juliet

Poppy died yesterday.

She's been going downhill since Rowan died the other week - finding it harder to get about, and seeming less interested in food. We've been having her out with us a lot for company, and she definitely appreciated that, but by last weekend she was mostly eating only when we fed her, and she was having trouble with even the very shallow food and water dish.

Yesterday morning we found her on the floor of the cage, having obviously fallen over & not been able to get up again. She wasn't really interested in food even by hand, and she wasn't able to move for herself or even stand up properly. The vet agreed that it was time, so she was pts yesterday afternoon (with us there).

Poppy was mostly notorious for her enormous bottom, resulting from her dedication to putting as much food as possible into her mouth at all times :-) (She lost 1/4 body weight over the last month or so, and was still heavier than many other rats we've had!) She had a slight tendency to attack fingers if she thought either that they were in Her Space, or that they might be food - and she fundamentally hoped that everything might be food! - but she never meant it in an aggressive way - she was fundamentally friendly and Interested in People (at least if there wasn't food around...). She was also one of the only rats I've known who was able to locate a treat dropped under her nose. Like every rat we've had - she was fun, and much loved, and we will miss her enormously.



We don't have any more rats, now - we've decided the emotional stress from their short lives & tendency to spend their last year or so in & out of the vet is too much to keep coping with.

RIP Poppy.

Rowan died this morning. Pete found her on the floor of the cage unable to move & barely breathing; we phoned the vet & were on our way down there, but she died in my hands as we were heading out of the door. She's been ill for a while, so it wasn't totally unexpected. She was pottering around the sofa happily, coming to sit in Pete's & my laps, last night, so we know she was happy up to very close to the end. She was getting on for 2 1/2 years old.

She was I think one of the friendliest, brightest rats we've had, with an enormously cute baby face even when she grew up. In her youth she had a genius for escapology - initially because she was so much littler than the others that she could squeeze through the cage bars, later because she industriously chewed a hole in the bottom of the cage. We left her to it as she didn't seem to do any damage or wander off anywhere, until Hazel started following her example & being more of a nuisance when we finally blocked the hole up.

She was always more interested in saying hello than in going for the foodstuffs (unlike Poppy!), and was very polite and delicate when she did decide that she was after the treats. Lately we've had to help her a bit with eating as she was losing her balance, and she was still very careful with her eating. She absolutely loved the top of her head being scritched, with impressively boggly bruxing results. She liked *people*, and exploring, and interesting things.

Only Poppy left now. We're not at present intending to get any more rats - it's too emotionally draining, given what short lives they have & how many vet visits we need during that time.

RIP Rowan.

(She is the one poking her nose forward at the camera in the photo - when she & Ash were babies, & TINY compared to Bramble.)

Successfully fetched two baby ratties from Ipswich last night - now named Ash and Rowan. Photos of them behind cut; and more at fotopic. They are SO VERY SMALL & SWEET! Ash is currently in my sleeve.

( Excessive cuteness )