In Memoriam

Our newest pet rat Neo (Neo "The One" Awesomesauce) died unexpectedly a few hours ago. He'd had what looked like a mild respiratory infection (the same thing S. T. had earlier and got better from) and we'd been treating him for it. He was still eating, drinking, and moving around. I checked on him earlier in the evening and he seemed sickly and unhappy, but still came to the cage door to greet me. I checked again a half hour later because I'm paranoid and constantly expect my pets to have stopped breathing, but unfortunately this time it had really happened. Poor Neo is gone, and we're all very upset because we expected to have him so much longer--he was one of the last rats we expected to die first. Just because he was small and cheap doesn't mean we didn't love him as much as any cat or dog. He was grumpy and dominant and a huge chewer and we loved him for it. We're decorating a small cardboard box to serve as a rat-sized coffin with pictures of all his favorite things and messages to him. We're trying to figure out where we can bury him or have him cremated as soon as possible.

Neo, we barely got a chance to know you, but I hope that you were happy with us. May you sleep peacefully in the great hammock in the sky.