Peewee was a handsome young
man...big dumbo ears, ruby eyes, and little splotches of grey over them
that made it look like he had eyebrows! He was a sweet boy and one tough
cookie. From a very young age, he was struck with severe respiratory
and heart problems, which later I found out was common in this particular
line of rats. He fought hard along with an arsenal of antibiotics, and
later, steroids. I wouldn't normally recommend them, but as a last ditch
effort, Dexamethasone can work wonders.
Peewee's health went up and down, but he was always an active and healthy
boy, taking whatever we dished out to him for treatment. He lived his
entire life with one brother, Rocky, and the
pair were the best of buds.
They were hardly ever seen apart. Peewee also loved being scritched
and he is the rat that introduced us to bruxing and eye boggling. Now,
that was a sight! He would literally let you do it for hours!
Peewee also loved going up north, as we would often take our rats along
with us on trips to my parent's cabin. It was right at home there and
would romp and bounce in the grass like he had never been sick! And
even when he had been shoveling through dirt and leaves, he was quiet
and dignified. He just had that way about him.
It was late in October of 2002 that Peewee could not fight the illness
anymore. He died with Rocky and us at his side. But, even his very last
days were spent just as he liked. He got to tackle a giant sunflower
head and managed to help his brother in carving their very own pumpkin!
He was ready to go even though we were not ready for him to. Peewee
was a lesson learned for us just how short and delicate these lives
can be. We will miss him always. To see Peewee's gravestone memorial,
click here. To view all of Peewee's pictures,
visit here.
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