RIP Septimus

I now only have one male rat left, as Septimus passed away on Monday evening. I’d been nursing him all day, keeping him warm and trying to persuade him to eat some of a fruit baby food/water/vitamin supplement mixture, but he passed away about an hour and a half after I’d gone to work. I’d guessed he was dying, and he didn’t suffer before it – he was fine, was noticeably slower than usual for a couple of days, and then passed on from old age. He lived a good life, despite his permanent head tilt from an ear infection as a baby (which is why I got him in the first place – I was initially only fostering him to make sure he got his medication). He always had balance issues, but otherwise was unaffected, and held his own well with boisterous brother Orlando Nuisance-Rat.

Lando is recovering from the loss. He was very depressed for a few days, but is coming out of his shell again now. He’s got a slight respiratory infection, so he’s getting daily antibiotics for that, which makes him cry and try to hide, then need comforting afterwards. He’s not looking old, as such, but he definitely doesn’t look young any more, a fact which is made more obvious by the fact that the next oldest rat in the room is Missy, at around eight months. (Lando’s approaching two, I believe).

It is to be hoped that my blog won’t have so many RIP posts in future!