On Wednesday night, we discovered that Ratso (the first rat we got as a pet) had a big tumor on her side. (If you look carefully, you can see the lump on her right side). I gave her a bunch of carrots...
I spent most of the day comforting Ratso, our first (and favorite!) pet rat who was sick with cancer. She died peacefully a couple days later. She loved to be held and pet so much that she would quickly rub her teeth together - which made it feel like she was purring. It's called bruxism and it's one of the ways rats show their pleasure. Miss you, good one!
She also always is taking old clothes and cutting them up and making fun little cloth "tubes" for them to enjoy. Here's Ratso enjoying life on the hammock from the inside of an old leggin.
I thought that having pet rats would be similar to having a hamster or a gerbil - that they'd just sort of be things that sat in a cage looking cute. But in the first few weeks of having them, I was amazed by how smart and friendly and genuinely interested in people they were! They're like teeny tiny dogs! Hahaha.
Ratso and Roxy! Rats are so funny and smart: any time they have a treat, they're worried that the other rat is going to try to steal it from them. When we gave them both treats at the same time, they experimented with different cage positions before finally settling on the "mutual butt-touching treat-enjoyment position." They back up into each other and know that as long as they can feel the other one's butt, they can enjoy their treat in peace! Hahaha.
