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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To feel like an absolutely terrible pet owner?

73 replies

crumbleandtacos · 27/05/2022 11:32

I got my 8 year old son a dwarf hamster 3 months ago. We have two cats and two dogs but he really had been asking for a hamster for ages. So I got him the hamster and cage and food and everything the hamster needed. The cage had like a tube thing on the outside that the hamster could crawl through and play etc and was kept in my sons bedroom on the floor.

Son is usually good at keeping his door shut however when I went in this morning the tube is split in 3 and he's not in the cage. A few times I have seen the cat watching the hamster whilst he was in tube and I've removed the cat and shut door.

I think when I was on the school run the cat must have been watching and pounced and broke the tube and got the hamster 😞 I feel absolutely awful. I feel so stupid for getting it and as if I should have known better already having the 4 other animals. I feel like it could have went to a nice home that this wouldn't have been it's fate. I keep thinking of what it must have felt like. I feel awful 😣

Don't really know what I'm asking but needed to get it out. I guess I need some reassurance that I'm not some awful person.

OP posts:

fedup078 · 27/05/2022 11:35

Don't feel bad op . It's nature . It was an accident .

Are you sure it's been eaten ?

Hiddenvoice · 27/05/2022 11:35

Im sorry this has happened! Are you sure the cat got it? The tubes are notorious for breaking and hamsters are amazing escape artists!

Original poster

crumbleandtacos · 27/05/2022 11:37

Thank you, I prepared myself to get torn to shreds. No I'm not positive but I have looked everywhere and no sign of him. I hope, hope, hope he is just hiding somewhere but I really feel like the cat pounced on it and broke it as it is all cracked.

OP posts:

Vallmo47 · 27/05/2022 11:38

This breaks my heart as we also have a dwarf hamster and I know how the kids would feel as well as myself. For your cat this was just instinct but I know my kids would loathe the cat following an event like this. Sorry this has happened and good luck.

fedup078 · 27/05/2022 11:40

I can't help but think there'd be some evidence though. TMI but my outdoor cats used to always leave the brain after catching a mouse 🤢 along with some blood

whowhatwerewhy · 27/05/2022 11:40

I would double check his bedroom. Had two hamsters escape , one was found safe and well under the bed . Unfortunately the dog found the other .

MugginsOverEre · 27/05/2022 11:45

fedup078 · 27/05/2022 11:40

I can't help but think there'd be some evidence though. TMI but my outdoor cats used to always leave the brain after catching a mouse 🤢 along with some blood

Mine always left the stomachs. I do think that there would maybe have been some slight physical evidence too. Unless the cat has taken it away to a secluded favourite spot perhaps OP? Hamsters can squeeze out of the tiniest holes so it could still be in the room hiding away if the cat is innocent. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Nature is horrible sometimes.

GoFishandChips · 27/05/2022 11:45

Dwarf hamsters should be kept in pairs as they are social animals, but regardless you've learned your lesson. You're not an awful person, an awful person would be replacing the hamster and shrugging.

Harvey2022 · 27/05/2022 11:49

Definitely carefully check the rest of your house, the cat may have taken it to another room and it got away and is hiding somewhere. Our cats are always bringing in mice and we find them in odd places.

Mrsjayy · 27/05/2022 11:53

There would be evidence surely ime with 1 cat she didn't eat the whole thing she caught and there would be some blood. Hamsters do hide close the bedroom door and hunt the bedroom . It might not come out till this evening.

TokyoSushi · 27/05/2022 11:55

This happened to us, there was evidence. It was about 8 years ago and I am still truly horrified that we inadvertently let it happen.

Songlyrics · 27/05/2022 11:59

I would check everywhere very carefully. My DB had a gerbil that somehow escaped it's cage and bit through a cable. It caused a house fire in the middle of the night.

Mrsjayy · 27/05/2022 11:59

And watch your cats behaviour to see if they are hunting it,

SheilaWilcox · 27/05/2022 12:00

I would think there would be blood or debris if the cat had got it.
You now have until end of school day to find it. Maybe get the cat to help you (only half joking!)

hangrylady · 27/05/2022 12:03

You're not a terrible person. If it makes you feel better, our guinea pigs were in their outdoor run and DH had left their hutch open. Cat had jumped into the hutch during the day for a snooze and DH very nearly put the piggies back into their hutch with the cat that night😱I can only imagine the horror the next morning if he hadn't spotted the cat at the last minute (it was dark so very nearly didn't).

twoandcooplease · 27/05/2022 12:08

I agree with pp's. My cat would leave behind some evidence. It's natural I think to leave a head and sometimes insides/body. Sorry I know it is upsetting but would be worse if dc found it. I would keep looking for it until sure. You might come to terms with what happened then see a scurry across the floor one day!

Treemouser · 27/05/2022 12:14

Are you able to set up a cheap webcam (i got one to check for mice for £30 quid from amazon) in front of some bait like peanut butter/cheese/whatever the hamster likes.

It won't catch the hamster but will give you a better idea of if its alive and nearby at least, it'll be freaked out and hide from you looking.

BadNomad · 27/05/2022 12:19

Lock the cat up somewhere. Leave a few bits of food out in different places, then wait and see if he shows up. Hopefully he's just having a nice nap behind a radiator somewhere.

CaptainThe95thRifles · 27/05/2022 12:25

Much like the old "if you think you might be a psychopath, you're probably not" aphorism, I reckon if you're concerned you might be a terrible owner, you're probably not. These things do happen - it's instinct for the cat, if the cat is guilty, and sometimes sensible precautions just aren't enough. It is definitely worth looking though - they are escape artists and cats do tend to leave bits lying around...

user1471538283 · 27/05/2022 12:29

He could be hiding somewhere! My DS's friend's cat caught a mouse, had it in his mouth and somehow the mouse got out and found its way home!

My DS's gerbil was pulled off the high side by one of our DCats years ago. The DCat chased him all night until the gerbil hid and the gerbil survived.

I know you feel so upset. Cats are terrible for this.

KyaClark · 27/05/2022 12:30

My hamster once went missing for six weeks. And we had a dog and a cat as well.

Hopefully it's okay. I love a hamster.

Blaze1886 · 27/05/2022 12:33

Anybody owning a cat and a hamster is delusional if you think the cat won't get it

Boood · 27/05/2022 12:35

Not to be too flippant, because I’m very sorry about the poor hamster, but one of your pets currently thinks you’re great. Providing exactly the kind of fun new experiences you should be.

2bazookas · 27/05/2022 12:36

We once minded a friends hamster while they were on holiday. Our kids played with the hamster and our cat ate it. We spent days trying to locate a matching hamster for secret replacement but could only find one that didn't. Humbly apologised to returning friends for hamster murder and the non-matching substitute. Friend said
"Oh god, I wish you hadn't bothered to get one. Nobody wanted that hamster".

Hamsters are nocturnal, so poor playmate value as pets. Rats and mice are more fun but much smellier. For a relatively friendly pettable non-odourless pet I recommend guineapigs.

TreatTrimTame · 27/05/2022 12:37

wait till night time and you will hear him scurrying around OP. We live rural and my cats bring in 5+ mice a day and there is almost always evidence.

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