Pet hamster died | Imamother

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Forum -> Hobbies, Crafts, and Collections -> Pets

Pet hamster died

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amother

OP ↓

Mon, May 27 2019, 8:56 pm

How long do you think is a normal amount of time for a child to get over the loss of a pet hamster. Hamster died last night. My son stayed home from school. He I s 8 years old. We buried it together. Tonight he was still insisting that it's alive. We "unburied" it to check on it. He was crying in my lap and saying that even if it's not moving it's just in a long sleep. This is the second hamster that died in less than a year. How do I help him grieve and come to terms with it. We bought him another hamster and I am starting to think that this is a bad idea...

amother

Maroon

Mon, May 27 2019, 10:18 pm

I don't know how long it should take to get over a dead pet, but replacing it while your son is still so sad about it - while I understand you did this from a very loving and caring place - is probably highly insensitive from his perspective. Like hamsters are just disposable things. (Ok, to me they are. But your son obviously loved this animal).

amother

↑ OP

Mon, May 27 2019, 10:28 pm

We bought him a new one a week ago bec we knew this one was sick and was going to die. He was davening for it to have a refuah sheleimah for a long time. You think this was the wrong thing to do? I didn't think about it from that perspective.

Petra

Tue, May 28 2019, 12:17 am

It took a few days for my DD (age 10) to not cry when she thought of her hamster. She had the cage in her room and we moved it out after the hamster died. She had to get used to not seeing her hamster in the cage in the corner of her room and not hear the hamster wheel going at night. It was a process. Probably took her a few weeks at least to living without the hamster.

amother

Cerise

Tue, May 28 2019, 8:18 am

It took my 15 year old at least a week to get over his rabbit dying. First 2 days he just stayed home from Yeshiva crying. We bought a new one a week later.

Chayalle

Tue, May 28 2019, 8:26 am

My girls were definitely sad when their guinea pig died last year (in March of 2018). They literally gave a hesped about what a loving pet he was, while DH buried it in the yard (and I kept a comfortable distance. The pet-loving gene comes from DH.)

I didn't hurry to replace the pet, and would have left well-enough alone, but DD brought a hamster home with her from camp, after assuring me that he will not likely live long anyway, Ma, so don't worry....well, Muddy is alive and well so far, so I guess there's something to DD's TLC that lends itself to the longevity of her pets (guinea lived several years!).

Maybe get a pet that is more long-lived, OP, if your son takes their going hard.

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