Ratablog

Neiko: ??-August 19, 2006

Abita and I made the decision to help our last girl, Neiko, to her final nap today. As we had discussed before, she had developed some tumors. Even with the tumors, she was pretty active up until about last week, she could (and would) climb the ramps to the upper levels. Recently, though, she started spending all of her time in the lower level. Also in the last couple of weeks, she started losing weight at a faster pace, and I think most of her nourishment was from the Boost and yogurt I gave her daily.

She first came into our lives on September 4, 2004, when we adopted her, along with four boys and two other girls, from our friend in Pennsylvania. She was an adult at that time, and in fact, had given birth to a litter of rats. We're certain either Misto or Rabskuttle was one of her sons; it's sad when you think she outlived her children. She was a sweetie, as all of our girls have been, with the softest fur you've ever petted.

One of our first pictures of Neiko, walking around like she owned the place. Maybe not the place, but certainly us :~)

Our last picture of Neiko--I'm sorry it's out of focus. I think you can see how tired she is, but still, she held her head up with dignity.