![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
R.I.P. Jasper 27.6.08 - 4.1.10
Jan. 5th, 2010 12:45 pmJasper, my Boss Rat, big dude and black satin hooded, was put to sleep yesterday.
About a week ago he became unusually quiet, then lost his sense of balance. I cared for him for the next few days, until it became clear that he was getting worse, not better. At first we couldn't tell whether he'd had a stroke or had a tumour, but the final diagnosis was for tumour. He was only about 17 months old, which is rat middle age, and in great condition before this happened. He'd been a part-time free range rat, not always with my knowledge, as he had a knack for evading the bed-time round up. If I failed to count tails correctly, he got to spend the night out (having dinner from the stashes he stored around the living room) and would stroll up to me in the morning for breakfast.
He is also responsible for me having to shift an entire lower shelf of hardbacks, as he was using them as steps up to the top of the side table where Claude, his arch-enemy, lived.
Jasper's last chomp was on the third Lovecraft Omnibus, owned by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
drhoz. Of course it was out of print so I had to order another copy from a far distant shop. The effect of the concentrated Mythos was evidently too much for Jasper to deal with.
Other news: I'm going ahead with the broadband connection, which will happen Some Time when iinet get around to it. As backup, I've now got a mobile phone. It'll be good when I've got the Internet at home again!
About a week ago he became unusually quiet, then lost his sense of balance. I cared for him for the next few days, until it became clear that he was getting worse, not better. At first we couldn't tell whether he'd had a stroke or had a tumour, but the final diagnosis was for tumour. He was only about 17 months old, which is rat middle age, and in great condition before this happened. He'd been a part-time free range rat, not always with my knowledge, as he had a knack for evading the bed-time round up. If I failed to count tails correctly, he got to spend the night out (having dinner from the stashes he stored around the living room) and would stroll up to me in the morning for breakfast.
He is also responsible for me having to shift an entire lower shelf of hardbacks, as he was using them as steps up to the top of the side table where Claude, his arch-enemy, lived.
Jasper's last chomp was on the third Lovecraft Omnibus, owned by
drhoz. Of course it was out of print so I had to order another copy from a far distant shop. The effect of the concentrated Mythos was evidently too much for Jasper to deal with.Other news: I'm going ahead with the broadband connection, which will happen Some Time when iinet get around to it. As backup, I've now got a mobile phone. It'll be good when I've got the Internet at home again!