i lost a furry friend today...

[ezzie]

*sigh* this is the first thread i've started here...

my husband and i had two pet rats...lenore and delilah...that we had gotten last year in february, as an engagement gift to each other. i know, how romantic. lenore died back before christmas when we still lived in our apartment, and we couldn't do anything other than wrap her up tight and send her to the dumpster. i cried for days and i felt so awful for having to do that to her.

this morning my husband called to tell me that he had gone to feed delilah, and she was lying dead on the bottom of the cage. he went out, bought a shovel, and waited for me to come home at lunch. i could not stop crying after i saw her...i felt so terrible for her. we wrapped her up in fabric, and put her in a little box. we buried her under our lilac bush in the back yard.

i feel very guilty because we couldn't give lenore a proper burial (or a burial at all!). am i crazy? i want to cry over it...

have any of you been so emotional about a small pet like that? i'm not talking dogs or cats...but the little guys.

thanks for letting me vent...hopefully i'm not wasting anyone's time.

 

[iSee]

Rats are actually great pets. Back in college a roommate of mine had a rat. She was friendly, affectionate and smart. I could relate to a rat like a cat or dog.

Anyway, I'm very sorry to hear about your little rats passing away. It's not crazy at all because you obviously love them. And I wouldn't feel guilty about lenore because you can only do for her what you can do. Its not the burying that's the important thing--that's just one of the ways you can honor the memory of her. What you can do is honor her in another way. Maybe you could have a little memorial for her--for me and my family, we would talk about a pet who had died, trying to think of the funniest things it had done, the dumbest things, the smartest things, or whatever.

Anyway, good luck, and you arn't wasting anyones time

 

[leekohler]

Aww- I had a friend who had four rats. Unfortunately their lifespans aren't that long. They were very nice when they were around though. They're good pets. Sorry to hear that. It's been a tough year for the pets of MR members.

 

[emw]

We had a gerbil when we were younger, but my parents gave him to the school before he died, so we didn't deal with a "burial". However, I have lost a cat and a dog, and can understand your sorrow at not being able to provide a proper burial for your pet. They become one of the family, after all.

Sorry to hear of your loss.

 

[Electro Funk]

sorry about your loss ezzie

 

[Mammoth]

Well you could do this:

 

[thedude110]

So sorry, ezzie.

To echo iSee, there's nothing wrong in feeling the depth of your loss, especially where there was obviously so much love.

 

[ezzie]

thanks...

thanks to everyone. it's nice to know i'm not crazy for feeling this way.

i think maybe we'll have a little something...a little memorial...maybe it'll be closure for me.

it sounds absolutely nuts to talk about closure with freaking rats...but i guess that's what i need.

thanks again...and i think i might add their picture in the pet photos thread...i think that'd be nice.

 

[adk]

When I go back to my parents' house I can still find the spot where I buried my hamster, homer, when I was twelve.

 

[Poseidon]

Little furry pets

Ezzie1029:

You're not nuts at all. My girlfriend loves animals and decided that because we couldn't have a dog (no room) or a cat (I'm allergic) to get 4 pet rats. And even though they were sometimes frustrating for her, she really loved the little beasties. She cried everytime one of them died and buried every one of them away from our building in an area mostly untouched by people.

[As an aside, I've also heard that rats don't have very long lifespans. Supposedly they're breed and used so much in experiments of one type or another they're predisposed to health problems and even cancers.]

Now my girlfriend has 9 - yes, 9 - rabbits and she loves 'em all. She's grown attached to all of them, especially two who are her favorites. They all have names and she talks with 'em, plays with 'em and worries about 'em when they get hurt or sick.

I can't really relate to that level of attachment to an animal but I don't think it's crazy at all.