On Saturday we had to take our 13-year old terrier to be put down because her cancer had become unbearable. This was very sad for the familiy, understandably, even though we knew it was coming. The children were distraught but seemed, by the afternoon, to be coming to terms with it.
But, that same evening, our 15-month Syrian hamster suddenly made squeaking noises, flew round his cage in convulsive circles, went into spams and died in my husband's hand. We had to tell our daughter when she woke up that she'd lost a second pet within 10 hours.
The previous Syrian had also died in sudden circumstances, having seemed just fine previously. He, too, was less than two and had come from the same shop.
Stroke? Brain tumour? Epilepsy? Does anyone have any ideas? In both cases, the deaths were preceeded by lots of activity and climbing.