RIP Nutmeg :-(
May. 12th, 2004 01:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julietNutmeg was no better this morning[0], so we took her to the vet again, and had her put to sleep - there was nothing else the vet could do, and she was clearly in distress. :-(
She was a lovely rat - twitchy as hell most of the time, not fond of sitting still for scritches, but inquisitive and friendly on her own terms. She took a lot longer than her sister Bramble to settle down and stop being nervous of us (we got both Nutmeg and Bramble from a rescue centre - they were about 10 weeks old at the time, and had been born in the centre, but not really socialised as there were about 60 baby rats born over a period of a couple of days after a bunch of pregnant adult rats got dumped on the doorstep), but she did in the end. She was beautiful - agouti, with lovely soft shiny fur. She was around 1 year 8 months when she died.
RIP Nutmeg.
[0] Basically, it looks like there was a tumour pressing on her inner ear system - the bit that makes you keep your balance. So from her POV, the world was turning over and over, so she kept trying to turn herself over and over to compensate for this. Obviously very distressing for her, both when she was twisting over and over, and when she stopped for a bit (because then the world kept feeling twisted). She was slightly calmer for a bit when we were holding her and stroking her, but that didn't last that long either. Poor Nutmeg. So when the drugs didn't work, we couldn't really do anything else but have her put to sleep - she was clearly confused and in distress at the way the world was behaving.
She was a lovely rat - twitchy as hell most of the time, not fond of sitting still for scritches, but inquisitive and friendly on her own terms. She took a lot longer than her sister Bramble to settle down and stop being nervous of us (we got both Nutmeg and Bramble from a rescue centre - they were about 10 weeks old at the time, and had been born in the centre, but not really socialised as there were about 60 baby rats born over a period of a couple of days after a bunch of pregnant adult rats got dumped on the doorstep), but she did in the end. She was beautiful - agouti, with lovely soft shiny fur. She was around 1 year 8 months when she died.
RIP Nutmeg.
[0] Basically, it looks like there was a tumour pressing on her inner ear system - the bit that makes you keep your balance. So from her POV, the world was turning over and over, so she kept trying to turn herself over and over to compensate for this. Obviously very distressing for her, both when she was twisting over and over, and when she stopped for a bit (because then the world kept feeling twisted). She was slightly calmer for a bit when we were holding her and stroking her, but that didn't last that long either. Poor Nutmeg. So when the drugs didn't work, we couldn't really do anything else but have her put to sleep - she was clearly confused and in distress at the way the world was behaving.
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Date: 2004-05-12 11:46 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2004-05-12 12:04 pm (UTC)You did the best thing you could for her, and I'm sure she knew she was much loved as she went. It's so heartbreaking when they go, isn't it?
Best wishes for yourself and the other ratties. I'll light a candle for Nutmeg this evening. Sadly that will be two candles burning this evening, because Jude's rat Rayden had to be put to sleep this morning following a series of strokes. :-(
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Date: 2004-05-12 12:11 pm (UTC)I'm sorry to hear about Rayden - give my commiserations to Jude. And thank you for lighting the candle - it is appreciated.
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Date: 2004-05-12 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2004-05-12 01:10 pm (UTC)shakespeare cash transferred today, btw - sorry it took a while
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Date: 2004-05-12 07:05 pm (UTC)*hugs*
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