Goodbye Morgana and Lux, My Baby Girls xxxxx
by Chris
(England)
About 2 years ago I was getting more and more panid and anxiety attacks, I’ve always suffered from anxiety because of years and years of physicall, verbal and mental abuse.
I decided I needed to get a pet, something that needed me and relied on me. And something I could focus on.
I had never really heard of pet rats before, apart from Scabbers from Harry Potter ofcourse. But after some research I decided to have a look at the pet store. I’d read they were relatively inexpensive (excluding initial setup) and their dietery requirements weren’t overly specific. And that they were very social and can become very tame if handled regularly. Unlike hamsters, gerbils.
So that was when I picked up Morgana and Lux, at first they were a little skittish, I wasn’t too overly concerned with this, but after settling in for a few weeks. I felt I’d really bonded with them both. Lux only took a few days before she was grrooming me, licking my face and hands.
Morgana took a little while longer, and her grooming wasnt as extensive, but I felt the love and reciprocated this love right back at them. They meant the world to me. Which led me to get 2 more little ratties. Lulu and Janna.
I lost Morgana in June, she had developed a lump underneath one of her nipples in May, and I decided to have it removed, after the op, it took about a week for the wound to heal, I kept her in a different cage to Lux, but they were next to each other, I didnt want them to wrestle and the wound to open until I was certain it had healed.
She seemed to be doing fine when I put her back in the cage with Lux, but then she started going down hill.
She seemed to have gone blind and lost the muscular function to climb the side of the cage, spending the majority of her time on the floor, this then led to practically total lost of function of her rear end, and weak front end.
I ended up putting her down, which is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. Believing that her quality of life was extremely low, and it’d only have been selfish of me to keep her alive before she inevitible passed away.
I was distraught, but Lux managed to pull me through it.
However, I lost Lux today, just 2 months after losing Morgana. I’m absolutely distraught, if anything this one seems far worse than with Morgana.
Because it was so sudden, there was no warning signs. This morning I was playing with her and stroking her.
Then this afternoon, I was on my PC (beside their cage) and I heard an unusual gasping/grunting noise. I thought one of them was choking.
It was Lux, She was making the unusual noise. So I got her out to comfort her.
And she suddenly just went limp and her body started to contort as if her muscles were contracting.
It was absolutely awful, she appeared to be in so much pain, and then she was gone, gone forever.
I miss Morgana dreadfully, and now Lux. They have been with me through everything these past couple of years. And now they’re gone.
They were my babies, and I cherish every single memory I have of them both. And although this won’t deter me from maybe getting more in the future. I am definitely waiting a while before getting more.
I want to honour their memory, rather than making them appear replaceable.
Nothing now or ever will be able to replace them.
I will always love them and remember them.
Morgana and Lux
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX