Hello there... Well, today was Annie's last day on earth. :( She's now off to Rattie Heaven and I'm hoping she's up there playing with all her little rattie buddies that have passed before her. I hate to start off this blog on such a somber note, but alas, timing is what it is. I haven't posted all week because I've been taking care of her. So here's a rundown of how her diagnosis and treatment went. I'm learning that with the little ratties, things go SO fast. It's almost always done within a week or so.
She was diagnosed with cancer in her liver last Tuesday. We new the situation was dire, but we wanted to take her home so that we could say goodbye and so that she could see all her bros and sisters one last time. A day or so turned into a whole week! Which isn't long, but it gave us sufficient time to get used to her leaving us.
The first few days the doctor prescribed her some steroids (progesterone, I think...or some form of that) in the hopes that that might slow the cell growth and give her some extra energy. Then, on Friday we got our doctor to give us some narcotics to give her to aleave any pain she might have. Really, we wanted to alleviate and mental pain she might be in. I know that sounds weird, but I just wanted her last few days to be stress free. And boy did those help! So for the next three days we just gave her one serving of Buprenex and that was enough to keep her happy and active. Since we were letting her free range, I was relying on her to come back to me several times during the day for dosing and for food and drink. She did these things like a champ until Monday morning. She missed her dose and since we were at work, we didn't see her until Monday night. It was obvious that she had had a ro
ugh day and that our time of propping her up was through. So, we gave her our last three doses of pain meds over the next 12 or so hours until we could get her into the doctor. Even with those she wouldn't eat and she just slept under a blanket on my lap for most of the day. After the last dose she really wanted to go exploring, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get her back, so I confined her to her cage instead. A sad way to spend your last hours, but it was better than putting her through another day of pain.
ugh day and that our time of propping her up was through. So, we gave her our last three doses of pain meds over the next 12 or so hours until we could get her into the doctor. Even with those she wouldn't eat and she just slept under a blanket on my lap for most of the day. After the last dose she really wanted to go exploring, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get her back, so I confined her to her cage instead. A sad way to spend your last hours, but it was better than putting her through another day of pain. When I finally got her to the doctor she was alert for a few minutes and I nearly lost my nerve for letting her go...but after talking to her in the doctors office for a few minutes, she 
had calmed down after the excitement of the car ride and had reverted back to her sad self. If any of you have ever had a rat trying to tell you it was 'their time' you know what I mean....sort of dead behind the eyes and looking a bit desperate. So, we told her we loved her about a billion times and sent her off to heaven. The doctor said she didn't fight it a bit and was gone in seconds. :(
had calmed down after the excitement of the car ride and had reverted back to her sad self. If any of you have ever had a rat trying to tell you it was 'their time' you know what I mean....sort of dead behind the eyes and looking a bit desperate. So, we told her we loved her about a billion times and sent her off to heaven. The doctor said she didn't fight it a bit and was gone in seconds. :( So, with that in mind, I'm sad and missing on her tons. She was the best rat ever in my book. In addition to the pics in this post, here is a video or two that remind me of happier times with my precious Annie girl. (Ok, maybe no pics since the video upload is taking FOREVER!! I just hope it works!!)
No comments:
Post a Comment