Luna - April 2024 - Jan 2026 (

[Matt_S]

Hi all,

WARNING - I am going to discuss what happened to her below.

Thank you all for your comments of support on my previous thread about Luna passing.

I've had many hamsters, each with their own personality but Luna was like a little puppy dog to me. This hurt the most.

On the day I asked if a certain food was safe for Luna, she was making odd sneezing like coughing noises but all the vets were closed so I made an appointment for the Monday.

11am Sunday, I checked on her and she was hyper as anything climbing over us and running around but still making this odd noise, after feeding her, she went back to sleep. I checked on her at 16:00, she was fine, yawned and looked at me. I did another check at 17:32 and she was on her side, coughing up blood and couldn't stand up.

I quickly picked her up, spoke to her told her I am here but she was struggling, coughing more blood, I told her with tears in my eyes, please go, go peacefully we are here.

Luna passed in my hand 1 minute after. My friend gone

What could of caused blood to come out as if she was choking? How did it happen within 1 hour and 30 mins? I'll never know.

But in March she would of been 2 years old and I've had a good run with her.

Tonight is the first night I've been able to sit in my living room knowing she's not here.

I have a photo of her 22 hours before she passed and she was hyper and doing hamster things apart from the odd noise.

I hope I didn't fail her.

With this affecting me so much, I am going to be taking some time away from this forum as anything to do with hamsters is breaking my heart.

I will return summer time when my heart has mended and I am ready to see your beautiful hamsters.

Maz, I will still donate towards this forum when you send out a post about, please email me.

Thank you everyone.

Take care and speak sometime in the summer.

Below is the image i took of Luna 23 hours before she passed, what happened I'll never know.

Until next time, bye.

 

[Maz]

I'm so sorry Matt. So sudden and heartbreaking. It was nothing you did or didn't do. I don't have the answers as to what happened, but it sounds like something was not right inside and possibly ruptured. These little creatures can go downhill very fast. It could have been heart failure, some other organ failure, or a terminal condition. We often don't know. It's incredibly sad and we all hope they will go peacefully and comfortably. She probably wouldn't have known much about it, it was so fast, and she passed in her loving home with love and care.

It's just incredibly hard on you witnessing it and the suddenness and shock. The immediacy of it all does get a bit easier and then you can remember the happy times and the joy. Whenever a hamster has passed, I try to think about what joy they gave and how much they gave, and how it was mutual with us giving them pleasure and good care as well. And it was their time - however hard and sad. I just try and be grateful for the time we had,

But grief is grief and it takes time x

Play free over the Rainbow Bridge Luna - free from pain

 

[Socks' Mum]

Sleep softly over the bridge little Luna

 

[Tulsi]

RIP beautiful Luna.

I completely understand Matt. The pain of loss that these sweet little creatures leave us with.

I had to take some time away when I lost my lovely fluffy long haired syrain hamster, Kulfi. I even threw out his cage and decided never to have a hamster again.

I did in fact adopt a lovely little dwarf hamster (couldn't face another syrian) and ended up buying the exact cage that I had thrown out.

We all have our different journeys with grief and I hope that you will return to the forum when you are ready.

Luna was a dear soul and I enoyed your posts about her.

 

[Maz]

Our first one going was the hardest for me. We were all very unhappy for about two months. It was like a member of the family. It changed after that two months as someone kindly gave us a baby hamster who made us laugh again with his antics.

Since then I have always kept two. It doesn't stop the hurt and grief when one dies, but it softens it slightly, because the other one is a comfort and still needs you. So it helps in the sense that your hamster routine is still there. The care, the nightly feeding, the hamster to talk to. Another hamster knows when you're sad and is a great comfort.

I can completely understand after losing Luna like this and her not quite reaching two, that you need a break. All I can say is when you get another one, sometimes a different sex or different species makes it easier - and a different colour. You could maybe try a male Syrian next time. All my males have lived long lives, even the rescue who was a year old when I got him. However it;s never easy, even when they live longer. Some of mine have ended up needing pts in the end.

 

[Socks' Mum]

The fast rodent metabolism can make deterioration quite sudden, leaving no time to brace for the sadness. The physical nature death and dying can take is hard and can be very disconcerting I think. I think ferret owners and some other species, especially rats face this, a delightful animal full of charm, but who does not have a long lifespan. Pets bring us so much joy, but it is very hard when they leave

 

[Socks' Mum]

I often think of what someone said to a child to explain losing a pet, which was lovely: they come from heaven and they go back to heaven. It certainly has a truth about it that is comforting.