I Am Watching My Pet Die
Several months ago I was blessed with an adult female hooded rat named Heebie. Of course, we call her Sheebie as she is a doe. She is a very loving animal- she's never bitten any of us and has always been very social. She loves honey and whipped cream and basically anything sweet. In fact, we refer to the rodent yogurt bites she loves as "rat crack" because of the animated way she would greedily accept the treat and either immediately consume it or hide it away for later.
Right now, though, at about three and a half years old, she is laying listlessly on my chest, her breathing shallow and labored. Several weeks ago, a lump appeared on her side and over the next few weeks grew from marble sized to nearly golf ball size. Until a few days ago, Sheebie seemed largely unaffected by the lump. But it's pretty apparent that is no longer the case.
I keep loving on her, telling her what a good girl she is and has been and how much we love her. I have shed many, many tears and have asked God to please either heal her or take her home so that her suffering will end. I'm afraid that if she lasts much longer, the only kind thing to do will be to hold her while a vet leads her into her next life. Hopefully, we won't have to go that route. She deserves to be pain free. I pray that she knows how loved she is and how badly we will miss her.
