Pending Goodbye.

My last, final, sole-living rat will be departing this world on Saturday. It’s a planned departure – planned by me, I mean – but it still sucks pretty bad.

Tasha has always been a very “don’t touch me!” rat. She doesn’t like to be snuggled, stroked or handled in the slightest. Her only concession to my existence is that she loooooooves yogurt-covered peanuts and will occasionally allow the very tip of my finger to touch her, after I provide a snack, before she bolts into her cracker box to hide.

Recently she developed a mammary tumor. And that tumor is growing faster and faster with each passing day. (Rats are very much prone to cancer.) After three years of being very, very healthy, this still didn’t come as much of a surprise.

And so, the dilemma: how could I care for a rat with a tumor if she wouldn’t let me handle her at all?

My biggest concern for all of my pets, always, has been “quality of life”. Will they be able to recover and do the things they enjoy doing?

At 3 years old, Tasha may not live through surgery (or do well in recovery) and there’s no way she’d accept me regularly poking and prodding at her. It’s impossible to medicate her and she’s already bitten me a few times. Surgery is just not an option.

Leaving her “as is” is fine for the moment, but.. the tumor is growing. And she will soon be in pain or discomfort and even more unhappy to be handled or touched or carried. She’s mobile.. but she’s getting to the point where the tumor is making it hard for her to move easily or clean herself easily.

So, the vet has been called. The appointment has been made. Coffee has been recruited to take Tasha.

I will very much miss having rats – they’re very intelligent creatures and even just watching Tasha for the past while, and not interacting, has been lovely.

But it’s definitely time to say goodbye.