SpringChins
05-07-2005, 09:54 PM
:nolove: Hecate & Kunoichi, my two oldest rats, were put to sleep today at the tender age of about two and a half years. :nolove:
They both had degenerative myelopia really badly. I am very frustrated with their breeder. Not only because it is a genetic disease, but most rats that get it don't get it until they are much older (plus, they have had other genetic issues). So, my feeling is that the breeder had to have been doing something wrong...
I had already decided earlier this year that I would be putting them to sleep together. They have lived together since Kunoichi was born (Hecate was about a month old). They played together, slept together, and got sick together. So, in the end, I allowed them to die together. My last (and hardest-to-give) gift to them.
Yesterday, when Hecate started showing signs of going blind... I knew it was time. My vet is open on Saturdays, so I made the latest available appointment. I spent the day taking pictures and spoiling them absolutely rotten.
At the vet's office, I placed them in the chamber together. They explored it, then started to get tired. Hecate picked up a yogi. She was trying to eat it as she fell asleep. It was very cute. Once they were completely asleep, the vet took them out and gave them the injection.
Here are some pictures of them.
Kunoichi:
http://www.yresim.org/rats/RIP/Kunoichi.jpg
Hecate:
http://www.yresim.org/rats/RIP/Hecate2.jpg
Kunoichi & Hecate together:
http://www.yresim.org/rats/RIP/HecateKunoichi.JPG
Kunoichi & Hecate with some friends. This is actually one of my favorite pictures. The other two rats are Grandma (who was very old when Hecate & Kunoichi were young), and Denille (a rat from the same breeder who died of a brain tumour at 18 months).
http://www.yresim.org/rats/RIP/Sleepy.JPG
Hecate was a mis-marked black english irish. Kunoichi was a show-quality lilac dumbo tailless (with a notch on her ear from when she was younger). They are survived by four rat-friends.
They both had degenerative myelopia really badly. I am very frustrated with their breeder. Not only because it is a genetic disease, but most rats that get it don't get it until they are much older (plus, they have had other genetic issues). So, my feeling is that the breeder had to have been doing something wrong...
I had already decided earlier this year that I would be putting them to sleep together. They have lived together since Kunoichi was born (Hecate was about a month old). They played together, slept together, and got sick together. So, in the end, I allowed them to die together. My last (and hardest-to-give) gift to them.
Yesterday, when Hecate started showing signs of going blind... I knew it was time. My vet is open on Saturdays, so I made the latest available appointment. I spent the day taking pictures and spoiling them absolutely rotten.
At the vet's office, I placed them in the chamber together. They explored it, then started to get tired. Hecate picked up a yogi. She was trying to eat it as she fell asleep. It was very cute. Once they were completely asleep, the vet took them out and gave them the injection.
Here are some pictures of them.
Kunoichi:
http://www.yresim.org/rats/RIP/Kunoichi.jpg
Hecate:
http://www.yresim.org/rats/RIP/Hecate2.jpg
Kunoichi & Hecate together:
http://www.yresim.org/rats/RIP/HecateKunoichi.JPG
Kunoichi & Hecate with some friends. This is actually one of my favorite pictures. The other two rats are Grandma (who was very old when Hecate & Kunoichi were young), and Denille (a rat from the same breeder who died of a brain tumour at 18 months).
http://www.yresim.org/rats/RIP/Sleepy.JPG
Hecate was a mis-marked black english irish. Kunoichi was a show-quality lilac dumbo tailless (with a notch on her ear from when she was younger). They are survived by four rat-friends.