Question
Opie
i just wanted to preface that i do not have a question. i just wanted to relate how heartbreaking it is to lose your first rat, and how i had no idea how attached i would get to something the size of my hand.
opie was a hairless male, who suffered from a zymbal's gland tumor and passed away in his sleep a couple days ago. he always wanted to be either sitting on your lap, or just close to you in general, no matter when. as soon as he knew you were in the room, he would come over and immediately want to be with you. we only had him for 11 months. i never realized how much i would grow attached to the little guy, and now, 2 days after his death, i just always feel so empty without his presence. i never knew i could feel so much sorrow from losing such a little friend.
we have three other hairless rats, and they seem to notice that he's gone. they don't like to cuddle like opie did, but i am glad they are here with me. anyway, i guess i just wanted to express my complete suprise at how special these little guys are, especially opie. as a 27 year old man, i still find tears rolling down my face over his loss. he was a great pet, as rats surprisingly are. i miss him a lot.
AnswerI am so sorry for your loss. I know how it hurts. The bad part is, it hurts every time, the first rat or the forth fourth, like when I lost my 44th rat last June. Every single time I lose one, I am just numb for days and days. I feel like it wont ever stop hurting. In a way, it never really does.
It takes a special person to love a pet rat and I have found thousands of them just by having my website, Sandyscrittercity.com and also by working here at allexperts.com too.
Some people say that once they lose their last rat, thats it, no more rats. It hurts to bad. The only way we can cope really is to accept that this is their life. This is all they know. Like we tend to accept death of a loved one when they are 90 yrs old because they have lived a full life, we have to also accept that even though our rats live to be 2, 3 maybe up to 4 years old, thats their life.....thats just how long they have and we have to accept it. If not, we will never be able to own rats. I would rather hurt each time I lose a rat than not ever own one again. I cant say that people who stop owning rats are weak or even selfish, but those that continue to own them despite the heartache of losing them are really the ones that truly understand int he first place. Rats are so smart, so clean, so loving and sweet and so misunderstood. I will always own rats. When I was going through a divorce, I left my house behind. Just myself in a big 16 foot truck hauling over 700 miles with a little bit of my favorite items and right smack in the front seat of that Uhaul sat a cage with my three precious boys in it. My rats, that is!!
This is what I do what I do. So little is known about their care. Well I take that back. So little ACCURATE information is known about their care, that is, and so I dove head first into learning about rats, often teaching myself but found many Vets willing to mentor me, including one now that helps me even if its through the internet, and I can proudly say that I can butt heads with Vets about rat care without batting an eyelash and know I am right more than most vets are. I cant stand by and watch these animals die without being properly treated so I became a huge advocate for pet rat health and now here I am, with a huge following of rat owners that are right behind me learning as much as they can about rat care too.
Your rat lived to be 2. Do you know that hairless rats usually dont live to be 2? They lack a thymus gland and this weakens their immune system. The fact is, he did live that long and it is because of YOU! I was acutally impressed that he was properly diagnosed (you said he had a zymbals gland tumor) and only a small handful of Vets are even aware of what a zymbals gland tumor is. Most vets dig and pick and dig and pick at it, having no idea they are dealing with an aggressive cancerous mass rather than a typical abscess. Kudos to your Vet for knowing his or her stuff!
If you would like to see your sweet rats face on my website, feel free to send as many photos as you want. I will put them up on sandsycrittercity.com like I do for many of my readers.
Again, I am sorry for your loss but I am glad you had him and knew him and got to love him and give him a forever home.
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