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The brevity of life teaches us to cherish it. My condolences.

I'm with you on the rats, no question.

I had many, 10 total? Only having 2-3 at same time. We absolutely loved having them, tiny dog personalities. Even decent with kids. Just got sick of how often we lost one.

Man they were amazing though.

This rat is absolutely adorable. My condolences.

I really am terrified of this, and actually that's the main reason why I never had a pet.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I keep fish, especially Betta fish, and I reached a point where I realised I'd have to accept their short lives because they bring me such joy. So I'll just pass on what one of my friends often says: "May their memory always be for a blessing."

We lost our cat last week, he was supposed to be 2yo when we adopted him but after he got very sick the vet told us he was probably a senior cat. He was with us for 3 years (covid baby) and I miss him so much, it's so hard to lose a pet, everyone I return home the house feels so empty. I'm sorry for your loss OP, I hope it gets better

Sending our condolences your way, friend. It's never easy saying goodbye.

We bought few chickens (hens) and if you want reliable source of eggs from them you have to replace them after 2 years.

It will be sad dinner/lunch next year.

But seriously it is part of life and it sucs. I want to have few pigeons and their lifespan is short too.

So sorry for your loss. As I get older, losing my pets hits harder and harder. I'm at the point where I don't know if I can do it anymore after this generation of pets. It kills me.

This is a very real and normal part of having rats as pets. I'm sorry you have to go through it. My partner and I nearly gave on rats after loving an oops litter for nearly 2 years then losing all 8 of them over the course of a couple months. It was just the normal time for a rat to be done being a rat, but it felt like a biblical plague. Seemed like every week I had to put another of my friends in the garden out front of the old apartment.

While trying to figure out what to do with all this grief, we came across the myth that when a child dies, some god or another sprinkles daisies across the earth where that child lived or where they were buried. My rats occupied an interesting intersection where they were not, of course, children but they were absolutely My Babies. In light of this, we decided to get a daisy to plant over the spot where they rest, right next to one another just like they did every night when they were rats. It was an African daisy in particular, which is an annual in all but the southernmost USDA hardiness zones and will die annually basically anywhere in the US except along the southern border. We are in Pennsylvania, but somehow that African daisy has been going strong outside the old apartment for four years now. It pops beautiful flowers every summer and doesn't show any signs of slowing down, even though the new tenant is clearly not taking care of it at all. The rational-depressive in me is thinking about climate change, but the romantic in me sees a plant being kept alive against all odds by the sheer accumulated love and silliness of 16 rat-years. My friends saying hello, and letting me know they're okay.

As far as giving up rats, we had decided to. We even gave away one of our three cages and were looking for homes for the other two when a breeder came across on Craigslist who had the goofiest, most beautiful pink eyed double rex beans I'd ever seen. So we hopped in the car for a couple hours drive and we're rat parents again. The heartache is real, but it's worth it. They're litter mates, so odds are we'll have a rattie mass extinction event some time in the next year or so. That's gonna hurt a lot. But for now they're cute, and silly and playful. They do tricks and get into mischief. We're fortunate enough to have a spare bedroom that we've rat-proofed and filled with obstacles and hides and dig boxes. We even got to put little floating shelves on the wall and built them a super Mario Bros themed obstacle wall. The best part is, when they come out of the cage for enrichment time they line up at the door and everyone gives me a kiss and gets a cheerio.

Sorry for you loss.

I feel similarly about dogs. They give us a decade or so of unconditional love and then break our heart.

Losing a pet is always heartbreaking. It reminds me the ones I lost. I share your grief, fellow beeple.

My wife and I used to keep guinea pigs and gerbils, and I had a hedgehog for awhile, over a span of about 15 years. The last guinea pig passed in the mid-2000s.

It was worth it, but as I near retirement, I wouldn't do it again. I've had that experience, and I treasure it, but I don't need to do it again.

One of my cats just got diagnosed with kidney disease. We caught it fairly early, but she's 15 years old and it feels like this might be the beginning of the end. Even 15 years feels too short. As Tamsyn Muir wrote, "Life is too short, and love is too long."

It's better to love and lose, then to be lost without love.

Sorry for your loss, friend.

I've tried to talk my husband into adding some rats into our family SEVERAL times. Usually I feel like I'm making compelling points and am close to convincing him. But then he usually hits me with the question: "How are you going to handle losing them after a few years?"

I never have a good answer to that one 😥

I grew up with animals on a farm and was pretty callous (not because of the farm, just immature lack of empathy). I caved in and let the family get a rescue pup several years ago. She wasn't "mine," really, but it still hit me incredibly hard when she passed. I went to get a cotton cloth to bury her in the day before before she was put down (uncorrectable, painful colitis) and the cashier asked me what I was making. I said it was for my dog, then got into my truck and ugly cried. It's the second pet I've lost as an adult and it will be my last. I can't deal with the pain. Good for you for adopting the cats; I hope they bring you solace for the time being and many enjoyable years.

Oh man I am so sorry for your loss. Your pet looks amazing and I am sure he liked you a lot and had a good life.

I lost two rats. One of them was like a really close friend to me and I know he trusted me and I think he knew I saved his life when I adopted him. He was so happy the day I bought him a friend. This friend loved food over everything and was so curious and stole from my breakfast every morning. He almost loved every food. I love thinking about them and our time together.

Now I am with two boys left. They are so adorable and still sleeping right now. I am glad that they are still alive bit I can see them aging and it hurts. Probably will not buy another rat again after this because I also cannot bear it. They are the cutest critters and deserve life so much more than a lot of the violent and disrespectful human scum outside that I have to tolerate every day. Life is not fair at all. Thank you for sharing your story.

I've got a client going through this right now and it's devastating for her, as her rats are like her kids and they're all she has. She's lost two since I started seeing her.

I've learned SO much about rats while having her as a client and I can see how deeply owners connect with them, thus making it that much harder when they pass away because they don't live very long (compared to cats and dogs).

Sending positive vibes your way during this difficult time!