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Thread: Feel like I've killed my pet.

  1. #1

    Feel like I've killed my pet.

    Hey guys,

    This is going to take a while to sum up, but basically, my boyfriend was cleaning my hamsters eyes (he has long fur and they can get stuck together with gunk) and he wriggled out of his hands and fell onto a hard floor, the poor thing lay there helplessly in shock and couldn't move, I felt absolutely traumatised as I love him so much and now we think his back is broken as his legs are spread out and he can't walk, he is 2 years old and so very delicate.


    Anyway, it was too late to take him to the vets (I think we are taking him tomorrow) and he really isn't good, I am so very devastated to think that us owners are responsible for the harm of this beautiful animal because of one silly mistake, I cannot stop crying.


    I asked my boyfriend if he'd like to come back and help me care for the poor little thing as I feel so upset, but he won't as his sleep is more important apparently, and I just feel so ridiculously angry at him for this whole situation, him coming back to care for our hamster would help calm me down but I am so enraged, just to think he might die because of what we've done, I feel so responsible. I just love him so much, I want him to be ok.
    I also just want my boyfriend to care just a little bit.


    Please help, am I being irrational, how do I get over the possible death of such a lovely little creature?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
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    Re: Feel like I've killed my pet.

    I'm really sorry to hear about your hamster. It's awful to ever see our pets in pain for any reason

    Please try to remember this is an accident and if you had thought this might happen you would have done anything & everything to prevent it.

    Are there no out of hours vets where you are? I hope you can get him down to your own straight away when they open if not.

    I'm sure members who understand smaller pets will be able to offer much better support.

    Your BF is being insensitive in my opinion. Perhaps he doesn't understand how pet owners feel about their pets who are essentially members of their family? One night without sleep isn't going to do much and supporting you matters more but I don't want to be unfair as he could otherwise be the perfect BF for all I know.

    I hope they can help your little guy. There's loads of pet owners on here who will understand and support you if you need it. But I'm hoping there is something they can do to heal him.

    You are bound to feel blame over any accident no matter what the circumstances, emotion takes over. But just getting him helped is all that matters right now so concentrate on being there for him and soothing his pain as I'm sure you are.
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  3. #3
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    Re: Feel like I've killed my pet.

    My vet was responsible for not handling my gerbil properly and allowing her to leap out of his hands and on to the hard floor. She broke her leg but with pain meds and the right care she made a full recovery and regained use of the leg.

    Obviously your hamster needs to see a vet asap and sadly if he has broken his spine the kindest thing you could do would be to have him put to sleep. I'm really sorry you have this to cope with but don't even think about your BF now and get your pet to the vet.

  4. #4

    Re: Feel like I've killed my pet.

    Hello everyone, thankyou so much for replies, I've just booked my little man into the vets and we shall be taking him in a few hours, he is in a really bad state and I've had to hand feed him his bottle as he can't manoeuvre himself towards it, my boyfriend seems a lot more compassionate today and is saying things like "he didn't deserve this", I told him we are probably going to have to have him put to sleep and he is really quite sad, I can't bear how I'm going to feel when we get the news.
    I don't want to sound harsh but I feel like I'm more rational right now, and I would rather he was put to sleep than suffer so badly, one of my hamsters I had as a child had a tumour on his leg and the bloody vet gave us some "cream" to put on it and obviously he was just milking money out of us, the poor thing was suffering so badly and I didn't understand at the time.
    I think we will definitely get another hamster after this one to fill the little hole he's left (I don't want to sound mean) but to cope I am trying to feel positive about that, the whole "let's go get a baby hamster" thing as I guess it's the circle of life and our current one can't live forever. I wish he did though, this is all so devastating.

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Re: Feel like I've killed my pet.

    I had all sorts of pets growing up. Everything except snakes as my Mom had a phobia about them. I had hamsters, guinea pigs, mice, reptiles, fish, birds etc.

    One day I came home and one of my hamsters was on the floor in the same condition as your baby. My little sister (5 years old at the time) had opened the cage and one climbed out and fell. Same deal. It passed a couple hours later.

    Another time my sister decided to feed my fish... with BUBBLE BATH POWDER! I came home from school and there were suds coming out the tank and all the fish were dead!

    Stuff happens and there's no fault or was it intentional. Sorry to hear about the little guy. Sending as always...

    Positive thoughts
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  6. #6
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    Re: Feel like I've killed my pet.

    Any decent vet will advise you to have him put to sleep if his quality of life is very poor and there is no hope of recovery. He is an elderly hamster anyway but obviously this is no consolation. I think you are wise to prepare yourself for bad news but recognise the fact that you have been a really caring owner and I'm sure your hamster has had a far better life than most small pets who are shoved in a cage and forgotten about when the novelty has worn off...
    Let us know how you get on? You are doing the very best thing by him to have him assessed by a vet.

  7. #7
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    Re: Feel like I've killed my pet.

    Not harsh at all, you are putting the welfare of your hamster over your own wishes, I hope that things go better than expected, but totally understand what you are going through
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  8. #8

    Re: Feel like I've killed my pet.

    Hello everyone, again thanks for the replies, we visited the vet earlier who gave him a full examination, picked him up, moved his legs around, gave him a squeeze, and he didn't squeak once, his legs are still stiff and he's having trouble walking but she says she's not sure whether its a broken bone or something internal, however she's pretty sure its neither of those things.

    More importantly, she gave him an injection of painkiller, not sure how long it will last but he seems happier since and is eating/drinking well and sleeping, still not walking great but that's ok. She also cleaned his eyes and he seems less stressed, not sure why they are so gunky though. We are giving it 24 hours before we might pop in again for another assessment and I am calling her tomorrow morning to report on how he is.

    We had the option to put him down there and then at the vets and we chose the painkiller option, simply because we're not sure what's wrong. Hopefully his condition will improve, but if not, at least we tried our best. I still feel quite sad that he might be suffering but it felt nice and relieving to be able to bring him home again, and he doesn't seem to be in pain as he's had the painkiller. Both me and my boyfriend are coming to terms with this whole thing a bit better now, and my mum has been supporting us too. I will let you know how things are after our next vet appointment.

  9. #9
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    Re: Feel like I've killed my pet.

    Eating/drinking/pooing are always good signs in an animal. He can walk so he can't have damaged his spine and since she manipulated his legs you would think it would a load of pain or no feeling at all. A vet should surely pick up on no feeling or ability to move the lower body?

    So, this sounds like good news to me. If he's had a pain injection and seems happier plus eating/drinking then he seems healthy.

    Your BF has probably realised he could have been more supportive so it's flowers & chocs time for him

    If the vet thought it was needed I think they would be pushing for putting him down as pulisa said. I doubt they would mess about with that if the injuries were severe due to the pain & suffering. So, sounds like a good call by the vet & you to monitor as a happy hamster sounds like a recovering one to me.

    Try not to kick yourself over this. Learn from it, take precautions as I'm sure you will in future handling with your BF. The rest is all about you & your hamster enjoying life!
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  10. #10
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    Re: Feel like I've killed my pet.

    So glad to hear that the wee man is not as bad as you feared.

    As Terry has said, eating, drinking and pooing are all good signs, as is the fact that he has improved after getting pain killers.

    I hope he continues to thrive, and well done on not messing around and taking him to the vet.
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