REPOST NEED ADVICE: should i put my rats down together? :(

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Joined
Aug 17, 2019
Messages
12
Location
north carolina
I am desperately looking for some advice on my situation. I have two senior lady rats, Alley and Trixie, both have tumors. Alley has three, all of which have grown significantly in the past few months since their other cage mate had to be put down due to a mammary tumor. Alley is finally getting to the point where her mobility is starting to be affected. Unfortunately, I think she’ll have to be put down this month. The problem is that Trixie’s tumor while definitely growing, isn’t significantly hindering her at this point. And since I can’t get new rats because of a new place and lease she’ll be all alone once Alley’s gone. I’m not sure what to do. Trixie most likely only has a few more months left. Of course, My roommates and I would give Trixie as much attention and love as possible once Alley’s gone, but I’m not sure if it’ll be enough since we’re all full time college students. Is it crueler to let her grieve alone her last few months or to put her down with her sister? Any advice during this rough time would be appreciated.
 
that is a very difficult question to answer. a lot depends on the rat. if Trixie enjoys your attention that may be fine for her at her age, a lot of times rats don't do much but sleep and eat when they are very old and/or unwell. another option would be to rehome her or find a rescue that does hospice/geriatric rat care, some keep the older rats with other older fosters in the same sad situation of losing all their cage mates (I foster for one in New England that does this) for some rats this is a good option, but for others the stress of leaving the home they are in much be too much on top of losing their buddies. It's really a case by case thing. You can wait and see how it goes with the tumors, it may happen that Trixie's catch up with Alley's or that Alley's don't progress as fast as you'd expected and it may make more sense to have them both go at the same time, when that time comes. I am sorry you are losing your girls and have to make these tough decisions
 
that is a very difficult question to answer. a lot depends on the rat. if Trixie enjoys your attention that may be fine for her at her age, a lot of times rats don't do much but sleep and eat when they are very old and/or unwell. another option would be to rehome her or find a rescue that does hospice/geriatric rat care, some keep the older rats with other older fosters in the same sad situation of losing all their cage mates (I foster for one in New England that does this) for some rats this is a good option, but for others the stress of leaving the home they are in much be too much on top of losing their buddies. It's really a case by case thing. You can wait and see how it goes with the tumors, it may happen that Trixie's catch up with Alley's or that Alley's don't progress as fast as you'd expected and it may make more sense to have them both go at the same time, when that time comes. I am sorry you are losing your girls and have to make these tough decisions
that is a very difficult question to answer. a lot depends on the rat. if Trixie enjoys your attention that may be fine for her at her age, a lot of times rats don't do much but sleep and eat when they are very old and/or unwell. another option would be to rehome her or find a rescue that does hospice/geriatric rat care, some keep the older rats with other older fosters in the same sad situation of losing all their cage mates (I foster for one in New England that does this) for some rats this is a good option, but for others the stress of leaving the home they are in much be too much on top of losing their buddies. It's really a case by case thing. You can wait and see how it goes with the tumors, it may happen that Trixie's catch up with Alley's or that Alley's don't progress as fast as you'd expected and it may make more sense to have them both go at the same time, when that time comes. I am sorry you are losing your girls and have to make these tough decisions
thank you for your insight! it means a lot. trixie does enjoy my company and in her old age has definitely been less active. i’ll monitor them both closely for right now, but thank you for giving me more information to base my choice off of :)
 
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