Continuous suffering and early death: scientists revealed the details of the unhappy life of hamsters

According to scientists, popular pets suffer a lot before they die.

Hamsters are one of the most popular pets in the world. Often parents give these rodents to children so that they can learn how to care for pets before becoming the owner of, for example, a puppy or kitten. A new study shows these cute, agile rodents could die prematurely from a range of truly horrific illnesses and injuries, according to the Independent.

The main causes of premature death of hamsters

The most common causes of early death of these small rodents, scientists, after conducting a study, named the following:

• In the first place among the causes of premature death of hamsters is the disease, which is often called “wet tail”. This bacterial infection appears due to unsatisfactory housing conditions for hamsters or due to improper treatment of other diseases. Hamsters develop very severe diarrhea and die suffering from dehydration.
• In second place among the most common causes of death are bites from other hamsters, as a result of violent fights between rodents. Most of these “disputes” over territory are fatal, research has shown.

• In third place, scientists placed claws that have grown too much.
• In fourth place are overgrown front teeth.
• Finishing the top five causes of early death of hamsters are various minor injuries received by the animal.

Be careful, hamster!

“Given that hamsters are often given as gifts to children, parents can now explain to them that they should not expect too long life in hamsters. Also, the owners of these rodents should pay special attention to the conditions of the rodents and carefully monitor their health, which may increase their length of stay in our world,” says Dan O'Neill of the Royal Veterinary College.

According to Justine Shotton, President of the British Veterinary Association, you need to clearly understand the needs of this little creature and monitor its behavior and appearance so that in case the need to contact the veterinarian in time.

“I recommend weighing the pros and cons before getting a hamster. You need to make sure that this animal is right for you, because you will be responsible for it,” says Shotton .

As Focus already wrote, scientists told how a cat's nose should be: cold or hot. Some cat owners believe that this is an indicator of their health, but scientists have explained whether to pay attention to this.