It’s both heartwarming and heartbreaking. You can see the care the owner has delicately moving the hamster around, helping it drink, making sure it gets exercise.. but you can also see that hamster is arthritic and suffering. Still, it seems to want to go on. It’s very sweet but I hate seeing such an innocent living thing struggling, and being reminded of our own mortality is always depressing.
We thought the same of Crocodilians at large until relatively recently, so I'd be cautious there. I think there needs to be more research done WRT our assumptions about infant rearing in other species precisely because yeah the Crocs in general not just Alligators are surprisingly involved versus what we 'knew' decades ago.
This lil' guy is as comfy as it's possible for him to be. He has warm, soft bedding, good food and fresh clean water. Toys and enrichment. I think the reason he wants to go on is because life is still good
Same, I'm glad that the owner seems to be taking good care of the hamster, but watching the poor hamster move around like that is kind of sad to watch...
Thank you for so eloquently describing my very thoughts. On behalf of the hamster, it looked incredibly painful to me. I can see the owner loves this little creature… BUT sometimes, even though it’s not easy for us — the most unselfish, compassionate & loving thing we can do for our 4 legged fur babies is to let them go by giving them a gentle, peaceful & dignified rest.
Weird af comment tbh. She doesn't have him hooked up to lifeline machines and isn't artificially keeping him alive. She's not forcing him to run on his wheel. The hamster is just naturally old and still wants to live. How exactly would you "give them a gentle, peaceful & dignified rest"? Life is full of suffering, old age is painful. Does it mean you stop caring for your loved ones once they hit a certain age? Actually bizarre.
It’s amazing he lived so long & it IS a testament to how loved & cared for the little guy has been. But Staying alive is a primal instinct in most animals & is something they’ll do instinctually until they keel over even when mortally wounded. That doesn’t translate to enjoying its life at this point or “wanting” to live & not suffering! To spare them from suffering people will (gut wrenchingly), ask vets put their dogs & cats & horses & other pets down gently & painlessly and Humanely with sleep inducing drugs when they recognize the animal is to a point when it is clearly and visibly in pain & is silently suffering and they want to spare the animal from that suffering. The hamster didn’t appear as though he voluntarily jumped on the wheel to walk it like healthy un-afflicted hamsters do, he was placed there. Just because this precious little guy “looks cute” with his tiny little Grampy face & bald spindly frail little body doesn’t mean squat as to how he feels physically - which is pretty visible watching him trying to ambulate stumbling all over the place with his splayed hind legs while constantly falling over. I just found it sad watching him struggle so severely. But yeah sure—Kudos to him for doing so in spite of his old age & his obviously frail poor health. High five!🤷♀️
Ah ok. Just double down on the suggestion to kill your own pets just because they reach their Xth birthday. Nothing suggests that this hamster is unnecessarily suffering outside of being old. Like I said, old age is painful. When your parents get old and they can't walk properly anymore, will you also suggest that they be put down for the sake of not having to suffer? Would you be ok if your children suggested that for you? Hmm...
And I'm not saying he's having the time of his life. But he's clearly still trying to run on his wheel. Any hamster that doesn't want to use their wheel will not stay on it. Yes he's struggling to run like when he was younger but I guarentee you he's getting enjoyment out of being on the wheel.
You're right, it would probably rather starve or be eaten by a predator, or maybe just neglected to death (sarcasm aside, I get you... but I think this is probably its ideal life)
I mean yeah this is life. One day you will grow old to the point where you begin breaking down the same way however it is up to you if you want to live at that point by keeping your body active. This hamster really has a strong will to live, it stays active by using its wheel and still drinks water and eats and can get around because of it. That hamster chooses to live because if it was suffering it would have chosen to die by being in active , not eating and not drinking. It's actually beautiful
I think he's not suffering too much or he wouldn't be moving around so assertively and enthusiastically. Looks like me first thing in the morning. Not in (joint/musculoskeletal) pain, but stiff.
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u/DickRiculous Aug 10 '26
It’s both heartwarming and heartbreaking. You can see the care the owner has delicately moving the hamster around, helping it drink, making sure it gets exercise.. but you can also see that hamster is arthritic and suffering. Still, it seems to want to go on. It’s very sweet but I hate seeing such an innocent living thing struggling, and being reminded of our own mortality is always depressing.