my ratty is dead

[SnowyShiloh]

I just found one of my ratties dead in her cage! It's Cranberry Hootycreek :cry4:My poor baby girl! I don't know what happened, she was acting fine last night. The other two, who she's been with her entire life, are acting okay. She was only about 14 months old. She was such a good girl too and we will miss her a lot. I went to feed them and found her in the igloo. They sleep in odd positions but for some reason I knew she was dead as soon as I saw her tail and feet. I hope she didn't suffer, she looks rather peaceful. I know she had a good life but I wish it had been longer! She and her sisters are "feeders" from Petco so unfortunately I've kind of expected them to pass earlier than other ratties. I'm just glad she didn't suffer through respiratory infections or tumors like a lot of ratties do. She went through that bout of being skinny a couple months ago, but plumped back up within a couple days. I'm also glad that I have three other ratties, her sisters Peppermint Rattie and Stevie McQueen, and my neutered boy Colby Jack. When I got the three girls, I decided to get three instead of just two so that when the first one died, the other wouldn't be all alone. At least by having four in a similar age group, there shouldn't be one left all alone at the end of his/her life, at least not for too long.

Sorry if I'm rambling, I'm just really shocked and upset about my girl. Just last night she was begging for food with her sisters and running on the wheel like a crazy woman!

What do I do with the body? I've always wanted to bury them but the ground is really frozen right now. I don't really want to put her in the freezer. Every time I open the freezer I would think of my darling in amongst the frozen peas and fish sticks. The idea of throwing her away is repulsive.

Rest in peace, my sweet darling wuzzy girl. I remember when you were just a bitty baby, you were the second one we pulled out of the tank at the pet shop and you were so scared but never bit. You were always the more fragile and mild of the three but you were there for the other two when they tussled and loved to snuggle with anyone. Even though you were nervous when I'd take you out to play, you very quickly lay down and closed your eyes and bruxed in happiness when I rubbed your ears. It won't be the same without you lovey. I hope you're enjoying running around in heaven, eating lots of cheese and lolling in giant hammocks with lots of other ratties! Please look after your sisters and don't let them get in too many fights, I know they will miss you lots and so will I.

:angelandbunny: (pretend it's a ratty and not a bunny)

 

[trailsend]

Awww. I'm so sorry

 

[naturestee]

I'm so sorry. She was so young. At least you were able to give her a great life that didn't end with a snake.

Is there a vet or shelter in your area that does cremation? The shelter I volunteer at has their own crematorium and also does animals from vet clinics or dead pets brought in by their owners. I don't know what it costs. But our ground freezes in winter too, so it's pretty necessary.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

so sorry your rattie had died. I know it is no consalation but she had a great life compared to the life that she would have had being a feeder rat. Hugs to you

 

[missyscove]

My condolances. It sounds like she lived a great life.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Thanks everyone Naturestee, that's a good idea, I e-mailed the animal shelter and asked if they do that. She's still in the cage, I'm going to take her out in a minute. The other ratties are ignoring her, though I saw one walk by her and sniff for a second.

I've posted lots of pictures of them before so some of these are repeats, but here are a couple:

First night home, Cranberry is in the middle:

When they went on vacation with us:

Running around in their cage (this was right after we got the new cage, there are a lot more hammocks and hangy houses in it now):

Taco night:

Here is my boy Colby, so he's not left out:

 

[trailsend]

Great pictures - I love the yawn!

 

[slavetoabunny]

Those are fantastic pictures.....such beautiful subjects!!!!

I'm so sorry you lost Cranberry. Her name is very fitting. RIP little rattie.

 

[XxMontanaxX]

:hug:I'm so sorry.

If you wanna talk or share storiesabout her or anything at all, PM me anytime you want.

 

[undergunfire]

Oh, Shiloh....I am terribly sorry about the loss of your rattie angel . I know just how hard it can be, I lost my Fayl on November 7th, 2006 and it's still tough to know she is no longer with me. If you search the forum for "Fayl", you can see her Rainbow Bridge post, maybe hearing about her little story and how great she was too, will help comfort you?

My Spartan is most likely 1 years old, or a bit older. He came from the local mom & pop store who got thier rats in from a feeder breeder 2 hours away. When I got Spartan, he was very thin and sickly...so I haven't a clue what his age was then...he looked like a 4 month old, but his bone structure showed he was definitely older. He's healthy, but we just never know when we will lose our rattie babies.

With every one of our rat's passings, we know to cherish every single day we have with the rest of them....because they don't stay in their bodies for long enough.


:cry4::rainbow:

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I got an e-mail back from the woman at the shelter and she said we could drop Cranberry off to be cremated. There's no cost and of course we wouldn't get her ashes back. I can't decide what to do, wrap her in her favorite hammock and freeze her and bury her in the summer (along with my hammy who died in December and is in the freezer) or have her cremated. I also hate the idea of her being burned. Cinnabun and my two cockatiels were cremated (my mom insisted upon it) and it disturbs me so much to think of them being burned.

Cranberry is in a plastic bag until I decide what I want to do. I think she died suddenly because she was half in, half out of the entrance of her overturned igloo (they like to flip it over sometimes), like she collapsed when she was going into it. She's also directly beneath one of the ledges, so maybe she fell off? Her body doesn't look injured though and the drop is just over a foot. All the girls are still very athletic and can jump a long ways and stuff (Stevie just the other day has started walking around upside down from the roof of the cage!) so it would be weird if she fell.

 

[Greta]

I'm so sorry. RIP Cranberry

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Amy, you probably don't remember this, but my girls were all sick for the first month I had them, too. They had diarrhea that wouldn't go away. I took them to the vet twice for it and they had to get horrible medicine twice a day for almost a month! Thankfully, once they got over it they've only had to go back once when, I'd had them for about 6 weeks and Cranberry had a drop of pink in her urine (vet couldn't figure out what was wrong, she was acting fine and it never happened again).

Oh, gosh! I just heard one of my birds scream and immediately afterwards heard him fall to the bottom of the cage. The scream sounded like he was being strangled. I ran upstairs to find him on the bottom of the cage coughing and coughing and bringing up fluid. I think he got some water in his lungs, I just refilled their water bowl and it's dark in there so I suspect he plunged his head into the bowl not realizing it had been refilled! Thankfully he seems to be better now and wolf whistled with me. This isn't the first time he's done it, but it is SCARY! I hope he'll be okay :shock:

Back to ratties: I did read about Fayl So sad. I've been dreading my ratties dying for quite a while, I wish we could go back in time so they were young again! Just so I wouldn't have to worry about them dying. I've decided not to have anymore ratties after my guys go because they live for such a short amount of time and it's so hard. At least bunnies usually live for a lot longer. It's so weird and sad to see Peppermint and Stevie alone in the cage! They always run over to say hi when anyone goes to the cage and now there are only two...

 

[undergunfire]

Shiloh, I do remember when you first got your girls, but I don't remember about it in depth. Unfortunately...we have to get ratties where we can get them, and most of the times it is from a pet store...and they come with a genetic defult from poor breeding, that will eventually show up and take them away from us .

Ya know, I thought about having more rats after my four guys pass (hopefully another 2+ years)....and I think I might end it there for a while. I know I said that after Fayl passed and I rushed into getting three more girls...then later rehomed them Morgan's foster mom who had them spayed and put them in a huge RUDD with buddies. A month after I got those girls, I realized I rushed into rattie ownership again and I started fearing their deaths immediately. I would wake up every morning and hold my breath until I saw their lungs rise and fall, because I pretty much work up to Fayl dying.

We'll have to see. I truely think there is never a full *end* to rat ownership if you are deeply dedicated to them, just some breaks. There is always fostering and rescuing at a time, ect.

The feeling of being *empty* comes when you don't have rats. Who would I make mini dinners for every night ?



Anyway, I hope you are doing okay, Shiloh :hug:. Cranberry is playing with Fayl in rattie heaven and sleeping in a huge rat pile will all of the other ratties up there :hearts.

 

[cheryl]

Sorry to hear about your little rat girl,she was so cute

Cheryl

 

[mouse_chalk]

Awww Shiloh, I'm so sorry to hear about Cranberry. She was so cute, and I love her name!

Hope you're doing ok, hugs to you :hug:

xx

 

[LuvaBun]

I'm sorry to hear about Cranberry . She looked such a cute character.

Jan