Hamster had dies very suddenly

Question
Hi I hope I can get some advise as to why my daughters has dies very suddenly. I haven't told her yet and I know when I do she is going to ask why and I would like to do my best and tell her a valid reason. He 'Bubbles' was months old, very active, very friendly he had a real funny little character. He was ready and waiting to come out of his cage every night he loved his ball &  being held by my daughter. He had been absolutely fine, eating, drinking, playing but then he didn't come out, as usual, in the morning then again at tea-time. We didn't think too much of it but then the next day I thought id give him a nudge to get him out and make sure he was ok but he was dead ! He was all snuggled up in his bed - his favorite place. Hes food pouches looked full. He had been so lively he was really into his food so im so shocked. The only think that had changed is that when we first got him his wee seen to be a milky color but for the last couple of weeks changed to an orangey / browny color but his poos were still the same. We cleaned his cage out one a week. He had a cosy bed, honey seed stick, wheel & shelfs, he had a dried corn-on-a-cob chew sick.
I really hope you can help as my daughter is going to be devastated but shes a very clever 7yr old and is going to want an explanation as to why this could of happened to her Bubbles.
Many thanks Tracey

Answer
Hi Tracey

I'm really sorry to hear about your hamster - this must have been a real shock.

It doesn't sound as though there was anything wrong as such (the change in the urine is pretty normal - provided there wasn't any blood in it.  Hamster urine can be cloudy or orange at times).  The fact that he was tucked up in his bed and he hadn't tried to leave his nest would suggest that he died very quickly - and this makes me think that his heart just stopped working.  When a hamster is ill and is dying they often try to leave the nest and you often find them out of the nest or looking as though they were trying to move.  As he was curled up in his nest with full cheek pouches definitely suggests that he wasn't ill for any length of time.

I had a similar experience with one of my baby hamsters - he collapsed one day so I took him to the vet - he diagnosed congenital heart problems. The hamster seemed to be fine for a day or two and then suddenly without any warning he died and he was only a couple of months old.  It could well be that Bubbles had something like this and that it was impossible to know that he was ill.

Whilst a lot of illnesses develop during a hamster's life, for some there is something wrong from birth - either some part of them didn't develop or only manifests itself as they get older.  There is absolutely nothing you could have done to help him.

I do hope you find a way of explaining this to your daughter and that she isn't afraid of having another hamster at a later stage as chances are this won't happen again.

I hope this helps you.
Regards