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Well, the battle was lost this morning and my brave old girl Katie joined all those waiting for her on the other side.
She came to me in January 2005 (4 months old) as a 'pick me up' after losing my first bought rat, Kain. She was my first hairless and I'm sure she got fed up with her first few months being spent with everyone here 'oooo'ing and 'ahhhhhh'ing at stretchy skin and wrinkles lol.
She took a while to settle in at home - we thought, originally, that she just an aggressive rat - inside her cage she was an absolute doll but outside while running around she would turn nasty and bite on a reasonably regular basis. It wasn't until my second bought - Abel - died and she turned into the nice quiet Katie that we all know her for, that we realised that she just didn't get on with him. Even being in the room with him put her on edge.
Since then, she's been the lovliest little thing you could imagine. Although, she would happily rip the throat out of any rat the came hear her (with the exception of Lou and T-Baby) and because of this had to spend her life as a singleton
I would have loved her to spend her time with the two sisters, but unfortunately they were far to unpredictable (and HUGE) to allow delicate little Katie to get caught up in the middle of some of their brawls. Katie did, however, love her daily 'sleep over' sessions as she got into her golden years.
She's been mostly healthy her whole life, we almost lost her once due to a nasty chest infection, and she almost lost an eye through infection (that darn eye was never the same since). Other than that, she was a battle axe of the rodent variety.
Recently. following a triple lumpectomy, she kept going downhill. We realised that she was suffering from a Pituitary Tumour - a vicious thing that left her almost immobile. Her last two weeks were spent under human care (aka me) and she was almost glued to my side - day and night - being hand fed and cleaned. But she never gave up - despite everything, she kept that fight going STRONG.
She never once lost that gorgeous spark that was Katie - and even till this morning she was trying to climb onto my shoulder, demanding her breakfast and playing little games with my fingers.
I couldn't imagine having a better rat than my sweet little Kitty Kates. She was one of those independant, hold onto life with deep-sunk teeth sort, but she always made sure that her humans were well cared for. One of the things I will always remember her for is her free time, where she would run around with Lou and T, but every 10/15 minutes (like clockwork) she would come back to me, sit on my shoulder and give me a quick groom.
Although I can't find the sadness in my heart to grieve for her passing(right now) because I am happier for her sadness to be over, and that she can play happily as a healthy rat on the other side of the bridge - she will be missed. A part of me has left this world with her.
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Katie - Oct 2004 / Dec 2007
She came to me in January 2005 (4 months old) as a 'pick me up' after losing my first bought rat, Kain. She was my first hairless and I'm sure she got fed up with her first few months being spent with everyone here 'oooo'ing and 'ahhhhhh'ing at stretchy skin and wrinkles lol.
She took a while to settle in at home - we thought, originally, that she just an aggressive rat - inside her cage she was an absolute doll but outside while running around she would turn nasty and bite on a reasonably regular basis. It wasn't until my second bought - Abel - died and she turned into the nice quiet Katie that we all know her for, that we realised that she just didn't get on with him. Even being in the room with him put her on edge.
Since then, she's been the lovliest little thing you could imagine. Although, she would happily rip the throat out of any rat the came hear her (with the exception of Lou and T-Baby) and because of this had to spend her life as a singleton
I would have loved her to spend her time with the two sisters, but unfortunately they were far to unpredictable (and HUGE) to allow delicate little Katie to get caught up in the middle of some of their brawls. Katie did, however, love her daily 'sleep over' sessions as she got into her golden years.She's been mostly healthy her whole life, we almost lost her once due to a nasty chest infection, and she almost lost an eye through infection (that darn eye was never the same since). Other than that, she was a battle axe of the rodent variety.
Recently. following a triple lumpectomy, she kept going downhill. We realised that she was suffering from a Pituitary Tumour - a vicious thing that left her almost immobile. Her last two weeks were spent under human care (aka me) and she was almost glued to my side - day and night - being hand fed and cleaned. But she never gave up - despite everything, she kept that fight going STRONG.
She never once lost that gorgeous spark that was Katie - and even till this morning she was trying to climb onto my shoulder, demanding her breakfast and playing little games with my fingers.
I couldn't imagine having a better rat than my sweet little Kitty Kates. She was one of those independant, hold onto life with deep-sunk teeth sort, but she always made sure that her humans were well cared for. One of the things I will always remember her for is her free time, where she would run around with Lou and T, but every 10/15 minutes (like clockwork) she would come back to me, sit on my shoulder and give me a quick groom.
Although I can't find the sadness in my heart to grieve for her passing(right now) because I am happier for her sadness to be over, and that she can play happily as a healthy rat on the other side of the bridge - she will be missed. A part of me has left this world with her.
Katie - Oct 2004 / Dec 2007
