[luvconnect]

last night i lost my little sweetheart, florian. she had been struggling with respiratory issues for some time and last night she stopped breathing - i'm heartbroken. i'm worried about my other rat, tia. she's really healthy and i expect that she'll be around for a good while longer but i don't want her to be lonely in the cage by herself, and i know it can be very stressful for a rat to live on its own.
i'm stuck as to what to do. i want to provide the best life i can for tia, but i don't want to replace little flo so soon. plus, if i get another rat as a cagemate for tia, i feel it might start a continuing sequence of rat after rat as one passes away and another has to go in her place..
any advice on the situation? i'm so torn and just don't know what i should do.

 

[SonicRat]

Unfortunately,you just described the burden of being a rat owner,they are not down here for long,compared to us and we do have to keep topping up the numbers for the sake of those rats that remain.So you need to ask yourself,do you want to carry on cohabiting with rats?If so,I would try and get a pair of young sisters as soon as possible.If you have at least 3 then you will not be left with a lone rat.I am sorry for you and Tias loss of Fllorian.Beautiful names💕🐁

 

[Allison Pluto]

Im so sorry for your loss, I was in a very similar situation a few months back so I will tell you what I ended up doing

My boy Quill passed after surgery and I was left with his brother Olly, they were both only just a year old and Olly is and was still very healthy so I knew I couldn't just leave him alone. I took a few weeks to heal both Olly and I, I looked up many different ways I could help him and I found that if the other rat saw and smelled the body for a few minutes that helps them process quicker so that might've helped Tia. I spent most of my free time with Olly and holding him and playing with him in every way possible to try and keep him company while we both grieved, and I bought a small radio and had music playing while I couldn't be around him so he would still feel as if people were there and I cut up old clothes of mine and put in his cage so he could smell me around him. After about 3 weeks I found a pair of young girls at the same place I got my boys. While I didn't feel entirely ready I knew Olly was and I didn't want to put my grief on him and this being exactly what my vet recommended with Olly being neutered. I felt as if i was replacing Quill and sometimes I still do, but I love my girls and Olly is so happy now and has done so great with the girls hes acting like hes only a few months old again.

It hurts really bad and I see you just joined so I'm guessing you're a new owner and this caused you to join this forum which is exactly what I did hours after Quill died so this is what I wanted someone to say to me. There is no right or wrong way to handle this situation, every person and rat will handle it differently but you will give Tia a good life and it will get so much easier as time goes on I promise. You just do what feels right, this purely is a just trust your gut situation where you decided what is best for the both of you, you guys are in this together and you will get through it together too

 

[Lilyst07]

This is why it’s recommended to have 3 or more rats at all times so that if they unexpectedly die the other one won’t be lonely. I recommend getting some more rats asap and doing intros but make sure you do lots of research and don’t jump straight in.

 

[Str4ngerth1ngs]

You could buy some younger rats but if your not up for it schedule some play times regualrly and check for signs of distress you could even consider buying older rats if a similar age I’ve gone through the same thing and my rats would sleep in the place of their lost buddies and eventually they grow happy again!