KristyR
Well-Known Member
My dear sweet Simon. There was absolutely nothing about Simon that concerned me this morning. This evening, I had planned on cleaning cages and giving them their dinner after Dancing with the Stars, but I decided to go ahead and feed them first, then I would clean afterwards. Simon didn't run for the food as usual. He was huddled in the corner and gasping for breath. Oh god, not Simon. Why Simon? The look in his eyes...kind of glassy, a bit scared. He showed no interest in food and water - not even chocolate syrup.
Sometimes you know there's just not anything to do but be able to hold them and love them in their last minutes. I laid on the couch and held him close. I tried to stay as calm as I could for his sake. He needed a strong, comforting mom, not a bawling, broken one. Even the dogs stayed calm and left us alone - and they are usually all over me when I'm on the couch, and are always trying to sniff at the rats when I have one out.
He was working too hard to breathe. He stayed calm until the very end when he panicked and tried to pull himself off of me. I held him close, at my cheek, kissed him. Then he went limp. A few more small breaths, his little heartbeat slowed and stopped under my fingers. He was gone.
Then I lost it. I cried so hard. Harder than I've cried for anything since Jake died. I held him and bawled. I took him to his brothers and let them sniff his body, I called Erin, but she didn't answer, so I left her a message. I couldn't bury him until she called back. He was her heart rat. It just didn't feel right to bury him until I talked to her. I held him until she called, we talked for awhile, and then I buried him in the front garden, with Evie, Jake, Coco, and Ava.
Simon was one of my sweetest boys, and definitely the sweetest of him and his five brothers. He was a peacekeeper. He would get in between two rats who were about to fight and push one away. He would lay on top of one rat to keep another from getting to him. He loved people.
My dear, dear, sweet Simon. You were too young to die.
Sometimes you know there's just not anything to do but be able to hold them and love them in their last minutes. I laid on the couch and held him close. I tried to stay as calm as I could for his sake. He needed a strong, comforting mom, not a bawling, broken one. Even the dogs stayed calm and left us alone - and they are usually all over me when I'm on the couch, and are always trying to sniff at the rats when I have one out.
He was working too hard to breathe. He stayed calm until the very end when he panicked and tried to pull himself off of me. I held him close, at my cheek, kissed him. Then he went limp. A few more small breaths, his little heartbeat slowed and stopped under my fingers. He was gone.
Then I lost it. I cried so hard. Harder than I've cried for anything since Jake died. I held him and bawled. I took him to his brothers and let them sniff his body, I called Erin, but she didn't answer, so I left her a message. I couldn't bury him until she called back. He was her heart rat. It just didn't feel right to bury him until I talked to her. I held him until she called, we talked for awhile, and then I buried him in the front garden, with Evie, Jake, Coco, and Ava.
Simon was one of my sweetest boys, and definitely the sweetest of him and his five brothers. He was a peacekeeper. He would get in between two rats who were about to fight and push one away. He would lay on top of one rat to keep another from getting to him. He loved people.
My dear, dear, sweet Simon. You were too young to die.
