I have been pet sitting for my brother whilst he and his family are on holiday.  The worst has happened and the hamster has died!  The hamster was about 2 years old and I know that is about their life expectancy.

However now I'm not sure what to do.  I could either try and buy a similar looking hamster and put that in the cage and pretend nothing happened.  Or bury the hamster, clean out the cage and tell them what happened straight away.  I guess I could also buy a replacement and tell them what happened.

My brother's children are 9 and 7 (in fact they come home on the younger ones 7th birthday).  They have had pets die before so the concept won't be a total shock.

What do you think I should do? 

Tell them the truth.  Say that you gave their hamster a very dignified burial and that it had a good life etc.  Losing pets, although very tough,  is a part of life.

Yes, just tell them what happened...getting a 'replacement' sounds a tad deceitful to me...

I'm certain the kiddies will understand - don't panic about it too much...

I agree.  Tell the truth and then take them to the pet shop to find another pet.  Maybe one that lives longer like a guinea pig.  :)

I agree with everyone here, Karen as well. Maybe offer to buy a replacement rather than buy a replacement as a gesture. These little creatures, like Guinea Pigs, are very vulnerable. My girlfriend's Guinea Pig's (Cinnamon and Pepper - Corny names!  ;D) died within a space of weeks. Cinnamon had a cold and Pepper just died in her hutch one morning.

I am starting to think this may be the right course of action.  I've got a cardboard box ready and will get a spade and go and do the burial in about an hour.

Partly this is bringing back memories for me because my hamster, Fluffy, died whilst I was on holiday and I was heart broken (I was about 10 at the time)

I buried the hamster just now.

When I was a kid, I had two gerbels-and both were very FAT. I went away for a bit and had my sister feed them. When I got back, I noticed that my very fat gerbels lost a lot of weight. I immeditatly knew my sister didn't put them on a diet. I confronted her and she confessed that one of the cats got them-one was catfood and the other was hiding-who eventually came out, so I ended up with three. So, the moral of this story is, don't TRY to pass off new ones-they will ALWAYS know. Tell them the truth of what happened.

We also had a cat (actually two of them) die while we were away. It is hard but honesty is the best way to go.



Cat

I buried the hamster just now.
:oThat's probably the best thing to do,though many people put small animals in the freezer until they or the owner is ready to bury them.Cheers!

I know what your going through. This morning when I went out to get in the car for work, I noticed my daughters rabbit was lying very still in its cage. I knew what happened and was freaking out wondering how to tell her and I had to be to work in 15 minutes. I didn't want her to see it while I was gone, so I got it out of the cage and put it in a box. Then woke her up and told her, but she said she already knew last night that it wasn't doing too well. It was 7 yrs. old, and I think that's pretty long for a rabbit. Of course we had a little burial for it and now she's ok with it. But, that's the first time we had a pet die, except for the occasional gold fish.  :(

Its hard enough dealing with the passing of a pet as a grown up - man its tough as a kid.

I prefer the honest approach. 

I had a pet sheep and a pet dog before I was 6 and both "went to a nice farm to live where they will be much happier".

It was YEARS before mum admited that the dog was put down for biting someone and the sheep was served up for dinner that week.

Gawd now that I think of it Mum did that again to me !  I had two pet roosters - raised as eggs at school under a warm lamp.  I came home one day and went to feed them and they were gone - ran inside to tell mum and there they are in a pot on the stove.

I think I will have to have a serious chat with my mother and her parental secrets !

Anyways Karen - hope the kiddies take it well and maybe they can have a little memorial ceremony followed by the naming of a replacement pet ?

My daughter came with me yesterday evening to feed the other pets.

Before we left my husband mentioned that the hamster had died.  She then replies "I thought it might be dead.  When I saw it the other day it was just lying there like" cue stiff-legged sort of pose "and I waved at it but it didn't move".

Which proves two things 1) I am not very observant because she last saw the hamster on Sunday and I didn't noticed it until Monday evening having already visited earlier in the day. and 2) my daughter thinks the hamster, had it been alive, would have responded to her waving to it.  I don't know what sort of response she was hoping to get.  ???

My daughter came with me yesterday evening to feed the other pets.

Before we left my husband mentioned that the hamster had died.  She then replies "I thought it might be dead.  When I saw it the other day it was just lying there like" cue stiff-legged sort of pose "and I waved at it but it didn't move".

Which proves two things 1) I am not very observant because she last saw the hamster on Sunday and I didn't noticed it until Monday evening having already visited earlier in the day. and 2) my daughter thinks the hamster, had it been alive, would have responded to her waving to it.  I don't know what sort of response she was hoping to get.  ???
Sorry to hear that you had to go through all of that, Karen :-\\

Which proves two things 1) I am not very observant because she last saw the hamster on Sunday and I didn't noticed it until Monday evening having already visited earlier in the day. and 2) my daughter thinks the hamster, had it been alive, would have responded to her waving to it.  I don't know what sort of response she was hoping to get.  ???


hehehehe this made me laugh - I am glad you have been able to see the humourous side Karen.  I would like to see the first waving hamster !!!

Gawd now that I think of it Mum did that again to me !  I had two pet roosters - raised as eggs at school under a warm lamp.  I came home one day and went to feed them and they were gone - ran inside to tell mum and there they are in a pot on the stove.

I think I will have to have a serious chat with my mother and her parental secrets !



Dear me, that's a terrible thing to have done!

Dear me, that's a terrible thing to have done!


I guess cos Mum grew up on farms - to her anything in the backyard was eventually going to become dinner.

I am way more accepting of it now (just not when I was 11 !!!!) as much of her backyard is free meat in my freezer nowdays.