I lost my Finn a few moments ago. I never did find out what was wrong with him. My vet has offered to pay for testing at the U of A. She said they could do more extensive necropsy (like an autopsy) then she could so I'll probably take her up on it. It will give her a chance to learn from this as well and perhaps help other rats in the future. I do hate the idea of him being dissected though. I'm just trying to tell myself that it's important to know more about rat health.
Anyway the last couple of days have been hard, he had taken a turn for the worse and couldn't breathe well. He'd only eat off my finger or take water from a syringe. I knew I should put him down so he wouldn't suffer but on Wed night when I tried I chickened out. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I was going to put him down today but when I woke up this morning I found him dying in the cage. So I took him out and held him, and told him I loved him.
The last couple of days gave me great bonding time with him. I needed that. We cuddled a lot and he was so cute when he'd eat. He'd hold my finger with his little paws while he'd lick off formula, or baby food, or yogurt. And last night I thought I'd give him a treat of potato soup. He ate a ton of it.
He was the last of my group that knew Delphiniums so it's the end of an era :( Finn will be very, very missed but he's with his brother Ari now.
http://www.zazzle.com/itsaratsworld/
Edited 10/23/2009 1:54 pm ET by cl-babygromit
