Clyde

The last few days have been very hard.
This morning I had to put my old baby rat Clyde down. 4 years old, he'd lived to a ripe old age, but that didn't make the choice any easier.
I got Clyde and his brother, Bonnie (yes, brother) when they were a few months old. They were right characters, a great pair.

About 6 months ago Bonnie became paralyzed. A tumour was affecting his rear mobility, but it was spreading. I had to put him down first.
 I thought this would be the end of Clyde, they were such wonderful brothers, I thought he'd die of heartbreak.

But he fought. He came back from a bought of depression kicking. He wasn't overly friendly to me afterwards, but him and my kitten, Socks were now the best of friends.

And then this week, everything went down hill.
My old man, got lice from some contaminated bedding. This led to medicated baths daily. Through these baths I felt how much weight Clyde had lost.
He was losing fur, through old age, and because of the lice.

He was blind in one eye, verging on painful for him.
His co-ordination started to slip, he was falling over alot. He was jumping, and falling rather than landing.
He'd stopped eating...and barely drank.


I took him to the vet, I knew what was going to be said.
He was too old and too weak to put through the stress of any treatment.
I loved him.
The vets were shutting, and I offered to bring him back home for one last night, instead of leaving him there overnight.
 On my way home, I detoured and took Clyde out into a field. We sat in a crossroad in the corn, and just took in the sun and the wind...

^^This photo was taken last night. Our last night together. He was in his cage beside my bed.
I read to him from 'The Night Circus'.
I cried tears of pain into his cage.
I told him about the summerlands.

And then he started throwing himself into the bars of his cage. I opened the roof, and he hobbled out.
He crawled up the bedside, over the duvet, and snuggled down on my leg. And there he stayed.
I stroked him, and we were there for hours, until I could see dawn breaking through the window.

And then the moment came this morning, and there was no turning back.
With a heavy heart, tears in my eyes, and sobs stuck in my throat, I handed him over to the vet.

Goodbye my beautiful boy.
You will be missed.
I will never forget you, just as I will never forget Bonnie...or any that came and went before you.
I love you always...

We will meet again.