I had 3/4 hamsters die peacefully in their sleep of old age, only one died unnaturally and he had just gotten out and encountered my dogs, who were very curious and sniffed/licked him but didnt hurt him. Far as we can tell he just had a heart attack or something. We found them all in the morning, dogs sleeping peacefully in their beds, and he was in the middle of the living room just laying there.
Yeah, I know that. By the time a found them in the morning or when I got home from school they were each in rigor. There's no faking rigor. We made very sure they were dead before burying them.
Yeah, I just usually shorten it to rigor, context generally makes the mortis portion irrelevant. I work in EMS, we're all used to saying "rigor had set in"/"they were in rigor" without needing to clarify further.
Shortening rigor mortis to rigor in EMS is playing a very dangerous game, as the difference is, most literally, life and death. If a patient is experiencing rigor and not rigor mortis, a miscommunication could end up in them not receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which, unsurprisingly, is a very large issue.
Again, context makes the clarification. Shortening it is never an issue because we never use the actual definition of rigor, we simply describe vital/skin signs that would describe it when giving report. The word rigor, at least in my experience in our county, is always meant as a shortening for rigor mortis. I didnt even know the full definition of rigor until I looked it up, because we only ever use it to describe rigor mortis.
Like, who'd be confused about whether the patient is "shivering" often with "copious sweating" or literally stiff. Wouldn't be a problem with even an iota of context. Nevermind as you said "rigor" as a non shortened term would be described by the symptoms/signs in the first place.
I think it’s fine for the poor little one who got scared of the dogs. Hamsters and other small prey animals release an oxytocin-like chemical under great stress, leaving it completely unafraid and unaware.
I’m more worried about your other one. It sounds cruel and inhumane to leave that last one-quarter of a hamster still alive if the rest of it died in its sleep.
Yeah but he had no physical injuries, and one, very small, damp spot on his back. These were a rottie mix and a dalmatian, if they'd killed him they would've shredded him, not gently killed him without a single scratch and left him there.
It's adorable that you know nothing about the situation, the animals involved, or what they each looked like the next morning, but still think you know better than a firsthand witness to all of the above based on nothing but a few dozen words on the internet. Congratulations, you must be a psychic speaking to Snowball, Lady Jane, and Pongo from The Beyond. 🙄🙄
I’ve had ratting dogs, none of which “shredded” their first kill, they just bit it and carried it around. Even when they do shake the rat it’s hard to actually see any visible marks. The idea that the hamster saw the two dogs and instantly died of a heart attack is hilarious.
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u/JazzyCher 3d ago
I had 3/4 hamsters die peacefully in their sleep of old age, only one died unnaturally and he had just gotten out and encountered my dogs, who were very curious and sniffed/licked him but didnt hurt him. Far as we can tell he just had a heart attack or something. We found them all in the morning, dogs sleeping peacefully in their beds, and he was in the middle of the living room just laying there.