holly

Holly was purchased as a friend for Lucy. She was an adult agouti hooded, and had been at the pet shop for some time. Apparently she was abandoned in a cardboard box at Auckland Zoo. The staff had taken her to the pet shop to be re-homed, but nobody wanted an adult rat. She was estimated to be a year old, but we'll never really know.

So I took her home and tried introducing her to Lucy. A huge fight erupted and I was so upset. The pet shop said "just throw them in together", so I did. They fought for a week. I didn't realise how dangerous this could have been, but luckily they did not injure each other and were soon the best of friends.

Lucy's illness saw her separated from Holly after just three months of living together. Holly was so upset that she shredded the hammock they had been sharing. It was torn into pieces the size of postage stamps. Sadly I still did not realise the importance of keeping rats in groups, so Holly remained alone.

Over the last year of her life, Holly's breathing became laboured, but no other signs of illness. She had extensive antibiotic treatment, which actually made her worse while she was taking the drugs. I think she may have had a tumour in her lungs or emphysema. Her back legs began to fail, just as Jake's had when her reached three years of age. She developed three mamary tumours, one became the size of a large grape. Through all this she fought cheerfully on, wanting only to be cuddled and fussed over - which we did.

On her last night I came home to find her asleep in her cage. When she heard my voice she woke and came over to me, so I picked her up. She was quite cold, and I held her for a while. Gradually her breathing began to slow down, so I cuddled her to my chest and stroked her gently. The gaps between each breath got bigger and bigger, until finally she stopped altogether. I fought the urge to try and revive her, knowing it was her time to go. Her little legs twitched a few times, and then she was gone. I was grateful that she chose her own time, that it was peaceful, and that I was there to comfort her.