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We finally had our Dumplekins put to sleep on Tuesday the 3rd. We were really hoping he'd be able to pass away peacefully at home, but he was a fighter. He had a few months of struggling with an unknown health issue. He had been to the vet multiple times, with no real results or advice which was very discouraging. We live in Davis, so for his last appointment we took him to the UC Davis veterinary teaching school and felt much better about what they told us. But still, there was nothing we could really do. They gave us a couple pain meds and gave him some fluids, and we kept him as comfy as we could for his last week before his pts appointment.
His issues were so slow to progress that it was hard to tell how bad he had gotten, but in the end, he had lost a lot of weight and had become weaker and weaker, and the last 2 weeks, had lost the use of his back legs. He still ate his special food, but not much. When his appointment came, he needed 3 sedative injections before he was knocked out and given the final heart injection. He was a fighter, but it was still a downhill battle the entire time. The good new is that we donated his body to the veterinary school, and we will be given the results which will hopefully give us a little closure and we will know what caused his issues. The vets were thinking maybe a pituitary tumor and/or organ failure of some kind.
One of his funniest traits was he was vocal. He hated getting picked up and when touched or actually picked up would squeak and complain. That's something we really miss, is hearing his cute little complainy voice. We got him when he was just a tiny baby, maybe 6 weeks old, and coincidentally had the same birthday as my boyfriend. We adopted his brother Pancakes the next day. Here is a picture of Dumplekins the day we brought him home with my boyfriend.
And here he is when he was a year old. He grew so much! He got even bigger as he got older.
He and Pancakes didn't seem to have a super strong bond, but near the last couple weeks, Pancakes seemed to know that Dumplekins wasn't well, and cuddled with him a lot more to keep him warm, and cleaned his face after almost every meal. It was really sweet to see. Poor P-cakes is alone now, but he will be joined by 2 spayed girls and 1 neutered boy in a few days when their surgery sites heal up a bit more. I hope those intros go well and our Mr. Cakes will be happy with his new young sisters and brother.
Here's the last picture we have of sweet Dumples. He was very thin and weak, but still fighting! He was a tough old man, and we miss him very much. He was just a few days short of being 2 1/2 years old.
This isn't the most eloquently written remembrance for him, but I had to write something for our special boy. He was the first rat my boyfriend ever had, and is the reason we got back into keeping rats and have such a big awesome varied rat family today. Goodbye to our little patriarch. We miss you and love you very much Dumples!
His issues were so slow to progress that it was hard to tell how bad he had gotten, but in the end, he had lost a lot of weight and had become weaker and weaker, and the last 2 weeks, had lost the use of his back legs. He still ate his special food, but not much. When his appointment came, he needed 3 sedative injections before he was knocked out and given the final heart injection. He was a fighter, but it was still a downhill battle the entire time. The good new is that we donated his body to the veterinary school, and we will be given the results which will hopefully give us a little closure and we will know what caused his issues. The vets were thinking maybe a pituitary tumor and/or organ failure of some kind.
One of his funniest traits was he was vocal. He hated getting picked up and when touched or actually picked up would squeak and complain. That's something we really miss, is hearing his cute little complainy voice. We got him when he was just a tiny baby, maybe 6 weeks old, and coincidentally had the same birthday as my boyfriend. We adopted his brother Pancakes the next day. Here is a picture of Dumplekins the day we brought him home with my boyfriend.

And here he is when he was a year old. He grew so much! He got even bigger as he got older.

He and Pancakes didn't seem to have a super strong bond, but near the last couple weeks, Pancakes seemed to know that Dumplekins wasn't well, and cuddled with him a lot more to keep him warm, and cleaned his face after almost every meal. It was really sweet to see. Poor P-cakes is alone now, but he will be joined by 2 spayed girls and 1 neutered boy in a few days when their surgery sites heal up a bit more. I hope those intros go well and our Mr. Cakes will be happy with his new young sisters and brother.


Here's the last picture we have of sweet Dumples. He was very thin and weak, but still fighting! He was a tough old man, and we miss him very much. He was just a few days short of being 2 1/2 years old.

This isn't the most eloquently written remembrance for him, but I had to write something for our special boy. He was the first rat my boyfriend ever had, and is the reason we got back into keeping rats and have such a big awesome varied rat family today. Goodbye to our little patriarch. We miss you and love you very much Dumples!
