i am so sad..............

[acidrain]

I have taken care of my dog for 10 years now and he is very healthy and goes to the vets when needed. i am perfectibility capable of caring for animals.

I imagine you'd most likely have taken your dog to the vet if he showed the same symptoms that Star had shown. A vet was needed for Star and hopefully you will take any future animals to the vets sooner, rather then too late like it was for Star.

the only reason i did not take star is because the symptoms cleared. i treat my dog and my rat equally.

[zoe9]

I'm very sorry poor Star has died.

Your poem was nice however it bothers me you are not taking responsibility for what has happened.

If you can't admit you have made a mistake you can't learn from it and if you can't learn from it you repeat it.
 
It's easy to work out from your posts that Star suffered from diarrhoea for at least a week before she died and that despite your claims she was better she clearly wasn't.

Please stop making excuses.    Star needed vet treatment which you did not give her.   End of story.

I am sorry you are upset but I'm not going to sugar-coat anything because of it.  Please learn from what has happened here so any future rats do not suffer the same fate.
 
RIP Star.

[junior_j]

I have been reading the ongoing threads/posts ect and i can see clearly u were given advice about taking the little girl to the vets.  I was 14 or 15 when i had to have 3 of my rats put down at once after the vet said they all had terminal issues and i made sure they got put down properly after paying for them to be seen to! At that age it was hard but i done it , i dont know how old u are but when u have rats u need to take them to the vets no matter what.. Weather or not her problems cleared u still should of taken her to be on the safe side. Her life wont be in vain providing u learn from not taking her.

R.I.P Star,

[acidrain]

A NOTE TO ALL:

I need to address a few things.

First of all: None of you know me and you have no right to make the assumptions you made. You assumed me to be an irresponsible 14 year old who doesn't know how to care for animals and doesn't want to make the effort to take my rat to the vet. You're wrong. I did everything in my power to keep star healthy. Many of the posts that i made were exaggerated a bit- because i was very worried about my girl and went a little overboard because i was nervous and assumed the worst. if i knew that star was in need of a vet i would have taken her. Her diarrhea had stopped and her spark was back. i cared about her and was very responsible with her and did everything in my power to keep her healthy. i had no idea that this could have happened. how dare you make those assumptions about me in this time of grief for me. i love and care for all my animals as if they were my own flesh and blood- because they are my family and i love them. I am a great pet owner and do not need this. i value and appreciate all of your opinions on rattie life, but please- dont judge this situation unless you know the full story.

[Ration1802]

Alright, and a note to you

The assumptions were correct based on on the posts that YOU posted and the information YOU gave. If you now decide that you are going to downplay her symptoms to make herself feel better, than that's your decision. The advice that you were given was based on the information you provided us with; remember this is the INTERNET and we are not able to read minds or know anything about your situation that you don't tell us about. So perhaps that is a lesson to be learnt also.

And PS. Everything in your power would have been taking her to the vet when her symptoms didn't clear up within a few days (which they had been showing by the time you had posted). So either you could take her to the vet, or you couldn't. I think it's time you make get your story straight.

As for this whole situation, I think the death of Star has said it all. What carries forth is going to up to you - whether it's your denial, ignorance or whether you learn from what has happened. The ball is in your court, so it's up to you what you do with it.

[acidrain]

I am not denying anything or ignorant. both my parents agree with all.

[lilspaz68]

I agree with everything said here, rats do not spontaneously get better from horrible symptoms like that, and we know that the longer you leave these things, the worse it gets, unfortunately you blithely ignored the "get to the vet" advice and instead bathed her even more, actually damaging her skin.  Your posts on here and your actions are all we have to go on.  Its all well and good that NOW you say you would've taken her to the vet, but you didn't.  Next time the whole forum shrieks "take her to the vet" run, don't walk to your vet...next rat might be saved.

We often learn the hard way, but we admit it and learn.  You are denying everything.

RIP Star, if you were mine, you would've been treated, and if you were too sick, I would've let you go and not let you suffer any longer.

[RFAdmin]

thread locked, don't see benefit of continuing thread.  and acidrain please don't curse.

RIP Star.