Norma and Cecilia

I got my rats during a difficult time in my life, when my dad kicked my mom and my sister and me out of the house. My mom didn’t have much money and didn’t know what to do, but she rented an apartment and let us buy two rats.

Norma was so small, frail, and greedy. I think she was near blind. She was so content and easy to please. I gave her a piece of anything I was eating and she would snatch it up and skip to the corner of her cage. She would always crawl up next to Cecilia asking to be groomed. She loved it when Cecilia groomed her and would lay there with her eyes closed. Just seeing her so happy whether she was eating or sleeping just gave me the drive to provide for her little world…just because I knew I could.

Cecilia was more frustrating. Whenever I let her out, she would hide behind sofas and bookshelves and refuse to come out. She was a large, beautiful rat who would gnaw at the bars of the cage at night. She wanted freedom and I knew exactly how she felt. She would jump at every movement and she was just beginning to warm up to me. She was a good rat though. She never bit me and would come up to me when she was feeling brave. I really regret not taking the time to interact more with her because she was so brave and curious.

My mother recently had allergies and made me put the dog and rats in the garage. I thought it would be okay since it was the evening when it was cooler, yet that night I came home to find that my two girls died of overheating. I wish I could have done more for them while they were alive. I wish I had bought them a nicer cage, a bigger wheel, let them out more often, and cleaned their cage more regularly. I just wanted them to live a satisfying life because they deserved it. I couldn’t even do that for them and for that I am so sorry.

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