I started out three years ago with two baby rats,a brown and white named Justin and a gray and white named Nicodemus.Both were named after characters from the book ‘Mrs.Frisby and the Rats of NIMH’.Last September,Justin succumbed to kidney disease and dehydation.The kidney disease was due to old age(2 1/2 is really old for a rat)and died in my hands at the vet’s office when I took him to be put down.Nico had been faring better than his brother up until a month ago.He stopped eating regularly and I asked the vet what could be wrong with him.The vet asked me some questions and at the end,told me he was unsure why Nico wasn’t eating well.I took him in to get examined,but the vet couldn’t find anything wrong and told me to take care of him as best I could.I knew there was little the vet could do for such a little guy,who barely weighed 3 lbs at his heaviest.He kept getting thinner and thinner and no matter what I tried to do,he just wouldn’t eat very much,even when I tempted him with his favorite treat,fresh bananas.This morning,when I went to go feed him and check on him,he was laying in the bottom of his cage.I guess he passed on sometime last night because when I touched him,his whole body was rigid and stiff to the touch.Not knowing quite what to do(it’s been years since I had a small animal),I wrapped him in a plastic baggie and put him in the bag with some other garbage that’s going to be picked up on Weds,our regular garbage day.I cleaned out his cage and vacuumed his little room where we kept him.I don’t know what to do now.I’m wondering if I should cry,because I did love Nico very much.He was sweet and intelligent and my very first pet rat.I miss him so much already and I’m wondering if I should ever buy another small pet like him.
Well, people are encouraged to have mourning periods for their dogs and cats, and then get a new companion animal when you think the time is right. You had a pet you loved, and I don’t see why it’s any different because it’s a smaller animal.
Yeah really.
I’m sure eventually we will get another small fuzzy but only time will tell. CG and I have been through several small fuzzies together(three hamsters…Freaky,Brownie and Buddy)as well as a fish named Ichthys.Right now…if it weren’t for Rumpleteaze(aka Goose)and Buttercup(aka Tha Brat),I think I’d be crying but the way they goof around with each other always makes me laugh.
I used to keep rats when I was a kid. Rats are actually a lot cooler than people seem to think - the pet ones, anyway. I knew a punk girl once with a pet rat called Ophelia, who she kept on her constantly, letting it roam around her clothes.
See that’s what I did with Nico and Justin,matt. Buttercup had been around when we had the hamsters and she knew better than to mess with small,fuzzy things that moved.He would sit in my shirt pocket and I would drive around in my old Buick with the Aerosmith or whatever blastin and we’d have a good old time.I had one rat in each pocket and life was sweet.
I’ll have to remember that so I don’t cry so much.
Aww, that’s sad. It sounds like you two had some really fun times, though. I’ve heard from lots of people that rats can be great pets. Maybe I’ll get one someday.
rabbit–rat’s (as any rattie owner will tell you)make GREAT pets.They are clean(cleaner than my cats ever were and you know how cats are),intelligent and funloving little critters.Plus they are diurnal,which means they are awake during the day and sleep at night,not keeping you up all night by running in their Whizwheel at odd hours of the night.Nor are they as shortsighted as hamsters,which means they are less prone to nipping/biting.I think that with time,I will get another rat or maybe two.They are so cool and they were some of the best pets I’ve had.
I’m so sorry about your rats. I owned two rats a few years ago…I noticed one day the large white one (Named Ms. Rat… Yea yea, I’m clever) had a tumor growing on her side. We took her in, there was nothing that could be done for her… Eventually, it got to about the size of a golf ball and exploded. Much to my dismay, the other rat in the cage was found eating her remains when discovered.
I’m very sorry for your loss. Do what feels right, and don’t worry about what some people may think. There are plenty of people who understand. You’ve lost a loved one, regardless of the fact that he was small and furry. Greiving is only natural. I was so upset when I lost my first ferret that I had to take time off from work. (She had some kind of congenital defect that even one of the best exotic vets in the country couldn’t diagnose or cure.) So, it sounds like you’re doing better than I was.
Small pets are hard. They have such big personalities in such little bodies, and such short life spans. I have two more ferrets, now, but I’m not sure I’d take on another one when they go. It’s so hard, and the time comes so soon. I think it helps to keep in mind that we have to enjoy their company as much as we can in the time that we have, because they won’t be with us long. It sounds like you did that with Nicodemus.
Oh, how hard is it? Lamar Mundane hints that it’s quite a pain to read the original post. ENTER key is our secret friend.
So there. Better?
And I_Dig_Bad_Boys, I’m sorry for your loss.
