Life

can really give you a kick sometimes :o(
I've lost my two old boys in the space of a week. Freddie was 2 years and 7 months which is a good age for a rattie, he was only ill for about 24 hours and slipped away quietly in his sleep. i am thankful for that. I believe he had pneumonia, he looked so forlorn, i am so glad he didn't suffer long with it.
Squiiggle on the other hand has been ill for most of his life, he suffered with Myco which is an affliction a LOT of rats suffer with. For the past three weeks he's been getting gradually worse and since Freddie left him you could almost see the weight fall off him. He couldn't eat properly and i was hand feeding him every few hours as it was the only way to get him to eat, he got out of breath just walking from one end of the cage to the other and if he got stressed out he just couldn't breath.
He'd suffered enough so i took him to the vet this morning and had him put to sleep. I have nothing but praise for the vet i saw, he was sympathetic and explained the procedure and although i am obviously upset i know i did the right thing for Squiiggle.

They will both be very missed, especially Freddie as he was our first and i am going to think long and hard about getting any more ratties now. Brian and William are happy enough with each other, and although i absolutely adore babies i'm not sure i can deal with the heartache that goes with old age :o(