 10-22-2008, 07:04 AM

[quote=Carlea Skunkrawk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnuggleHam

Quote:

Originally Posted by "Carlea Skunkrawk":1zzp09tk

My boyfriend and I decided that we're going to give Mimi until the end of the month, before we make any decisions. Just because maybe she'll die on her own in the next two weeks or so, and I can do my local research if I can find the time.

You can find the time. If you can find the time to post here, you can find the time to make a quick couple phone call that need not last more then a few minutes each.

Yeah, in two weeks time. It's hard to find time immediately when you work two jobs and go to school in theater full time. I post here in the evenings and in the morning, between things. I can't do it this week (I have an interview to go to, I have to get a drug test and take my boyfriend to get one, I have to get a quote on some damage on my truck, I have a test to study for, a two scripts to be off book on, ect), but maybe next week.[/quote:1zzp09tk]

I'm really not interested in excuses, your animals lives should be a priority. Make the time, it doesn't need to take more then ten minutes of your day, let alone week to make a few calls. I think this discussion is over, I'm going to lock this thread.