Last night we noticed that Ratatouille was breathing very heavily, lethargic, has discharge from her nose, and some other symptoms. I did some online research and determined that she was most likely in the terminal stages of mycoplasmosis, an apparently common respiratory disease in rats. The interesting part is the primary symptom that a rat is going to get this disease is frequent sneezing - and Ratatouille has sneezed often since we got her. We thought she just did it when she was excited. Now I wish I had looked into it more.
Anyway I tried to keep her comfortable and do some things we found online to help - nebulizer treatment, chocolate, etc. This morning there was no improvement. So I packed her up, dropped the kids off at Grandma's, and headed to the vet. Unfortunately, Ratatouille had already passed away by the time I got there.
I tried to prepare Aurora. When we bought her rats I warned her that they do not live very long. Last night while we were trying to help Ratatouille, I explained to her that she was sick, that they don't really have good medicine for rats, and it was possible she would die.
When Aurora came home this evening I gave her the news. She was shocked at first, and then cried some, and then asked questions - if she went to Heaven, where is her body, etc. Then she asked if she could hold her other rat. Within the hour she was playing and laughing. I wish I were still so resilient! And I pray that Remy (the other rat) does not come down with it!
Ratatouille was a very cool and smart rat, and we will all miss her.
3 comments:
Oh dear.
Tough on little ones but possibly tougher on Mom worrying about how it's going to hit the little ones. You clearly handled it well.
Best wishes for Remy to stay healthy!
You handled it very well and she was a great pet... definitely RIP, Ratatouille.
=( Losing a pet is so hard. I am sorry.
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