the hamster has died :(

[misdee]

i came down this morning and dd1 hamster has dies. i just told her and she burst into tears. i feel so bad. it was def alive last night as i heard it going in its wheel. she did have 2 but one died b4 xmas and now this one has gone too.
i said to her we'll get a new one later, but i dont think she'll be completely happy with that, as this hamster was so friendly she adored it.

Misdee - Poor wee scone. How old was the hamster?
If it's any comfort to you I know that I had loads of pets when I was young, ranging from goldfish to gerbils to rabbits.....and I even had stick insects for a while. The 1st few times my Mum told me one had died I cried and cried.... but the excitement of going to choose a new pet soon took over. Children are so fickle about these things you'll be surprised how quickly she gets over it. Especially when she gets to that pet shop!

Whgat have you done with the hamster? Are you going to have a wee ceremony for it? We buried so many pets under the conifer trees at the back of the garden that my Mum and Dad were scared to ever dig the ground there! I even made them bury my goldfish when they died.

Sorry to hear about your loss

DDs rabbit had to be put down before Xmas and she didn't seem tooo bothered tobe honest we got a bigger reaction when Sam was kicked off of Pop Idol!!!

Have told DD we will get her a new one when the weather warms up a bit and she seems happy with that.

Did DD get the whole concept of death, how old is she??? Can you try and explain to her that death is a not such a bad thing and the hamster has gone to a better place - I know it a cliche and may not be in line with yuor beliefs but is a bit nicer for young kids and it may soften the blow a bit??

Can I ask a stupid question - is it definitely dead?

We have had many hamsters - one we thought was dead. The next day were just going to bury it in the garden and we heard a scratching- it wasn't dead - it was hibernating!

A second time we had 2 hamseters in different cages on the very same bight they both died but as you can imagine we thought it was a bit suspect that they had died the same night so we took them to the vet who couldn't confirm whether they we dead or not. We put them near the airing cupboard for a couple of days and we only knew they were def dead when they started smelling! Gross, I know! Think they had a suicide pact.

If your hamster is dead, sorry for your loss.

x

its dead. i dont have a garden so i couldnt bury it so it was just disposed of.

dd1 has just got the concept of death as we have lost a few fishes lately and has seen me flush them.

luckily my cousins hamsters have had babies recently so we are going there on sat to pick a new pair out, and they will be ready in a week or so.

just hoping there are as friendly as the last pair we had.

Appologies in advance Misdee, you may probably won't like what I'm going to say but...I believe it is very important to show a little respect for the animal, it's not the hamster who needs the "funeral" but your daugther, as having the opportunity to say goodbye is certainly good to comfort her. Is already bad enough for her that the animal she loved has died and see how you flush them or dispose of them could be a bit to much, how would you feel of disposing the corpse of a friend in a rubish container? for children pets are friends and we need to show a bit of respect (to our children) for their loss.

YOu can flush them or bin them later, when your child is asleep. I'm saying this because my mother used to do that and we don't know yet what was worse, if the death of the animal or seing DM disposing of them in such a terrible way.

i didnt do it in front of her. i waited till she was out of the way, and then told her it had gone. she said bye to it, had a cry about it, then told us she wants a 'winnie the pooh' hamster next time. i think thats the name she wants to call it.
i know its not a great idea to just dispose of animals, if i had a garden or an area i could have buried it then i would've done.

with fish, she understand they come from water, so when they get flushed they are going to a large fish heaven, ie the sea. well thats what we told her, with a little help from finding nemo. she waves bye to them and tells them they are going to the sea. my daughter doesnt think all animals get disposed of, she is a bit to young to get the whole concept of death in all its meanings, funerals etc, as she isnt yet 4, but she knows that when thigs die they are gone.

Well that is a very good funeral for a fish, I was a bit mislead from your last message...sorry...

well I cry buckets when one of my gerbils die. Infact the two boys we had were infact male and female and had babies, 3 of the 5 died and I sobbed over every one! Drove DH bonkers, having to bury them when it was freezing!