Thursday, May 27, 2010

R.I.P. Persephone

Today, my blue rat Persephone "Sephie" died. I bought her and another blue rat Circe on March 20, 2008. Eighteen days later, Circe died suddenly, and we were left with Sephie. Sephie was not a very friendly rat, especially after Circe died. You couldn't pick her up or touch her. We had to clean her rat cage with her in it, which is no small feat. She would try to bite you if fingers strayed too near her cage, but she wasn't a bad rat. She knew her name, loved her wheel, and adored treats, especially carrots and these little croissant things bought from Petsmart.

Yet, rats have short lifespans, and the past few weeks, Sephie hadn't been doing well. For a while, she acted crazy, jumping around, and she ate all the time. Then, she stopped eating. She could no longer climb or walk up the ramps. She was nearly blind and lost so much weight. Several times in the past two weeks, I thought today was the day she would die, but Sephie was a fighter until the end. She wanted life more than anything else.

This morning when I woke up, she wasn't doing well. For a second, I thought she was already dead, except when her head moved. Her breaths were so slight; they were nearly undetectable. I told her, "Sephie, it's okay. You don't have to keep suffering. It'll be better for you, if you give up."

When I went to finish getting ready for work, she was dead.

I am sad about it, and I'll miss her. Yet, I am glad she isn't suffering any more.

She now sits in her cage in the garage, waiting for my dad to come home to bury her.

I don't know if I'll get another rat any time soon. I love the furry little creatures, but between work, the fish, the cats, and the guinea pig, it's hard to keep up with them all. We'll clean out the cage tonight and move little Romeo (new kitten) into it. Right now, he's in our old, smaller rat cage. Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but it keeps him safe and out of trouble, since he's so little.

Maybe one day, the big cage that I promised my first rat and couldn't afford until Persephone and Circe will hold a couple more new rats.


Persephone
3/20/2008-5/27/2010

3 comments:

Nicole Zoltack said...

Aw, I'm sorry, Cherie. It's always hard when a pet dies. :(

Cherie Reich said...

Thanks, Nicole. I had accepted her death for the past few weeks, but it hit me hard when I wrote up the post about her. It is always hard to lose a pet, whether you have them for a few weeks, a few years, or many years.

Aubrie said...

I'm sorry. That's awful. My sister loves rats and she always gets so sad when one of them dies. They don't live very long. Poor things :(