Remembering our Stuart Little

Stuart Little arrived as an emergency foster, just after 4 pm on Thursday. He was sick, his fur all matted and damp. He was weakly bobbing around his cage. His cagemate, another boy, ignored him, didn't seem interested in grooming him at all. Stuart was to stay with us until Sunday night or Monday morning, and then move on to another home. He came with antibiotics, baby formula, baby food. We had nursed sick rats before so we knew the drill, but this was the sickest rat we've seen.

He looked so pathetic in the cage. I mixed up formula for him right away to fill up his belly. He perked up a bit after taking a few mls and I was too sorry for him to put him back in the cage so I tucked him into my old sling and Amelia carried him around all evening. He stayed tucked in there. In the photos, he's peeking out because she was walking around. When she was sitting, he snuggled in there with just his head out.

He liked being petted on the head and lay there calmly, being scritched behind the ears. If you stopped, he wiggled a bit to remind you to continue.

He died in Amelia's hands, about an hour after these photos. We had just given him his meds and were going to give him some more formula and rice & apple baby food, which he really liked. His breathing became very laboured and after a few gasps, he was still.

He had been a lab rat apparently and probably had led a sterile, scary life. But for the last 5 hours of his life, he'd been petted and groomed and held warmly surrounded with love. I wish you could have had longer, Stuart.