| SARAH May 2001-6 August 2003 |
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| Sarah was supposed to be a friend for Timmy. As the Wilma and Phoebe introduction had gone so well, I was feeling confident I could do it again. Sarah was hard to find, and the only young female rat anywhere around. Having phoned all the pet shops, I went down to inspect her, and was captivated. I had never seen a silverfawn before, and she was just beautiful. She had also been hand-tamed already, which was a bonus. So she came home with me, and after two weeks of quarantine, began introductions with Timmy. Sadly it was not to be - he was terrified of her, and ended up with a sore on his back where she pulled out his hair. We tried for weeks but due to irreconcilable differences, they decided to separate. Next I tried Sarah with Wilma and Phoebe, and after just a week of introductions, they all moved in together. As Wilma is the oldest, she has decided she is the Alpha rat. She still gives Sarah a bit of a rough-up on a daily basis, but there is no malice and I usually find them all piled up in their hammock together. March 2003 Since the death of Wilma, Sarah now shares the mantle of oldest rat with Phoebe. She is by no means the alpha though! She is content just to blob around the cage, and lets all the other rats push her around, mainly because she can't be bothered to fight back! Sarah has become rather voluptuous - in fact she could be called a silverfawn Jabba the Hutt! She recently developed a lump in her groin region, about the same time Lara got her brain tumour. I took Sarah to the vet, who offered to remove the lump that day. She came through the opearation very well, and her fur has now grown back. Apart from the missing nipple, you'd never know she'd been under the knife. 06/08/03 Sarah put on a lot of weight after her tumour surgery - from about 450g she grew to a very portly 670g, and I had concerns about her weight causing a strain on her heart. Her fur got a bit thin in patches, and then she began to lose weight again. In early August I noticed the dreaded signs of loss of co-ordination in her front paws. She deteriorated very fast, despite agressive antibiotic therapy, and on the morning of August 6th I took her to the vet to be put to sleep. I couldn't bear to see her struggle to breathe or feed herself anymore. The vet was sure it was a pituitary tumour. She will be laid to rest alongside her friends. The gang of four reunited. I lost all four of them in the space of nine months. I am sure they are happy to be together again. Home |