Rat dramas

I was back at the vet this morning. I'd like to say we are on first name terms except that Clueless Nurse was there, meaning I had to repeat my first name, spell my last name, Cecil's name and his colour, a-g-o-u-t-i.

It's not good news. Cecil, my runty little agouti, is only 15 months old - adult but not very - and he's got an irregular heartbeat. Dr M said his heart seemed to be stopping when he breathed in, indicating a mass close to his heart. Then she said there was nothing she could do and quite kindly suggested I think about having him put down. This certainly isn't new for me and I already knew the way Cecil was breathing was not good. It's just a heavy load on top of already caring for Charles Wallace with his terminal kidney problems, and a really lousy deal for Cecil, who despite being a half-sized rat, has always enjoyed life and been nice to every other rat he's ever met. He even welcomed Claude to the colony.

He hasn't been euthanased yet. Right now he's still reasonably alert, though this can't last. Probably Saturday will be the day for both of them, so drhoz, if you're reading this, I can't say if I'll get to the game that night.

This year has been really bad for losing rats: Jasper, Theo, Claude and soon these two.