Daisy <3 I’m warning you, it’s a long story.

by Katie
(USA)

When I was 10, my mom allowed me to get a rat (which I had been begging her about for a while). I’ve always loved animals. Whenever we went to a certain store (next to the pet shop) I would ask to go in there, and I would look at the rats. At least 3 different times, I’d go to the rat section and a little, white, black-hooded, female fancy rat would greet me. When the time came to chose one, the worker let me put my hand in the cage, and my little friend was the one who didn’t shy away. She let me pet her and hold her, and I told my mother that she was the one I wanted. I names her Daisy after her black and white coloring. I remember crying when I took her home, because she’d bitten me (it was really just one of those harmless, curious nibbles), and she hid in the back of her cage. I thought she hated me now. About a week passed, and I didn’t hold her, because I’d read that it was best to just leave them to calm down and adjust for the first while. However, I talked to her often, gave her treats, and gently petted her so she would grow accustomed to me. As time passed, we formed an amazing bond. She would run to the front of the cage and crawl out to socialize with me, lick my hand for no reason at all, crawled up my arm and sat on my shoulder to nest in my hair, fell asleep in my arms when I stroked her nose, and loved spending time in the sleeves of my robe… While I was wearing it, LOL! I even taught her to crawl down my arm and back into her cage when I extended it (my arm). I absolutely loved her. About a year and a land later, Daisy got really sick. One day, I noticed she was so skinny, you could count the links in her spine and she was just laying motionless most of the day, lost her appetite, and was seeming faint. One day, while we were in the kitchen finding some food to fatten her up, she was on my shoulder as usual when she fell off and landed smack on the kitchen tile. It was a miracle that she survived. It surprised us all when she made her miraculous recovery. I had been feeding her a lot of fattening foods, like avocado, and playing with her each day, and she was back to her old self. Time passed (quickly) in our happy, healthy life together. Though I haven’t mentioned it, I did have a cat at the time I had Daisy. His name was Mango and he truly was my best friend and was what I loved most in the world(Daisy was a close second). I had him my entire life and I was his favorite person in the world. When I was a toddler, he’d let me carry him by the neck (his legs would be in the ground anyway), and put my nose to his, but wouldn’t let anyone else dare to try to do the same. We were inseparable for 12 years, until he ran away right before summer break and I never saw him again. One of the things that bothers me most is that I didn’t even notice he was missing until at least 2-3 days had passed. He did go in and out as he pleased, but never that long. Months after her illness, my family and I went on a trip for one week and our pets were cared for by a family friend, but when we returned, I noticed a large lump on her throat(about the size of a grape). I had no idea what the thing was, so I looked it up and found out that it was a tumor. To be honest, I cried about it. A lot. I’d LOVED Daisy and HATED the idea of her inevitable death. The tumor continued to grow to about the size of a radish, and one day, I came home to Daisy’s dead body. She had suffocated on a mass growing inside of her throat. But Daisy played with me, and ate, and loved me until the day she died. And I know that we were both fortunate that she went quickly and painlessly. I believe that God took my first angel, Mango, back first because I NEEDED Daisy to comfort me during the loss of him, which she did. And I think that he then took Daisy, my second angel, because I was about to return to school and would have my friends and work to distract me. Daisy was about 2 1/2 years old.
Though it happened nearly 8 months ago, last night, I had a dream that I was sitting with Daisy, petting her as she slept in my arms, and realized how much I miss that. I think that Daisy’s soul visited me, if that’s not entirely crazy. I’ve had dreams like that where Mango was the one I was with. Those dreams are so REAL, and it really feels as though they are really with me. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of them. Since that dream with Daisy, I’ve been perplexing whether or not I should get another rat. I still have the cage, and I miss having a little rat to cuddle with. I need to remind myself that I would have to go through the process of death again, and chances are: I won’t be so fortunate this time. I need to accept that I probably will never find a rat (or cat) as loving or special as they were. Then again, I can’t fathom being so.. Alone and solitary like this for much longer. I apologize for the novel of a story, or any typos or grammar mistakes! Please comment your thoughts and questions and talk to me HONESTLY about if I should try to replace Daisy(I feel like I’d hate myself if I did, but have nothing to Look forward to when I come home, I feel sort of unimportant since I’ve lost them ).

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