Cause of Death

Question
Hi Sheila, I had a Campbell's Russian Dwarf that died just a few days ago. I do not know why, but something i noticed was that he started standing up in his sleep and rocks back and forth. When we took him out to play with, he seemed fine as he is very active. I just wanted to know whats wrong. He was also the runt when he was born.

Answer
Hi Jackie
I'm really sorry to hear about your hamster.  The difficulty with these little creatures is that sometimes there are no logical explanations as to why they suddenly die.  With a larger animal it would be possible to have a post mortem but it isn't with small animals.

I love runts - in fact I often keep the runt from any of the rescued litters.  However, by taking on the runt you are potentially taking on additional problems.  Sometimes the runt is just a bit small, other times their growth has been stunted, either in the womb or when born.  This means that at a crucial time in their life they have been deprived of vital nutrients to help them grow properly.  This can result in there being something wrong right from the start and it never appears until it is too late.

I took on a baby hamster once who was 8 weeks old.  He was a bit small, but seemed fine.  He just collapsed one day.  I got my vet to check him out and he decided it was my hamster's heart and that he was probably born with a congenital problem.  He revived him with drugs and I thought a miracle had occured, but a few days later the hamster collapsed and died with no warning whatsoever.  Another hamster I have currently is tiny and has never fully grown.  She has now gone blind in one eye and struggles to walk some days as her spine isn't normal.  She is only very young too.  The runt of a recent litter I took on was about 3 times smaller than the others in the litter - it didn't develop properly and my vet diagnosed a form of spinabifida and subsequently euthanised the hamster.

The fact that your hamster rocked backwards and forwards makes me wonder if he had some sort of problem in his head - such as a brain tumor.  If this was the case as the tumor grew it would have put pressure on parts of his brain to affect him in this way.  Brain tumors are hard to detect in a hamster and impossible to treat.  

I'm sorry that there is no straightforward answer to your question.  The fact that your hamster seemed fine and was very active shortly before dying makes me feel that he wasn't in any pain at all and didn't suffer.  This really is the most important thing.  Whilst it is hard when a pet dies I always feel that it is the quality of their life that is important rather than quantity.

I hope this helps you.

Regards
Sheila