It was just two weeks ago that I took our pet rat, Carrie,
in to the vet to be euthanized. I didn’t feel completely confident with the
idea because she wasn’t doing as poorly as other pets I’ve euthanized. She was
lethargic, not very responsive and frail looking, but she was still eating and
drinking though we had to place food in front of her to get her interested.
While we were in the exam room and waiting for the doctor, I
noticed that the lump on the side of Carrie’s face had gone down. I had thought
this lump was a tumor, but tumors generally don’t decrease on their own right? Once
Doctor Katie started her exam, I soon realized there was a chance I would
have to run the errands I had planned with a live rat in the van rather
than the dead one that wouldn’t have caused any problems.
Carrie was diagnosed with a pretty bad ear infection and a
slight respiratory irritation. The doctor set us up with some oral Baytril and
some Baytril drops for the affected ear.
I knew this would likely only give Carrie a few more months, but I was
thankful for the chance to make things right by improving how she felt. I also
felt more at ease knowing I couldn’t possibly put her down for an ear
infection.
That day was the day before my son’s birthday, so I had a lot of
running around to do. Since we live in a small town and the vet is in a
big, busy town, I still intended to do my shopping. I made Carrie a little tent
within her pet carrier and she was just fine to stay in the van on that cool
spring day. My kids had been reminded to say goodbye one last time to her that morning so they
were happily surprised to see her twittering around in the carrier when I arrived
home. They’ll have to say goodbye again some other day.
Carolina is feeling much better now. She’s walking around
and investigating things like a good rat. She can’t climb or jump much anymore,
but she sure hasn’t given up on life. She’s eating heartily all on her own and still
can’t resist anything with peanut butter. To be sure, I’ve never met a
rat that could.
This is Carrie. We sometimes call her Blackie though she's more of a dark brown. She'll be three years old in July of 2012.