Rats!

 

We have pet rats.  We got 3 siblings, sisters from the same litter.  Our little prince wanted a white rat (we had white mice before) that he wanted to name Famous, or a dark one he could name Shadow.  Unfortunately, there were not girls that were white or brown available.  We got a tan Berkshire, a tan hooded rat, and a brown hooded rat.  He named the tan "Professor Whiskers" (whiskers for short), the tan hoodie was Bonita (named after Bonnie and Clyde because she looked like she was wearing a stocking over her head like a robber), and our little prince combined Shadow and Famous to name her "Shaddous."

Whiskers being curious

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A few weeks later we picked up Hermione, who has very interesting coloring.  She's kind of marbled, but her face is white.  We say she reminds us of a possum. We affectionately call her the possum rat.  The others immediately cuddled up with her as if they'd known each other all their lives.  I wish people could be more accepting like this!




A couple months ago we noticed Bonita getting big.  She looked like she was pregnant but with no males around, impossible. She just kept getting bigger.  Then she started getting slower.  so we took her to the vet.  It was 2 days before our little prince's 10th birthday. We didn't get good news.  The vet took an x-ray and told us she had a tumor almost as big as she was.  If he tried to operate he'd end up killing her.  We told the little prince that it was a possibility that she wouldn't come back alive but of course he was devastated.  He said he wanted to be with her, but when she squealed after getting a shot from the vet he nearly ran out of the room.  Then she started falling asleep and wobbled a bit on the table and he asked if he could leave.  H said he couldn't stand seeing her that way.  We explained that he wasn't watching her die, but he didn't want to see it anyway.  The vet brought her out to us when it was over and our little prince heartbrokenly asked if the vet made her better.  The vet was shocked by this because he thought it was understood.  I had to try to explain that Bonnie was in pain and the vet made it go away so she could die peacefully instead of in pain and miserable.  The vet told him he was a brave little boy that made a very hard decision that was best for her and he was proud of him. He showed him the x-ray and explained it to him and that helped.

Shaddous the rat

Now our sweet Shaddous is sick.  Very sick.  She's losing weight, not eating or drinking. She's cold all the time. She breathes so hard her whole body hitches back and forth with every breath.  Her heart races.  My dear darling husband stayed up all night with her last night spoon feeding her vitamins and sugar water.  Our dear little prince charming said a prayer for God to make her feel better.  She's actually stronger today!  She's resting with her sisters.  I haven't seen her myself yet but I am optimistic.