dan2333
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2009
- Messages
- 203
It is with great sadness that I had to let Heidi go today. She was a great rat and frankly, I saw her as my baby, my daughter. I love her so much.
She was having some health issues. Two tumors (one on the neck and one behind the left paw). She also had a growth on her nose. She was having trouble walking around and eating. She also had what appeared to be a mild URI. She was stressed out and frustrated by the tumors and the thing on her nose. She was declining.
After Zoe passed, she was lonely so I paired her up with Jewel and Cowgirl. Jewel was immediately attached to Heidi. I think she saw her as a mother figure. She always curled up to Heidi. I think it made a big difference for Heidi after losing Zoe. They all slept together every night in a special box that I made for them. I cleaned out the cage, including the box twice a day (once in the morning and once in the evening). Heidi likes it to be clean all the time so I was always cleaning constantly (removing poo and pee).
I know she is in Heaven now with Zoe and all her rat family.
Here is Heidi's character profile when she was in her prime:
- Very active and inquisitive
- A home body: she didn't like to even leave the dining room where her cage was. If I put her upstairs in the living room with all the fun places to crawl and hide, after 30 minutes or so she would come out to me because she wanted me to take her back to the cage or the dining room. Zoe was the same way.
- Not the most affectionate with people: but was affectionate with Zoe.
- Didn't like to share her food: she couldn't eat next to Zoe without starting a fight
- Food stasher: she would stash food in different places, usually in the igloo, box or hammock. And often, after you give her a snack, she would take it, hide it, and then come back out for more (pretending like she didn't get any).
- Territorial: she didn't like my sisters rats to run around on her territory. She was mean to them. She would hiss at them and scratch them with her hind feet.
- Responsive to me: she knew her name and when it was time for dinner. I would either say, "come", or "din din", or I would make dinging noise with the food plate to indicate it was time to eat.
- A chewer: she loved to chew. She even chewed on her litter pan so badly that we had to replace it.
- Didn't like to be discovered. When she hid in the hotel (a multi-level box) and I opened it to find her at the top level, she would scurry down to the lower level.
- Hammock: she loves the hammocks almost as much as Zoe. She would always join Zoe in the hammock and push her out of the way and snuggle up next to her. Zoe would squeak a bit and then make room for her.
- Food: Heidi was a big time foodie. She loved food so much more than Zoe. And she would eat very very fast. Twice as fast as Zoe.
- Adventurous but not too much of a risk-taker: she would like to run around the dining table and dining room. But was not too interested in going outside her area. She never wanted to really leave the dining room area where her cage was.
- Didn't like being held: she was never into it, except maybe sometimes when she was older. But generally after a few minutes she wanted me to let her go.
I will always love her. She left me with so many memories.
Heidi, I will always love you. You are in my heart forever. I will miss you.
Love, Daddy.
She was having some health issues. Two tumors (one on the neck and one behind the left paw). She also had a growth on her nose. She was having trouble walking around and eating. She also had what appeared to be a mild URI. She was stressed out and frustrated by the tumors and the thing on her nose. She was declining.
After Zoe passed, she was lonely so I paired her up with Jewel and Cowgirl. Jewel was immediately attached to Heidi. I think she saw her as a mother figure. She always curled up to Heidi. I think it made a big difference for Heidi after losing Zoe. They all slept together every night in a special box that I made for them. I cleaned out the cage, including the box twice a day (once in the morning and once in the evening). Heidi likes it to be clean all the time so I was always cleaning constantly (removing poo and pee).
I know she is in Heaven now with Zoe and all her rat family.
Here is Heidi's character profile when she was in her prime:
- Very active and inquisitive
- A home body: she didn't like to even leave the dining room where her cage was. If I put her upstairs in the living room with all the fun places to crawl and hide, after 30 minutes or so she would come out to me because she wanted me to take her back to the cage or the dining room. Zoe was the same way.
- Not the most affectionate with people: but was affectionate with Zoe.
- Didn't like to share her food: she couldn't eat next to Zoe without starting a fight
- Food stasher: she would stash food in different places, usually in the igloo, box or hammock. And often, after you give her a snack, she would take it, hide it, and then come back out for more (pretending like she didn't get any).
- Territorial: she didn't like my sisters rats to run around on her territory. She was mean to them. She would hiss at them and scratch them with her hind feet.
- Responsive to me: she knew her name and when it was time for dinner. I would either say, "come", or "din din", or I would make dinging noise with the food plate to indicate it was time to eat.
- A chewer: she loved to chew. She even chewed on her litter pan so badly that we had to replace it.
- Didn't like to be discovered. When she hid in the hotel (a multi-level box) and I opened it to find her at the top level, she would scurry down to the lower level.
- Hammock: she loves the hammocks almost as much as Zoe. She would always join Zoe in the hammock and push her out of the way and snuggle up next to her. Zoe would squeak a bit and then make room for her.
- Food: Heidi was a big time foodie. She loved food so much more than Zoe. And she would eat very very fast. Twice as fast as Zoe.
- Adventurous but not too much of a risk-taker: she would like to run around the dining table and dining room. But was not too interested in going outside her area. She never wanted to really leave the dining room area where her cage was.
- Didn't like being held: she was never into it, except maybe sometimes when she was older. But generally after a few minutes she wanted me to let her go.
I will always love her. She left me with so many memories.
Heidi, I will always love you. You are in my heart forever. I will miss you.
Love, Daddy.
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