by Stephanie Cameron

Stephanie Cameron is a volunteer with Rattie Ratz Rescue in the bay area of California. Each month KRL will be featuring a column from Rattie Ratz.

For those of you who appreciate the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I invite you to join me as I reminisce with some furry Valentine’s of my own. Regular readers may recognize Blue (aka Blueberry) and Raz (aka Raspberry) when they were featured in December 2022. I was sadly unaware that their brother, Grape, would pass away unexpectedly only a few short months after that feature was published. Looking back, I’m grateful to have had one last Christmas with all three of my boys. If any readers are curious and wish to read the previous feature, it can be found here: Rattie Ratz: Christmas with the Fruit Boys.

Too many pet owners have experienced the unexpected death of a pet that comes far before their time. For people that are inclined to care for animals with short life spans – rats being one example, only living an average 2-3 years – it is my experience that when you lose them early, it hits even harder. Once you have said goodbye to a few pet rats, you begin to see their life with you in a new light. You learn to live in the moment and not take the quiet moments for granted. I would like to take a moment to do that now, for two sweet ratties that I love dearly.

The original set of three boys were adopted from Rattie Ratz, a rescue located in the Bay Area of Northern California, that specializes in fostering and rehoming domestic pet rats. They came to me as three week old babies still being nursed by their mother. They had the sweetest faces but were so silly looking! They had tiny bodies covered in patchy fur, with giant ears and feet. For the most part they’ve grown into themselves, but even so they are positively the most extraordinary and eccentric looking rats I have ever owned.

Blue and Raz are now seniors enjoying their golden days. They spend most of their time curled around each other in their hammock of choice, as they lazily snooze through the day. Blue is still the king of snacks and seems to believe the only way to enjoy his food, especially snacks, is to eat it as quickly as possible. Thanks to this, he has grown a little fluffier around the middle, but we don’t mind – it just gives us more to love!

Raz is still a prima-donna and continues to have no qualms about showing his indignation at being ignored by throwing what we call his ‘hissy fits.’ The hanging toys at the front of his cage sure take a beating when he has a mind to tell you how he’s feeling. The way he aggressively chews them and bats them away, you’d think his toys had bitten him on the behind. If Raz sees you walk into the room, and you don’t come over to the cage to give him a head scritch and a treat, I fear for the safety of his toys.

Although the boys have slowed down considerably, they still enjoy romps through the kitchen and exploring the stairs for new smells. Raz has never been a cuddly rat, but Blue will occasionally cuddle with me and those quiet moments are so special and peaceful.

This Valentine’s Day the boys will have been properly spoiled, which at this point in their dotage is just what they would expect as their due, and rightly so. Although we never need a reason to show those we love that we care, having a special day to show our appreciation can be a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our lives and what it is we find most important and what drives us. For me, my love of rats has taken me places I never would have expected and I couldn’t be more thankful.

If you would like to know more about Rattie Ratz Rescue you can visit their Facebook page. If you are interested in adoptable rats or volunteering for Rattie Ratz Rescue you can visit their website: www.rattieratz.com.

Check out more animal rescue stories in our Pet Perspective section & watch for more stories from Rattie Ratz every other month. You can also keep up with our pet articles by joining our KRL Facebook group. Advertise in KRL and 10% of your advertising fees can go to Rattie Ratz.