Very Important Hamster Question

[surprised_by_witches]

Hi everyone,

I have a hamster question. Having never owned one before I am not sure if her latest thing is normal or not.

Her little belly seems to be puffed up all out of proportion. She isn't a fat hamster, but all of a sudden she looks bloated or something. It's a uniform kind of thing, not unlike when she puffs up her cheeks with food.

I looked on hamster care sites and did not see any illness with these symptoms, so I'm hoping it's just a hamster thang. Maybe her biological clock is messed up and she's trying to hibernate?

Is it normal for hamsters to do this? Or should I warn my daughter that the end may be nigh for little Hannah?

Thanks for your help.

[person123]

Um...maybe she's pregnant?

Or maybe she just ate too much last night. Sorry I'm not that much help. I have a hamster myself, so I felt obligated to help a fellow hamster owner. :o

[jowo]

If you have a male hampster as well shes probably pregnant. But it might be something she ate I know you cant give pigeons rice because they cant fart or burp so they explode. You may be experiencing something similar to this but Im not too sure.

[surprised_by_witches]

Unless it's the second hamster coming, or I've got a self-replicating hamster, she can't be pregnant. She's lived alone for two years now.

We took her to the vet. She's definitely sick. We have to give her antibiotics but they may not help.

Let's hope for Witch Baby's sake that they do. She really loves her pet.

[Sacharissa]

WOW - You've had her for TWO YEARS??? They never seemed to last that long when I was a kid!

Hopefully, she will come through here illness just fine. If not, though, you have two options...

A) Do what they do in the movies, which seems to be buy a new hamster, and hope that Witch Baby doesn't notice...(She seems pretty bright, though, so that probably won't work. It rarely does in the movies, either, come to think of it.)

Or

B) Use it as a learning experience, and have a really elaborate and moving funeral service. (I hope the people who moved into our old house don't do too much digging around - There is quite a little cemetery out there in the back yard, dedicated to the various childhood companions we had...sniff, sniff...Fluffy, we hardly knew ye...)

[surprised_by_witches]

We will bury Hannah in the backyard when it comes her time to go. I'm sure there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Hamsters can live up to 5 years, and I heard of someone who had one for 7.

The thing is, the cat's pretty old as well, so we may be having two pet funerals this year. That's a lot for one little Witch to deal with.

And yep, she's waaaaay too smart to fall for that trick, even if I thought it was a good idea.

Thanks for your concern. You may have guessed that she's a tender hearted little thing and is taking this all pretty hard. I'm glad she has compassion for smaller beings. It's a sign of a good heart.

Just hard to watch it get hurt.

[SolidSnake_19]

Did the vet say what the hamster had by any chance?

[surprised_by_witches]

She wasn't sure. It's such a small animal it's hard to do diagnostics without potentially harming it. It's either cancer, or an infection.

If it's cancer she'll probably die soon. If it's an infection she stands a chance of recovering. So far she seems to be doing pretty well.

She's pretty frisky for someone who doesn't feel well.

Edited to say: By she I mean the hamster, not the vet. Just in case you were wondering.

[babewithbrains_14]

I had 3 hamsters. The first lasted about a year, called Scamper. The second lasted a week (it was only a baby) the third was my fave. It was one of those dwarf hamsters, and it was called Tinker. That lasted 18 months. I never have any luck with pets.

Tell Witch Baby I said hi, and not to worry. Little Hamster will be fine, even if he is no longer among us, because he'll always be with her.

[surprised_by_witches]

Thanks, Babe.

Hannah seems to be doing better. She fits in her exercise wheel (she didn't a couple of days ago due to bloating) and she's been peeing up a storm which hopefully means she's getting rid of whatever was ailing her.

She continues to be frisky, and cute.

She loves her medicine. It's sweet. She holds the syringe in her little hands and greedily drinks every drop. Yesterday she tried to chew the syringe.

Hamsters are so funny.

[surprised_by_witches]

Hamster update: Hannah's still with us, still doing pretty well, but she stopped pooping so I had to take her the vet again. While she was there the vet massaged her little tummy and then took her to be weighed.

The vet came back in the room with a bowl, all excited to show me that Hannah had started pooping again, all over the bottom of the bowl.

I just have to laugh at a bunch of adults getting so excited over hamster poop. :D

She didn't charge me for the visit, because she said she wasn't sure how much to charge for "scaring the poop out of a hamster."

Anyway, funny story so I thought I'd share.

The meds seem to be working, BTW. Hoping she'll recover completely. She really is a good pet.

[babewithbrains_14]

Yes, whereas Tinker was rebellious. Had friends over at all hours, played music terribly loud - we just didn't know what to do. We couldn't talk to him, he was so moody and quiet with us - and then he started drinking...

It was so sad. The vet said it was the worst case of hamster rebellion he'd ever seen. They call it the Gene Simmons Syndrome.

[Lynet]

LOL, I'm hoping Witch Baby's hamster recovers and does not have to back to that scarey vet. Unless of course...;)

[surprised_by_witches]

Yes, whereas Tinker was rebellious. Had friends over at all hours, played music terribly loud - we just didn't know what to do. We couldn't talk to him, he was so moody and quiet with us - and then he started drinking...

It was so sad. The vet said it was the worst case of hamster rebellion he'd ever seen. They call it the Gene Simmons Syndrome.

LMAO Babe. I keep picturing a hamster with a six-foot tongue. :p

[Sacharissa]

So glad to hear that Hannah is doing better...And LOL, I can just picture you and the vet standing over a bowl of Hamster poop!

And Babe, you are just TOO funny!!! ROTFLOL!!! :D

[surprised_by_witches]

Well, guys, today is a sad day. I talked to the vet and since Hannah is not improving we've agreed the kind thing is to put her to sleep.

Which means this is going to be a very hard day for one little witch.

Wish me luck. :(

[babewithbrains_14]

Oh, no. :(

[Sacharissa]

Hannah - We hardlie knew ye...Be brave little witch - Remember, Hannah is headed for that great sunlit field, where she may romp and play as joyous as the day is long...

[Lynet]

So sad. I sympathize with Witch Baby. I've lost several pets over the years and it's hard to say goodbye.

[surprised_by_witches]

So, anyway, a hamster update. We agreed that Hannah needed to be put to sleep, only trouble was, she was acting just fine. Extremely fat, but fine. So I decided to delay her execution until she showed signs that she was ready to go.

The problem with that is, it's been very hard on Witch Baby, having her pet's death hanging over her head, and when she told me this I decided it was time.

So today's the day. 3:30 central time. We'll have a funeral in the backyard for our little friend afterwards.

Thank you all for your kind words and support. Just thought you might like to know.

[Lynet]

Sorry to hear it. Give Witch Baby my sympathy. I still shed an occasional tear over my cat.:cry:

[surprised_by_witches]

Today is the goodbye to Hannah party. We blew up balloons and Witch Baby and her friend baked a cake (supervised, of course).

Here's a picture of her grave. Also, the vet does this really nice thing where they put the pet's footprints and name in a clay heart for you to bake. Don't know if you can see it very well, but I thought I'd post a picture.

Her little feet were so tiny.

We miss her very much, but it's good to know she's at peace. The vet said we were doing the right thing.

[person123]

Aww....I'm so sorry. Witch Baby must be so upset. The clay heart is a very nice idea.

[Chee-Z]

Sorry about your hamster. :( The only experiences I've had with pet deaths were with fish and cats. >_<

[Condraz23]

Sorry about the hamster, I hope she gets better. I've never had any of my pets sick before so I don't really know how it feels.

[surprised_by_witches]

Um, sweetheart, she died. Guess you didn't read to the end.

Little Witch is taking it pretty well, though she doesn't like to use the word "funeral" hence the "goodbye to Hannah party." She doesn't like to discuss it much and I'm letting her process it in her own way.