Nezumi, the Rat Ninja
by Alex
(Shawnee, OK)
I bought a female fancy rat about a year and a half ago on impulse, and she brought a lot of joy to my little apartment. One morning we panicked when we found that she had escaped from her cage, because we have several cats and a dog. After some searching, we found her under the desk in a nest of scavenged cat fur and a stash of dog food, and looking very satisfied with herself!
Sadly, our roommate never got the “dirty filthy sewer rat” mentality out of her mind, and got into the habit of slipping spoiled food into Nezumi’s cage, apparently not thinking that this could make her sick. Nezumi indeed got very sick and eventually died, and left a tiny, fuzzy hole in my family’s hearts.
Needless to say, we won’t be bringing any more fuzzy friends into our home until some certain two-legged creatures get out.
Lesson learned: If it would make you sick in a decade, it will make a rat sick in a week. If it would make you sick in an hour, it will make a rat sick in a minute!