[Finnebon]

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!

 

[Hey-Fay]

I'm sorry for your loss, he was a handsome boy.

 

[bloomington bob]

RIP Dumblekins - Nice pics, particularly the bottom one

 

[redcoat]

So sorry for your loss.

 

[Finnebon]

Thank you all. Eagerly waiting the results from the studies done at the school. Should be about 4-6 weeks to get all results back, but it would be really great to know what was wrong. It's strange, maybe it's because I wasn't able to go to his pts appointment, but it doesn't really feel like he's gone/passed on. I just kind of feels like he's somewhere else, like at someone else's house, or just away on a ratty sleepover. I guess that's how it feels when we've had this guy for the longest out of all the rest of the babies. We'll get his body back next week and give him a proper burial. Thanks for the kind wishes everyone. (and yes, he was a handsome boy! )

 

[Ilovemybabyrats]

So sorry love his baby pic. He looked just like my first rat Basil.

 

[Finnebon]

<a href='http://i.imgur.com/wX4BAP8' title=''><img src='http://i.imgur.com/wX4BAP8.jpg' alt='' title='Hosted by imgur.com' /></a>


I hope this image works. I'm trying to post through mobile. Look what the vet sent to us in the mail to remember Dumplekins! Its a small plaque with his footprints and name, and someone also sculpted a small brown rat that looks like him. There was also a card with 7 different notes of condolences from the vet and I assume the students. The box contains Dumplekins remains that they had tied with a nice ribbon. I felt so touched, that was such a nice thing for them to do for us, and now my boyfriend will always have that little plaque to remember his first special rat. <3

 

[Finnebon]

Darn I guess the picture didn't go through when I tried to post it earlier. Hopefully this one works.

We also got the rest of the necropsy results. He had a cancerous pituitary tumor. It was also causing excessive female hormones which is why he developed the mammary tumors, and his testicles were severely atrophied. He also had an enlarged and fatty liver. His adrenal glands weren't great and also his kidneys were starting to degenerate. He also had the start of a very small issue with his larynx and heart.

It's good to know what was wrong with him at least.. Gives us a little closure. We've decided that whenever we have to have a pet put to sleep, we will likely donate their body to this vet so we can get a free necropsy and learn more about what happened with the pet's health.