Goodbye Ralphie...

[bubbafett]

I've never joined a forum before but I just lost my rat yesterday and I am having a hard time dealing with it.  I am really appreciating all the obits from other folks who have lost their rats.  I don't feel quite so crazy for feeling so bad about a little pet.  I think my family thinks I'm nuts - my wife is very supportive, though.  We have no kids so our pets are kind of like our kids I guess.

My rat's name was Ralph.  We thought she was a boy when she was little, but she turned out to be a girl.  I work from my home, so her cage was right by my desk.  I called her my "office buddy" or my "admin assistant".  She liked to sit on my shoulder for hours or run around on my desk and keyboard, helping write e-mails.

She had been sick for a week and a half.  I took her to the vet and we tried 3 different meds, which she HATED.  She started getting better but over the weekend took a rapid turn for the worse.

I had just given her her medication yesterday morning and some apple sauce, which she loved.  She insisting on climbing up on my shoulder and talked to me a bit.  Then she started sliding off as she was too weak to keep her grip. I held her in my arms, scratching her between her ears, for about 10 minutes and she kept getting sleepier and sleepier.  Suddenly she took one really deep breath and then died.  It was horrible.  She was only about a year old.

Ralphie was the coolest, she never once bit anyone, she was always up for a shoulder ride no matter who it was and seems to like everyone, even our pet cats.  She was the first rat I ever had too, which makes it harder.

It's funny, I've had mice, hamsters, etc. over the years, but never quite got as attached as I did to Ralphie.  She was just so much smarter and personable than other little furballs.

Sorry for the long post, but I'm hoping this will kind of be like therapy.

[psycho_ash]

Rats are like tiny, tiny dogs... Don't feel bad for feeling upset over "a little pet". Little pets have big hearts and can leave big influences. Someone around here has a signature that says "It seems we miss them longer than they're alive", which is insanely true.

That is really sad about your little Ralphiegirl... It sounds like she was a beautiful, loving little ratfriend (I like to merge words a lot, lol).

It sucks that she died like that, but... at least you got to be with her, to let her know that she was loved. Imagine if you had come home and found her gone in her cage... I feel like that would be infinitely more heartbreaking...

Good luck with your healing, and writing about it does seem to help me, so write your heart out if it helps.

Sleep well, Ralphie.

[AMJ087]

Im so sorry to hear about the loss. They are so precious and go so quick. Im sure he was spoiled and loved and that the best thing you can give them in life.

[nertnie]

I'm so sorry for your loss.  I rarely venture into this section of the forum simply because reading the posts and knowing how difficult it is to lose a beloved fur-baby has me bawling  every time.  It *is* hard to deal with and everyone here feels your pain.

It sounds as though you gave your Ralphie a very happy life and a rattie won't ever ask for anything more.  I love that you called her your "Admin assistant" (that's what I am  LOL). 

Talking does help.. and if you want to share stories about your Ralphie, we'd be more than happy to listen. 

[skpb]

We lost our first little girl in the fall and it still feels like yesterday... so sorry for your loss.

The hardest thing for us was dealing w/ people who didn't understand why we were grieving over "just a rat." (We're the only ones in our circle of friends/family who own ratties.) But it's true - along w/ probably everyone here, we really grieved. She was our first, too, and left us SO quickly in under a year. We named her Nori (sushi/seaweed paper) and we eat it often, so saying the word aloud or writing it as part of our grocery list, oddly enough, still causes a little heartache.

But their (the ratties) awesome and distinct personalities leave a print on our hearts and makes it worth having them. Ralphie sounds like no exception to that, and whether or not everybody who reads these posts end up replying, I think we all can understand, and hope that it helps. It did for us.

Hang in there.