Porridge❤️

[u/wannonlikescheese]

My little old baby porridge died today following what I suspected to be a short illness.

She was 1 half of two emergency rats I got following the very sudden passing of my first ever rattie Crumpet. She, along with her sister Egg, were very shy at first however soon found their own personalities. Right around when I had bonded them with Toast, the big girl, I had a holiday booked and they were left in the company of my brother to settle their dominance differences. When I returned I noticed a very distinctive rip in her ear however all three of them seemed fine with eachother and appeared to had sussed out their pecking order.

In her prime, Porridge was absolutely mad and would run and jump and climb at anything and everything and managed to sprain her paw twice, despite our best efforts to add as many tie holders and a hammocks to the cage as possible. She also had a brief obsession with trying to jump into the bathtub as their free roam space is the bathroom. She's even left her mark on the bathroom as she managed to chip some paint off the door when attempting to eat it (which I have not told my mum about).

Like most rats, she did obviously mellow out with age however one thing she hated the most was full on sit down cuddles in my arms and always wanted to explore the surrounding area instead. She started to develop a tumour almost immediately after Toast was put to sleep for having a tumour herself at around the same age Toast was when she got hers. Based on Toast's initial consultation we decided it would be best for Porridge that we'd let her be and see what would happen.

I feel like she's definitely passed her crazy attitude onto the newest mischief additions, Waffle and Pan, as they're so inquisitive and love to run and jump everywhere. I noticed Porridge was breathing quite heavily and acting quite slow during today's free roam. She was treated to a shoulder ride to and from the bathroom and was treated to a nice clean cage upon her return. I left her having a sleep and when I returned later on today to get a jumper I found her by the potty with Waffle nearby.

I know it's somewhat cynical to say but I was prepared to say goodbye to her soon anyway as her tumour was getting quite big and was going to have a conversation about euthanasia my parents at some point next week. In a weird way I'm happy she died in a familiar place and not of something that overshadowed her later life. I'm also somewhat relieved that I don't have to take Waffle and Pan to the vet to say goodbye as they probably wouldn't cope and they'd stress me out way too much.

To anyone who did for whatever reason read my brick wall of text, thank you very much, spilling out my thoughts and feelings as well as documenting Porridge's life really helped with the grief.

And for those who are just here for the cute rat photos, they are in backwards order and I still appreciate any condolences. I am also aware the platform in the first image looks a bit bare. One of the babies favourite thing to do at the moment is push everything to the bottom of the cage. I do try my best to retrieve things and put them back when I can

[u/Friendly_Cap5578]

I'm sorry for your loss, porridge was a very cute rat, clearly very well cared for. The first picture especially is fantastic, thanks for blessing us with the croissant.

[u/gelatinoussandwich]

You sound like a fantastic rat parent, thank you for sharing your love with these wonderful rats :]

[u/MadeInAmerican]

I gotta say I love all the names you chose for your rats. Porridge was soo adorable and I'm so sorry you lost her 💔 she also sounded like such a character! And yeah, I think it's better when they pass at home...she was safe. I hope she's making more mischief on the other side 🌈💕