oyceter: Two of my rats in a tissue box (rat)
Oyceter ([personal profile] oyceter) wrote2013-05-18 07:55 pm

Momo

Momo's health had been declining over the past few months as the hind leg paralysis got worse, and he was noticeably worse after Haru died... he wasn't eating anything unless I fed it to him, and then he started to have a harder time breathing. I took him to the vet yesterday and was scared they'd tell me to just let him go, and he got some medicine in case it was pneumonia or heart failure. But he was still having trouble breathing after we got home, and after weighing the options, I took him to the emergency vet, who got some of the air he'd swallowed out of his stomach and then gave him some oxygen. After we took him home, he didn't sound that much better, and I feel kind of awful for going to sleep at that point, but I thought he needed more time in oxygen, and the emergency vet wouldn't keep him that long. Took him in to regular vet this morning, where he got some oxygen and more antibiotics, but when I decided to try and lightly anesthetize him to check out his teeth and a bump on his face, the vet found that it was something that had eaten into his upper right jaw, which is probably one reason why he hadn't been eating. It was really infected, and his breathing hadn't gotten better, and in the end, I let him go. CB was there for that, which was nice, and I told Momo he was a good rat, and thanked him for hanging on for so long. I don't know how conscious he was, but at least he had both of us there, and we miss him a lot.

Momo was a little ratling who was so scared when I got him that he hid in my shirts in the back of my neck all the time. Haru and Momo were my first shoulder rats, and I loved walking around with them there, even though they would try to climb up my face and left scratches all around my neck. As a ratling, Momo tried to shove himself up my nose and into my ear, and when they escaped, he was even harder to catch than Haru. He was the top rat of the cage until his legs started getting worse, and by the end, Haru was helping to groom him in the spots he couldn't reach. Momo chewed up my iPhone cable and my laptop charger when CB and I were having a hard time due to depression and moving, and I showed CB the picture of the cables after a fight and he laughed. When I gave him an ethernet cord to chew on later, he refused to touch it, probably because it wasn't forbidden. He was terrified of CB's tile floors.

I think losing Haru hit him hard, and he probably had had the tumor or infection in his jaw already. He tried to fight it up until the end, CB says because he was trying to hang on for me. I'm glad he's not in pain anymore, and I hope he and Haru are hanging around again, and that Momo can now reassert his status as top rat since he is not sick anymore.

I'm not really sure what to do for myself. I haven't not had rats since I got Fitz-rat and Fool-rat back in 2004, and disassembling just the travel cage was awful. As previously mentioned, we're probably going to look into getting a cat, but right now, life feels very empty without my ratses around, and I miss them a lot.
sanguinity: woodcut by M.C. Escher, "Snakes" (Default)

[personal profile] sanguinity 2013-05-19 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry about Haru and Momo.
jinian: (capybara)

[personal profile] jinian 2013-05-19 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
What a fine rat. I love that he wouldn't eat a cable legally. *hugs*

(Anonymous) 2013-05-19 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
It feels so strange when pets aren't there anymore. I'm very sorry about Momo.
grrlpup: yellow rose in sunlight (Default)

[personal profile] grrlpup 2013-05-19 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
sorry, that was me, not logged on for some reason.
mme_hardy: White rose (Default)

[personal profile] mme_hardy 2013-05-19 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry. It's hard to love an animal and have your heart broken so terribly soon. Love to you.
colorblue: (Default)

[personal profile] colorblue 2013-05-19 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry.
laurashapiro: a woman sits at a kitchen table reading a book, cup of tea in hand. Table has a sliced apple and teapot. A cat looks on. (Default)

[personal profile] laurashapiro 2013-05-19 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, honey, I'm so sorry!
metaphortunate: (Default)

[personal profile] metaphortunate 2013-05-19 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I am so sorry. Poor little ratling.
elsane: clouds, brilliance, and the illusion of wings. (Default)

[personal profile] elsane 2013-05-19 05:52 am (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry for your loss.
februaryfour: baby yoda with mug (Default)

[personal profile] februaryfour 2013-05-19 06:08 am (UTC)(link)
*hugs*
torachan: (pat pat pat)

[personal profile] torachan 2013-05-19 06:26 am (UTC)(link)
Aww, poor Momo. :( Why are pets so short-lived? :(((
ursamajor: people on the beach watching the ocean (Default)

[personal profile] ursamajor 2013-05-19 07:22 am (UTC)(link)
I'm sorry to hear about Momo. I will imagine him and Haru eating peaches and cords in Ratling Heaven, wherever that may be. *hugs*
littlebutfierce: (natsume yuujinchou madara guarding)

[personal profile] littlebutfierce 2013-05-19 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry. There is always such a disproportionately large absence when pets go.
starlady: Raven on a MacBook (Default)

[personal profile] starlady 2013-05-19 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, Momo. I'm glad you and CB were there with him in the end. <3
saraht: writing girl (Default)

[personal profile] saraht 2013-05-19 07:58 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I'm sorry.
jesuswasbatman: (under-rated but cool)

[personal profile] jesuswasbatman 2013-05-19 09:42 am (UTC)(link)
I'm sorry you had to deal with this again so fast.
vass: Small turtle with green leaf in its mouth (Default)

[personal profile] vass 2013-05-19 10:02 am (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry. D:
merisunshine36: white rose floating candle (Default)

[personal profile] merisunshine36 2013-05-19 12:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I am so, so sorry about your loss--they were great members of your family, and you're such a great rat-mom to them all <3
heavenscalyx: (Default)

[personal profile] heavenscalyx 2013-05-19 01:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so, so sorry. It's hard enough to lose one, but the one-two punch must be awful. I hope you can find some ways to take care of yourself.
vi: (Default)

[personal profile] vi 2013-05-19 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so, so sorry. <3
dhobikikutti: earthen diya (Default)

[personal profile] dhobikikutti 2013-05-19 03:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so so sorry. I think getting a cat is a good idea, but right now you just need to wallow in the grief because you loved them and they're both gone. :(
::giant hug::
heresluck: (Default)

[personal profile] heresluck 2013-05-19 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry -- about Haru and Momo, and about finding yourself suddenly ratless. *hugs*
runpunkrun: Pride flag based on Gilbert Baker's 1978 rainbow flag with hot pink, red, orange, yellow, sage, turquoise, blue, and purple stripes. (Default)

[personal profile] runpunkrun 2013-05-19 04:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh no, I'm so sorry.
rachelmanija: (Default)

[personal profile] rachelmanija 2013-05-19 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry. This must be such a blow, so soon after Haru.
laughingrat: A detail of leaping rats from an original movie poster for the first film of Nosferatu (Default)

[personal profile] laughingrat 2013-05-19 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw no, poor Momo. It's really sad when they wind up with multiple things wrong like that. I wish their health gave them an easier time. :(

EDIT: I'm sorry for you, too, losing him. You can cat with rats, if you feel like getting a cat too? Although the rats' wanderings do have to be pretty curtailed.
Edited 2013-05-19 20:35 (UTC)
shati: teddy bear version of the queen seondeok group photo ([a:tla] lay me down)

[personal profile] shati 2013-05-19 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry for your loss, and for Momo leaving so soon after Haru. Take care of yourself.
rilina: (Default)

[personal profile] rilina 2013-05-19 09:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry for your loss.

Haru and Momo were both very lucky to have you as their rat-mom.

[personal profile] dsgood 2013-05-19 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
My sympathies.
qem_chibati: Coloured picture of Killua from hunter x hunter, with the symbol of Qem in the corner. (A cat made from Q, E, M) (Default)

[personal profile] qem_chibati 2013-05-19 10:50 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry for your loss.

[personal profile] noldo 2013-05-19 11:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, I'm so sorry.
skygiants: Mytho from Princess Tutu cuddles a puppy while baby Fakir flails at villains with a stick in the background (tiny puppy)

[personal profile] skygiants 2013-05-20 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
I am so sorry! :(
thistleingrey: (Default)

[personal profile] thistleingrey 2013-05-20 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
Ah. :( Poor strong little rat, who fought his illness so well.
buymeaclue: (Default)

[personal profile] buymeaclue 2013-05-21 12:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry.