Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all -- It's been a month since I posted; I just could not face talking about losing my rattikins boys. Yes boys -- plural. We went to take Harley in to euthanize him and my vet agreed w/me that it probably wasn't time yet. And, she was more worried about his lifemate Merlin, who was very lethargic and out of it. We waited over a long weekend and by Monday I KNEW it was time. We took Merlin w/us cuz we wanted him to know what was going on. My vet was really worried about him so we waited 4 hrs while they did tests & x-rays. Turned out his heart was THREE TIMES bigger than it should have been. He was going to die at any time. So, my vet made special arrangements to euthanize both ratties at the same time. (They came togeter; they lived together; and, they left together.) It was really precious of her to do that and it was a pain in the a** for the vet techs to do. I really appreciated their efforts.

It's only now that I've been able to talk about it. It was horrendously painful for me to lose them both at the same time. It's been hard these past few weeks. It's very lonely in my office where my ratties lived. I still have Nilla, but he's not a snuggy rattie so he is different from Merlin and Harley who were great squish boys.

I have managed to get thru that time right after they died where I just wanted to run down and get new baby rats, and have decided that for now I will not get more. And if/when I do get more, I am going to drive the 4 hours to Fresno to go to a rattery that I know about there. I'm done w/pet store rats (well, I say that now, but I might get weak and change my mind later).

OT -- we got a new kitten from a neighbor who is moving. He is the sweetest little boy cat I've ever had. We are enjoying him. Also, this same neighbor has a chinchilla he wants to find a home for, and we will most like take her too, once I find room for her HUGE cage that he built for her. I am reading up and educating myself on chinchillas right now.

So that puts us up to 1 old sick dog, 4 cats, and 1 rat. Next week we will probably add a chinchilla to that list. I'm way behind on the board so am going to catch up on reading, but I wanted to post first. Thank you all for your kind words when I wrote the last time...
-----
Eileen
I WUV RATS

I am so sorry for your losses.
That had to be really hard.. I just can't find the words to tell you how sorry I am.
I am glad to see you back here though.
Chins are so sweet, you'll love having one but of course you'll still need more rats at some point in the future.
Take care!
-----
PHRatz

I'm so sorry you lost them both.
-----
~Rachel~

I'm really sorry to hear about your boys. Losing one is hard, losing two... that's just awful. I'm glad you're doing better now.

Good luck with the chinchilla, they are such neat little animals. And the kitten... my husband is allergic to cats, which is HORRIBLE for me because I love cats!!! Give your new little kitty a good ear scratch for me!
-----
Kadee Sedtal

home of old lady Lucy (boxer/lab/garbage disposal), pretty girl Fancy (beagle), Crusher (yorkie), the rats-Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Pachebel, Fillmore, and Franz, the mice- Vivaldi, Schubert, Bartok, Johann, Giordi LaForge, Dorothy, Glenda, Em, and Rosa, and the wonderful winter white dwarf hamster- Feather
"I wish I had a dollar for every time I spent a dollar, because then, yahoo! I'd have all my money back." -Jack Handey

This kitty loves ear scratches, so one with definitely be given from you. He also loves kisses and hugs, so he gets those too. This cat (Stormie) is going to be one of the best all-time cats, we can tell already. He's already made us laugh over and over again, and we've also yelled at him (two very appropriate responses to a 7 month old male kitten) And he'll ride on our shoulder like a rattie... a 7 lb. rattie, that is. And he's fighting with the 3 other cats for his place in our cat family. He's started taking on the 17 lb other male cat we have and I'm taking bets on who will come out on top on this one!!! So far, Stormie is holding his own.
-----
Eileen
I WUV RATS and CHINS
Nilla, Sophia, Sunny, Stormie, Jazzie, Peanut, and Ginger