what i do (we have a few old pets from when i was little) i tell her they were ill and now they have gone to heaven , shes really old for her age and understands she would rather them being in heaven and well than here and poorly. she cried her little heart out but she understands things now.

For Christmas last year we bought my daughter aged 6 a guinea pig.  We took her to the pet shop to pick her own and she was so happy to have it.  Sadly, 6 days later, the poor thing died.  Xara cried her eyes out but we went back to the pet shop and they gave us another which saved the day.  She also had a hamster and a couple of months ago this dies (it was about 2.5 yrs old) so we were also ecpecting it.  Again, she cried but she got over it very quickly (within about 20 mins).  We just explained that she had joined the other animals that have dies (our fish that have died, one of our rabbits that died, nans dog that died) and she was happy that they could all play together.

Now I have re-read this I sound like an animal killer.  Honestly, the pets all died from natural causes.

awww thanks! Im sure its not gonna be as bad as im expecting. My daughter said before about burying our hamster when he dies (ive been dropping hints that it would prob be this year as he was almost 3yrs old!); i remember saying to her about planting something when it happens so she can remeber him everytime she looks at the plant. Well, she has been growing a bean plant that she brought home from school that is ready to go out in the garden - so im gonna see if she wants to plant that for him. - Ive just got to make sure i remember to water it!! - my gardening skills have a lot to be desired for!!

try to explain slowly to them that he was old and that he's gone to heaven ( if that's what you believe ) and tell them it's OK to be sad.

i had this a few months ago with 10 year old cat , i was gutted and the kid's where abit upset but  then ds 7 said that he will be OK in heaven and that my grandad will help him and show him around.

aw it's dead sad but children are resilient and probably one of the reason's you got him was to show the children that you have to look after animals and love and care for them, they also have to experience the down side poorlyness and death.

good look and take it one step at a time.

Hi there, I know this may sound silly to some of you but my dh is so unhelpful at the mo! This morning i found our hamster had died, he was almost 3 yrs old so i was expecting it to happen soon but its still sad now that he has gone.

I havent told the kids yet as i wanted to get them to school so i could take hime out of his cage etc before they saw him (he was lying in the middle of his cage). Im dreading telling them - especially my daughter who is 7. She loved him to bits! She even sat next to his cage last night reminding me to clean his cage out this morning!.  I dont think she looked in the cage but neither did i so i dont know if he went yesterday during the day or overnight. Im just soo glad my dd didnt look in there in case he was there last night!

My husband doesnt seem that interested at all - although he'll have to be once i tell them as im waiting until he gets home before i do it! His dad just laughed it off when i mentioned it on the phone and cant see why the kids will be so upset over a hamster - but i reckon they will be! They've never experienced any pets dying or any relatives for that matter, they've asked about death before (eg, what happens when you die? where do you go etc etc) but this is obviously more than just talking about it  - this has actually happened.

Whats the best way of explaining this to them? My youngest is 4 so im not sure whether he will quite understand or not..