Hamster Euthanasia </3

[jessandflo]

Hi all,

I started a new thread as I'd love to hear everybody's opinions and experiences on hamster euthanasia.

My little Syrian Baby Flo has been suffering from a tumor on her back end since the end of February. The vets have been really great at providing meds to keep her comfortable, but it's at the point where the tumor has grown to a point where it really doesn't look good at all. It's red, invasive, sore, and it's no quality of life for her whatsoever.

Lately she's been slightly hobbling and has lost a little bit of weight. Even though she's still fine in her behaviour, it's a fine line until she goes downhill and I don't want to risk it any longer.

So I'm going to have to call it. I've spoken to our local vets who are really good and I trust them a lot. They're recommending gas to relax her muscles and an injection to put her to sleep. My friend recently got her mouse put to sleep without the gas and just an injection - but after reading into it, the injection needs to go directly into the heart and can be extremely painful. My friend thinks that she did the right thing by not using the gas (as a chamber can be distressing?) but after reading on multiple hamster forums, I'm starting to think otherwise. I read something about gas suffocating them a while back but I'm not sure whether it's just a myth.

What are your experiences with the gas & injection combo? Do they put her into a chamber (which I'm really not happy with) or is it a mask?

Also, did you guys choose to bury or cremate your hamsters? I originally wanted to bury her but now I'm thinking about an individual cremation - where I can get her a teeny urn and keep her with my little brother's ashes.

I'm absolutely devastated as you can imagine, but she's 2 years and 2 months old now, she's done incredibly well and I'm so so proud of her. She is a total angel and has never done anybody any harm. My little brother lives up in the clouds so in my eyes I'm just handing her over to be looked after by him <3 Let me know your thoughts on the PTS process! Thank you so much x