Tuesday, January 29, 2008

All the cheese she can eat

Our rat Lilly died this morning. I thought her days were coming to an end. She was old. She hadn't been eating the last couple of days, and when we took her out to let her run, she didn't want to. She just sniffed and snuggled against us. I looked in her cage this morning, and things didn't look quite right. When I checked again an hour later, she was splayed out, breathless, eyes open. Poor girl.

The kids were off school, sort of, and thankfully, so we did a quickie funeral. The weather had been warm, but we knew severe nastiness was coming. I wanted to get the rat planted before the ground froze.

She was such a sweet-hearted, energetic thing. Always filthy. Ate like a pig, too. We buried her in the day lilies.

Now we're down to one rat, one fish, and two rabbits. My mother grudgingly said she'd take the rabbits while we're out of town, but she won't let them out to run around. I think we'll see if the neighbor girls will come down and play with them here instead.

10 comments:

laurie said...

my condolences. i know how easy it is to get attached.

next pet, maybe: a dog?

Anonymous said...

So sorry to hear of Ms. Fink's death. That whole cave story will hopefully buy you a lot of patience and kindness from your daughter when you are old and senile.

Amy said...

Laurie, next pet: nonexistent

Lisa, I don't know if Kelsey gets a badge or anything, but let's just say that cave trip earned ME lots of Brownie points.

Irene said...

Sorry to hear about the demise of the rat Lilly. I hope your kids took it well. It is funny how you get attached to even a little animal like that. A proper funeral always helps to set things straight, sort of.

the rotten correspondent said...

I'm so sorry. Rats are so incredibly sweet and loving. But short lived. We've found it out the hard way, too.

Poor girl.

Anonymous said...

God Bless her. Sounds like a nice funeral though.

Crystal xx

laurie said...

how's the reporting world treating you?

MJ Krech said...

Sorry to hear about Lilly. I had many of those little critters in my classroom over the years. They were always very sweet. They would hang out in the pockets of some of my loudest, wildest boys and turn them into calm beings in an instant. Always amazed me. I know how important they can be!

Amy said...

Irene, we had to do a very fast funeral because my husband and I both had to get to work. We couldn't wait until evening because the weather was changing so fast--dropping 50 degrees. Eek. We still said some nice words about her. We wrapped her body in a cloud pillow case. Kelsey always wants the rats wrapped in a pretty pillow case.

RC, we have certainly enjoyed our rats. They're very sweet-tempered and so fun to play with and snuggle and watch. Even though they don't live long, they're so worth it.

CJ, thanks. We have a big puppet that looks just like her. Kelsey was holding it tonight, missing the rat.

Marcia, I can see that working with a boisterous kid. I'll have to remember that. What an awesome idea.

Amy said...

Laurie, I'll answer you shortly.