Nakies

It’s only 5 o’clock and already today has been a weird, sad and eventful day. This morning Staci (of Capital City Rat Rescue) brought my rat Nakies over for a visit and a tooth trimming. Staci has been caring for Nakies and my rat Mabel for about a month now since both girls are old rats and needed special care that I didn’t have the health to give them.
I knew that Nakies had been declining, but when I saw her this morning I was hit by how bad she’d gotten. Not that Staci wasn’t taking good care of her. She was giving my rats the best care available. But Nakies was old, there was no denying that. My mom decided that she should be kept here to die at home. It was evident Nakies wasn’t going to be around that much longer.
Staci also brought me…Toys! Becca is gonna have some fun this 4th of July, that’s for sure. I got sidewalk chalk, bubbles, silly string, some wooden Brain Benders, one of those awesome 20 questions balls, an adorable guinea pig beanie baby and a hilarious card of people doing a fashion show of hospital gowns. Everyone’s butts are hanging out, of course and the front says, “Next…Thelma strolls the surgery floor with confidence in this ‘sassy’ bile green evening gown.” The inside says, “Hope to see your sassy butt out of bed real soon.” It’s great.
Staci was sent off with all my boy rats. I can’t care for all of my rats right now and their cage was posing a particular challenge for me. The boys were very excited about all of this, except for Luke, my old boy. He all of sudden seemed weak and sick. Staci knew to keep an eye on him since he is very elderly, so she promised me to keep a very close eye on him from now on. Apparently, when Staci got the boys back to her house, Luke wasn’t doing so well. He’s very lethargic and can’t walk very well, possible signs of a previous stroke. Luke is going to be getting some special care and antibiotics, but he may not be around that long.
When Nakies first came this morning I could tell that, even though she wasn’t doing so hot, she was still Nakies. Throughout the next few hours she seemed to decline very rapidly and the Nakies we knew began to disappear. Mid afternoon, Nakies passed away while my mom was holding her. We think she held on until she could see her family again. A lot of rats seem to choose how they want to die. Some wait until their owners are gone and some hang on until their people can be there with them. We’re glad we were able to be with Nakies and she could be home.
Nakies was the smartest rats I’ve ever met. And I’ve owned rats for 11 years now. She did a lot of “bad” things and outsmarted me many times, but she endeared herself to our family and our friends many times over. We were truly blessed to have such a lively rat in our lives. She will be greatly missed.