in memory of Emil...

[ratcreature]

Emil
8.3.2007 - 11.9.2009

I had Emil put down this afternoon. The vet said that with this rapid a decline it was most likely a tumor inside, and that there was no sense to try antibiotics further in the bad condition he was in. And he had been suffering the last few days. (I even thought for a moment earlier today that he had died on his own because his body was so cold when I checked on him and he didn't react anymore, but after a moment I saw and heard that he was still breathing.)

Anyway, I cuddled with him for a while at home to say goodbye, hoping that even though he didn't seem very aware anymore he maybe still enjoyed being with me and lying on a warm body when his own wasn't even maintaining body temperature anymore, and then I brought him to vet to end his misery.

I hope I helped make the two and a half years he had a good life for him. He was only sick for a short time, barely two weeks, and he had never any health problems before, so he was luckier than many of my other rats. Though of course today it doesn't feel lucky.


I actually have baby pictures of him the breeder sent me, here he is with his siblings when his eyes were still closed (I think he's the one in the middle of the pile):


And a baby picture with his eyes open (he's the second from the left at the bottom, looking at the camera):


Once he was five weeks he and his brother Ignatz moved in with me, and as a young rat he was of course very hyper, so I have lots of blurry pictures:


Anyway he was an curious young rat, exploring things:




He also liked really uncomfortable looking sleep positions (notice how he disdained the comfy basket behind him, and instead chose to sleep squeezed into some contortionist pose).


He got more sensible about that as he got older, eventually his favorite spots were soft hammocks and baskets.

He loved yogurt:


and of course scrambled eggs (I have yet to meet a rat who doesn't):


In general bribery with food helped to get a picture taken:


Otherwise there was half a rat in it more often than not (though in this one only Ignatz moves out of the picture):







For the first time in years I am without rats. It feels very lonely.

Comments

[kass]

I am so sorry for your loss.

[ratcreature]

Thanks.

[seperis]

I'm so sorry. I'm glad he didn't suffer, nad you had time ot say goodbye.

[ratcreature]

Thanks. Overall he had luck with his health. Though seeing it decline so quickly when he had been so healthy for an older rat before was hard in its own way.

[cereta]

I'm so sorry.

[ratcreature]

Thanks.

[gchick]

I'm so sorry - I hate that you have to go through another loss so soon after Ignatz.

[ratcreature]

Thanks. They were siblings so it's not unexpected that they died around the same time, and at least they had both the luck to get reasonably old. But it is still sad of course.

[lotesse]

Oh, you. I'm so sorry about your Emil. (hugs)

[ratcreature]

Thanks. *hugs back*

[reginagiraffe]

Oh, I'm so sorry for you loss.

*hugs*

[ratcreature]

Thanks. *hugs back*

[giandujakiss]

I am so sorry.

[ratcreature]

Thanks.

[auburn]

I'm so sorry. First Ignatz and now Emil, it's been a painful year for you. Everything about your posts shows how much you care about them. He had a good life with you, better than anything he would have experienced wild.

::hugs::

Some people will tell you to get another pet soon, but it isn't right to just try to replace them, they're more than interchangeable parts, after all. You have to mourn them and decide if you want to make that emotional investment again.

Take care.

[ratcreature]

Thanks.

I am planning to get new rats eventually, but it most likely won't be for several months at the earliest, even for only practical reasons. I try not to buy rats from pet stores if at all possible (as I dislike the view of animals as simple merchandise), so I will have to look for a new hobby breeder (because the ones I got my previus rats from have since given up their hobby), and then there is the waiting period until there are enough people who want babies and conception happens, then the pregnancy and the time until they are old enough to leave their mother. So getting rats isn't exactly a fast process, and hobby breeders for rats in a distance I can easily get to without a car aren't that numerous either.

Beautiful pictures

[sherrold]

I'm sorry for your loss; he looks like a real sweetie.

Re: Beautiful pictures

[ratcreature]

Thanks. He gave me a lot of joy.

[telesilla]

*hugs a bunch*

[ratcreature]

*hugs back*

[darkrose]

I'm very sorry for your loss.

[ratcreature]

Thank you.

*gentle hugsmish*

[elke_tanzer]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Re: *gentle hugsmish*

[ratcreature]

Thanks.

[lanning]

Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry you lost him. *hugs you*

[ratcreature]

Thanks. *hugs back*

[marcelo]

Oh, god, I'm so sorry.

[ratcreature]

Thanks.

[logovo]

I keep looking at the pictures.

I'm sorry for your loss.

[ratcreature]

Thanks.

[cathexys]

oh hon, i'm so sorry!!!

thanks for sharing the pictures. they made me smile!

[ratcreature]

Thanks. I try to keep in mind why rats are such good company, despite their short lives, and that it is not all sickness and death, even if it seems like that sometimes.

[shadowvalkyrie]

*hugs*

[ratcreature]

*hugs back*

[parhelion]

I am very sorry to read you lost him.

[ratcreature]

Thank you.

[gnatkip]

I've been thinking about the two of you the past few days, and I'm so sorry to hear this.

[ratcreature]

Thank you.

[idlerat]

I'm really sorry. What a beautiful rat Emil was! I love their cozy spot in the entertainment center - mine would have scrambled right around to the back and chewed but the wires, pronto.

[ratcreature]

Thank you. Emil was very pretty. His fur was a great color, and very soft and silky too. Unfortunately he disliked prolonged cuddling.

And mine did the chewing too, so I removed most of the cables unless the tv was in use. I don't use my tv that much, ever since I got broadband internet, so it wasn't that inconvenient. It saved a some money too, because they no longer were on standby, but fully unplugged. What helped with the rest of the cables that couldn't be put out of their teeth's grasp was to wrap the cables in electrical tape so the plastic with the attractively sweet softener in it isn't on the surface. That reduced the chewing quite a bit.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

All my sympathies.

[ratcreature]

Thanks.

[astridv.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I'm so sorry.

[ratcreature]

Thanks. *hugs back*

[artaxastra.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry you've lost Emil. *hugs*

[ratcreature]

Thanks.

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry for your loss. {{hugs}}

[ratcreature]

Thank you. *hugs back*

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

So sorry for your loss.

[ratcreature]

Thanks.