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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Hoppinggreen · 27/05/2022 12:37

Don’t beat yourself up too much about it OP but for future reference Hamsters aren’t a great pet for a child really

Oreosareawful · 27/05/2022 12:39

Blaze1886 · 27/05/2022 12:33

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

That's a little harsh? I had hamsters as a child and we always had cats. The cats never bothered the hamsters. They did however get my fish.

I would wager the hamster is hiding somewhere, they're cracking escape artists.

5128gap · 27/05/2022 12:41

You're not a bad person.
Practically:
Search the house and garden thoroughly for 'remains'. Well fed cats often don't eat their prey, and you do not want the DC finding the hamster.
Don't tell DC it was the cat. Agree with PP, he may hate the cat.

ATadConfused · 27/05/2022 12:42

You're not a terrible person! We all
make mistakes. Getting s hamster when you have a cat was a mistake, but it was thoughtless rather than intentionally harmful.

like others, if there no 'evidence' I'd put money on the hamster causing havoc in the walls or under the floor boards or something, they can be destructive little sods.

tell your son the tube broke & it escaped, leave food out & the cage door open & hopefully he'll reappear. My friend's reappeared after a year!! One day it was just sitting in her daughters bed with a 'I'm basaack' expression on its face!! Forever more they kept finding things it had chewed on its adventures!!

Tiredmum12389 · 27/05/2022 12:45

We had a cage that sounds like yours. Our hamster popped the tube off and escaped. When I taped it on she chewed through the plastic and escaped. She loved it under the kitchen cabinets and behind the washing machine.

BellaTheDarkOverlord · 27/05/2022 12:45

I would also bet the cat hasn't eaten it. I would actually use the cat and put it in each room to see if it's drawn to a certain spot like under the bed. Then I would search there. I found DD had a mouse behind her bed this way when the cats didn't leave the spot and were staring behind the bed. Caught the poor thing in a glass and put it in the garden under the shed.

chipsandpeas · 27/05/2022 12:45

i had a dwarf hamster that was an escape artist, and once lost him for about 3 weeks, we would put food down close to anythng he might squeeze behind and he did come out from behind a large sideboard
when we moved house the carpet that was under the side board was shredded to nothing

IcakethereforeIam · 27/05/2022 12:47

Make a pit trap; bucket or wide necked jar with some food and bedding in the bottom and something as a ramp up to the top (books or old clothing). Hamster climbs up, falls in and is safely held until you check for it.
I'd be surprised if there were no...remains if the cat had got it. If you suddenly get lots of large flies in the house, then you can assume the worst.

CockSpadget · 27/05/2022 12:49

I very much doubt the cat would have eaten it and not left any evidence whatsoever. More likely is that as the cat broke the tube, the hammy has bolted and will be hiding somewhere. The unfortunate thing is that "somewhere" could be anywhere! It's going to be somewhere dark and warm, so check inside shoes, under and down the inside of sofas, under fridge/washer etc. good luck!

Everythingiscopy · 27/05/2022 13:03

Just check it’s not up your chimney. Friend once thought their hamster had escaped, few weeks later they lit the fire and turns out it had made a nest up there… 😬

Funkyslippers · 27/05/2022 13:04

I got a hamster once and it disappeared from its cage on the very first day. I was distraught. A couple of months later my mum found it dead behind the sofa. I always thought the cat got it but it probably escaped

nearlyspringyay · 27/05/2022 13:47

My hamster escaped, no cat involvement, he emerged from under the floorboards two weeks later. He might have been able to escape the cat.

Onwards22 · 27/05/2022 14:13

Please don’t feel bad!

So many people get pets and neglect them or are intentionally cruel.

Your predator cat going for a prey hamster is not your fault and unfortunately it’s just one of those things.

I’ve had my cat for 12 years and my fish for 8 years and never had an incident, my cat had never even looked at them and then one day he just jumped up and managed to get the fish out of the tank!

Try and put it past you as you have nothing to feel guilty about.

FatEaredFuck · 27/05/2022 14:18

Leave very small pots of water around and surround the pot with a light dusting of flour. Hamsters are resourceful but need to drink and disturbance in the flour will be the easiest way to show he's alive and moving around.

They travel far and hide extremely well. I had one live in the fireplace before, took me 2 days to get him out.

I would think your cat broke the cage and the hamster fled or you would see evidence of murder.

Original poster
crumbleandtacos · 27/05/2022 14:22

Thanks everyone. Still no sign but I will keep looking and try all the suggestions here. Yes there is no evidence that the cat has ate him unless he took him out somewhere but he is a fast little guy so hopefully just hiding and will emerge soon enough. 🤞 Poor wee guy

OP posts:
BlazingRufus · 27/05/2022 14:29

My friend from primary school used to be given hamsters. Trouble was, she also had two cats. She must have had half a dozen hamsters over the years who got 'lost'. As an adult looking back, I'm disgusted that her mum let it happen so many times..!

FictionalCharacter · 27/05/2022 14:35

You’re not terrible but it’s a lesson learned. Hamsters aren’t the best pets anyway either from the animal’s point of view or the owner’s.

Mandodari · 27/05/2022 15:05

If you were a terrible person, you would have just shrugged it off. The fact that you are beating yourself up proves that you are a caring person.

diddl · 27/05/2022 16:10

Hope Hammy is OK & is found safe & well, but the fact that you have found the cat in there a few times really means that people haven't been good enough at keeping your son's door closed.

KenAddams · 27/05/2022 17:24

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.

This isn't true!!! My male dwarf bit the head off the other!!!! Territorial wee thing

RandomUsernameHere · 27/05/2022 17:29

There's a chance it is hiding somewhere. Not sure the cat would have eaten it whole without leaving a trace? You could try shutting every door in the house and putting a small amount of food in each room. Then you can narrow down where it is if any food disappears.

RollOnWinter · 27/05/2022 17:32

Most cats don't eat their prey. Those that do often leave the feet or a small part. It's likely that the hamster has found a place to hide - under the bath? Back of the toilet? Wardrobe? My GC had one and it found its way under a floorboard (it wasn't alive)

fedup078 · 30/05/2022 14:31

Any sign @crumbleandtacos ?

GoFishandChips · 30/05/2022 16:11

KenAddams · 27/05/2022 17:24

This isn't true!!! My male dwarf bit the head off the other!!!! Territorial wee thing

Show quote history

Are you sure that was a hamster?! The jaws it must have had on it! Pets shops sell them in pairs for a reason but I guess you get psychopaths in every breed!

Hope hamster has turned up OP!

whowhatwerewhy · 30/05/2022 16:16

@GoFishandChips

My dwarf hamsters almost killed each other . Had to buy another cage to part them