Good-bye to our girl Jen (and our Bear)

2012 will be a very sad year, especially for my daughter, since we will likely say good-bye to all 4 of our ratties by the end of the year.  They are all at end-of-life.  July 1 we said good-bye to Bear.  We were surprised that he was the first to go.  We had expected Sam, our oldest girl, with her enormous tumours and white hair (she used to be a blond), would be the first one to leave us.  But she is still hanging on.

This weekend, we said good-bye to my girl Jen.  We returned Saturday evening from being out all day, and my daughter found her at the bottom of the cage.  She looked like she was near the end.  So we gave her a soft cloth to lie on, and petted her beautiful little black head to comfort her.  She departed peacefully.  It was still sad.  She is now buried under the plum tree, not far from Bear.

I don't think it will be long for poor Sam.  She is not doing well lately.  Hopefully Archie, our youngest boy, will be with us for some time.  It will be sad when they are all gone, but unfortunately due to my allergies (which I didn't know about until we had all 4 rats), we will not be replacing them.

Here are a few photos of Jen.  She was our sweet little curly girl, with the curly whiskers and fur.  She loved to run (she was fast!), and give my daughter kisses.  She was a good friend to Sammy.

 

Here are also some memories of our gentle and huggable, squeezable Bear, who we thought would be a nice companion for Sammy, until we discovered he was a boy.  I have to admit that his dopey dumbo look never melted my heart, but he was a good friend for my daughter, a favourite of her friends, and a good companion for Archie.