Advice ASAP please re hampster and broken back

[threeplusone]

My daughters hampster has fell in its cage onto one of its toys and obviously brokenits back.. DD is holding it and comforting it.. but both DH and I know we need to kill it to put its out of its misery and pain. It has started to go incontenent.. The only method I can think of would be to suffocate the hampster whilst holding it..
I really dont know what to do as this seems inhumane. On the other hand keeping th epoor thing alive just isnt fair..
How /what would you do.. TIA...

sounds like the OP panicked. Give her a break. Doesn't sound like she wanted the hamster to remain in pain, hence asking on here what was the best course of action.

Hope your DD ok

You really should get a 'how to kill' instruction leaflet with small pets though. And FWIW, freezers are for reptiles, including tortoises - literally sends them to sleep, and then they just keep on going. Don't take them out too soon...

xposted diself, but we said the same thing.

Is it too soon for a poem...

never too soon for a poem

If it's anything like the poetry last week it may never be time for this OP!

And if you freeze a snake 'shape' it before putting them inside. My cousin's snake died whilst he was on holiday so my uncle put the snake in the chest freezer in the garage so my cousin could hold a funeral on his return - finding a box that long and thin box can be tricky.

pmsl heated - that is hilarious!

I appreciate it was a difficult situation. But please don't buy/rehome any kind of pet big or small unless you have the funds/insurance for treating at a vets when they need it.

FWIW.. I do have pet insurance for the Dog but it never occured to me to get insurance for a hampster that costs 6euros.. This was a tragic accident..

My DD is upset but at 13 understands that this was an accident and beyond anyones control..

My DD wanted to hold the hampster as she knew he was going to die and she didnt want it to die on its own she wanted it to feel loved as it was.. SO she lay on her back and placed the hampster on her chest..

Thank you once again for your help it is much appreciated.. but I dont appreciatre the odd post that has made me feel like crap when I have asked for help and advise in this situation..
And tired to do the best for my DD and her hampster.
Thanks again

Taking the poor thing to the vets in this situation would have been horribly stressful for the hamster (and expensive for the humans, and yes that is a valid consideration). Thank goodness it died quickly. One of the reasons for having a small animal is so our children can learn about the sadness of death as well as the joys of caring for it. Then when faced with the awful situation of the loss of a person from their lives we've already had that conversation about what happens? Where do they go? What do we believe?

Thing is however big/small they are, there are times when a vet is the only way forward...I don't know where you are but we do have the PDSA here in UK who will treat animals for free if owners don't have the means to pay for a vet themselves. Don't forget even if you have pet insurance there are some things this doesn't cover and in some instances you need to find the money then claim it back later.

I think that quite a few people on here have been pretty nasty to the OP - it is very easy to give armchair advice and sometimes much less easy to know what to do for the best when confronted with a horrible situation.
Dear OP, I feel very sorry for your upsetting experience and for the loss of your hamster. And please don't let this (or some of the comments in this thread) put you off keeping hamsters or other pets!

We had our hamster put down at the emergency vet, possible brain tumour she kept fitting and couldnt walk. It was 11 o clock at night and they charged 43 pounds to see her and put you her down. I know its horrible to take about price but sometimes you have to. If can please get her/him seen to

so sorry about your hamster

Such a sad thead!

great post Tizzy

Its not fair to say "you should have funds for a pet" - not helpful. The op has come on, upset and obviously cared about the hamster. These things always happen when we can least afford them. And the excess on the insurance would be the same.

FWIW the pdsa only fund the animal's care if the owner/s are receiving full council and housing benefit.

not reading all posts cos also sad about sick hamster in our household ...........
take it to the vet, who will advise whether to put down or not. We got sent home with ours cos apart from the thing killing it, it is apparently well & happy (sounds but know what she means)

By the way, Iam sorry about your hamster we have 2 in our house, ans I am not looking forward to this

Also for the post saying you should have money to pay for vet bills, maybe the op did when she bought the hamster. I have by the end of tomorrow going to of spent £380 on my dog since yesterday, as my insurance does not cover him at the mo, he is 6 years old and when i got him all that time ago i could of afforded it much easier. Things change and for bloody hells sake, who the fuck on here would honestly think about getting insurance for a hamster!

FWIW, our last hamster was quite sickly, asked at the vets but apparently not possible to take out insurance for little animals like hamsters..........

You definitely can't get insurance for any small animals. They don't live long enough. And are too prone to problems.

threeplusone > I'm really sorry to hear that

Sorry about your hamster.

It's not about funds necessarily is it? An obviously mortally wounded animal being transported around - is that the right thing to do? I don't know what I would have done () but I know DH would have finished things quickly.