hamster died

Question
hi,
 I don't know how my hamster died but my sister told me that
before he died he can't breath properly and can't walk
properly.Please tell me how he died.He is not even 2 when he
die.

Answer
Hi Sherry

I'm sorry to hear about your hamster.

It is often very difficult to know why a hamster dies, especially if it is quite sudden and the hamster is young.  They can sometimes be fine one minute and poorly the next.

It could be that he had some underlying medical condition that you weren't aware of, or was perhaps born with a problem that only manifested itself now.

The fact that he couldn't breath, could have been a heart problem - hamsters can suffer with heart attacks, or other heart/circulatory problems which can cause collapse and death.  Another thing that it could have been is an illness caused aspergillosis.  This occurs when a hamster has breathed in fungal spores.  Fungal spores can collect on any uneaten fresh food or in damp areas of the hamster's cage, or even outside their cage.  If a spore is breathed in by the hamster it can cause severe respiratory problems which makes it difficult for the hamster to breath without laying on their side.  Unfortunately as this is such a serious condition often by the time it is diagnosed it is too late to do anything.  

Hamsters are very prone to getting tumors from about 18 months of age.  Whilst some tumors are quite slow growing, some can grow so fast that they double in size over night.  Often these tumors are deep abdominal ones and the only time you realise there is a problem is when it is quite advanced.  Signs that sometimes indicate that a tumor is growing is if there is an increase in water consumption, and some tumors cause the hamster to appear to lose weight on their top half, but their bottom half goes quite rounded. If the tumor gets large it can also put pressure on organs and on the spine and this can cause the hamster to struggle to walk properly, or fall over.   If he had a tumor it could have put pressure on his lungs and this caused the problem.  Even if you had got him to a vet there is, sadly, little that could have been done.

I am sorry that I can't say for sure why he died but I hope this helps you.

Regards
Sheila