womzilla | RIP Teddy Rattsevelt, 2004-2007

When we got back from our too-brief trip to Michigan to visit

nellorat's family, Teddy was actually doing slightly better than he had been when we left. Part of that was that he received a really thorough bath, so he looked better than he had in a long time, but he was perky and fairly active within the limits of his frailty. But he declined through the week.

Today it became clear that Teddy's quality of life had gone away. He was basically unable to move--not completely paralyzed, but with too little strength in his front legs to pull himself around. Additionally, his breathing was somewhat raspy, even though he received an antibiotic shot just yesterday. There's a description we've used in the past: although it was not certainly too late, it was also not too early to let him go. So, nellorat and

supergee took him in for the Big Sleep. (I couldn't come home because of a crisis at work that began Monday evening and won't be over until tomorrow.)

Ted was a superb rat. He was always friendly (at least to humans--he had some domination issues with other rats) and very loving, right up to the end, though he did have a wonderful "Whaaaat?" expression when awakened, even for food. He spent a lot of his life in rattie isolation because of a serious illness around Christmas 2004, after which we couldn't get him re-integrated with his family for several months until we tried behavior-modification through testicular absenteeism. Then he spent the last three or four months alone because any other rats in his cage would steal his food, and he wasn't strong enough to stick up for himself. But in the middle there, he was one of the Monochome Boys (five males colored only in patterns of black, white, or grey)--Dr. Butch, Orville and Wilbur Whately, and Franklin and Teddy--and also of the World Leaders (an overlapping group of presidents and kings including both Rattsevelts, King Felix the Rat ["the wonderful, wonderful rat"], Ozzy Rex, Sol Invictus, and King Pippen the Pew).

nellorat tells me that the vet's office was overflowing with people wishing us well. As our longest-lived rat, Teddy had the chance to meet pretty much everyone who works there at one point or another, and, well, having an on-site birthday party is not an honor most rats get at their vet's. He was loved long and well and he will be deeply missed.