Foo - My rat has cancer :(

We found a huge tumor on her side today. We have to put her to sleep :( I don't want her to go :( I love my rat. But I'll always have my other rat ;) I think I'll buy another one :)

We found a huge tumor on her side today. We have to put her to sleep :( I don't want her to go :( I love my rat. But I'll always have my other rat ;) I think I'll buy another one :)
Wow, the love you had for your animal is so touching! Reading this brings a tear to my eye. Be strong, I know your buddy is looking down on you from heaven. [/sarcasm]

How do you put a rat to sleep? Step on it?

Easy guys. How would you feel if it was your pet?

Sorry Max....

I got a dog in 4th grade. She was my "best friend" if you will...waited for me at the window every day after school, slept in my room or in my bed every night...two summers ago she jumped off the deck from pretty high and hurt her back which paralyzed her back legs.

The doc made it clear it would be best to put her to sleep...she died with her face in my hands and her eyes locked to mine until the slowly closed.

:(

Sorry about that, Max.

When I was a teenager, I had a pet rat called Ben. He started losing his apetite, became less playful & a growth emerged on his cheek. Whilst I was debating on what to do, he died in his sleep. The next morning, I checked his cage & he was lying on the floor.
Poor little thing, he didn't do any harm.

I know that some people might dismiss rats as pets but they can be quite cute if treated nicely.

Sorry to hear that Max.:(

Aww Max, so sorry to hear that :(. My condolences. I hope the other one keeps you good company while you look for a new playmate for it.

Max, don't be so hasty. We've had many rats with big tumours live long and happy lives.

Euthinasia is never a plesant task.


WTP, do you know just how big a ****** bag you sound?

it.is.a...rat...a.rodent.and.a.particularly.dirty.one.at.that
My wife's hairdresser's daughter got diagnosed with cancer. She's 15.

A.rat?

Foo!

Sorry to hear, Max.

WTP, do you know just how big a ****** bag you sound?
+1 sorry WTP, but regardless of any animosity between you two... it's his pet, dude.

Max, let us know of any progress, or when you have found another mischievous little rodent to replace her. Good luck.

Max, I'm sorry about your pet.

If she isn't suffering, I don't see a reason to put her down quite yet.

I hope you will find solace in the days she brought you joy. ((hugs))

it.is.a...rat...a.rodent.and.a.particularly.dirty.one.at.that
My wife's hairdresser's daughter got diagnosed with cancer. She's 15.

A.rat?

Foo!

A fine lot you know about the creatures!

Do you bathe 3+ times a day?
A rat does.


Do you understand rat language?
They understand human.


Oh wait, you'ge garnered all you knowlege about rats by watching horror movies. :rolleyes:

I was diagnosed with leukemia (cancer) at age 48. Yeah, it's incureable.

A life is a life is a life. All with a purpose in this world.

Well....... except for cockroaches and fleas. I still don't see a pupose for those. Except to annoy you.

Why do rats seem apt to getting cancer?

Not all tumors are cancer. In fact, the vast majority aren't.

It's a freakin rat.

And yes, I am a heartless pig or whatever other colorful adjective you'd like to hurl at me.

You have starving kids and people in New Orleans and probably in your neighborhood and you are worried about some rodent.

How sad. I wonder why it is that so many rats get cancer?

It's a freakin rat.

And yes, I am a heartless pig or whatever other colorful adjective you'd like to hurl at me.

You have starving kids and people in New Orleans and probably in your neighborhood and you are worried about some rodent.


No, you're not intelligent enough to identify with our porcine brethern.

I don't have starving kids, mine are well fed. I have no people in NOLA, they drained a swamp and built houses?!?!? Dee-dee-dee!

The more people I meet, the more I like to spend time with my rats. :rolleyes:

We eat mice where I'm from. Rats are the dirtier of the 2.

I say kill the lot.

Sorry to hear it, Maxime.


It's a freakin rat.
Truth be known, the 'freakin rat' probably had more reason than you to be beloved.

Pets emotional links, never mind it's specie, are never to be underestimated.

It's a freakin rat.

And yes, I am a heartless pig or whatever other colorful adjective you'd like to hurl at me.

You have starving kids and people in New Orleans and probably in your neighborhood and you are worried about some rodent.

Having said that I hope you're donating your time, blood, and money to the Red Cross. There are people who can't get basic antiobiotics in Africa and are dying of diseases we have just about wiped out over here.

it's a rat.

A rat. I mean I am comfortable with a rat having more redeeming qualities than I, but it's still a rat. A rat with redeeming qualities is still a rat.

I used to keep lady bugs. I wonder if they had cancer when they died.

and by your same standards a dog is a dog. So, if your family pet dog/cat/bird were to die of a cancer after being with the family for years, it would be like a worn out piece of furniture or a broken appliance?

Yes. I wouldn't mortgage my life if it had a terminal illness. I'd put it to death. I'd be sad, but I'd survive. I have actually done such a thing. Not sure if she had cancer though.

*shrug*

A rat. I mean I am comfortable with a rat having more redeeming qualities than I, but it's still a rat. A rat with redeeming qualities is still a rat.
Correct.

What is this, troll on a kid and hate on rats day? Frank, you're some kinda wonderful.

Yes. I wouldn't mortgage my life if it had a terminal illness. I'd put it to death. I'd be sad, but I'd survive. I have actually done such a thing. Not sure if she had cancer though.

*shrug*
Would you euthanize your mother, child or wife. It is afterall, just a human.

...troll...

No, it's more like

...Foo...

What is this: troll = someone who doesn't follow the crowd think?

I don't know why some of you are calling Frank a troll. Maximan's rat died, and it was quite obvious to me that he really didn't care too much.


. . . But I'll always have my other rat ;) I think I'll buy another one :)

Some people love their rats. Nothing wrong with that. But I don't think most people would ever equate (in terms of feelings of grief and the pain of loss) the death of a pet rat with the death of a person that you are close to. If you do, nothing wrong with that, but you should at least be able to acknowledge that your feelings are very far removed from the way most people would feel.

What is is that makes the life of a rat any less valuable that that of a cat or a dog? They are pets, companions that are loved and honored.

Just because rat owners are outside the groupthink paradigm of 'worthy' pets does not negate their value as companion animals.

Before anyone condemns the species I suggest they educate themselves as to just how advanced the life forms really are.

< donning troll hat>

Roaches are advanced. Rats = advanced?

< trolling >

For what it's worth, no one is condemning rats. The response (at least mine .. and maybe mine alone) has been about this outpouring of emotions over rats as pets. I'm just expressing an opinion and maybe a value statement on where I think rats rank in the grand scheme of things.

For one, if they were meant to be treated as advanced, they wouldn't called "rats." And I'll ask to be spared any preaching on understanding the value of life (plants are "alive" too, afterall). Me, I'm just calling a spade a spade; or, in this case, a rat a rodent.

Aren't worms pretty advanced too? But they still are found all baked up on the sidewalk by 11:00 am on most mornings. I'm just saying .. advanced rats?? Come on people! (people?)

FWIW I also got the impression that maximan didn't seem too broken up about the loss of his rat.

It really has nothing to do with how advanced something is, it is based on the affection given to it. Snatch a doll from some 4 year old girl sometime and destroy it and see what happens when her father catches up with you... The doll is just a construct of plastic and other things - not even animate.

No, the value of an animal isn't based on its intelligence, but the love bestowed on it. After all, a pig I hear is smarter than a dog but there isn't a whole bunch of tears shed when it is butchering time for a pig - at least not down here. I would dare say a pig is a lot smarter than a horse if the ability to escape is any indication.

I rather doubt worms are any where near as advanced as rats by the way. By the way, Rabbits are rodents too - and there are a lot of rabbits that are pets.

I personally think ferrets are a lot more loathsome than rats - but neither is my choice of pet.

I'm sorry to hear that, maybe you're joshin', maybe not, it makes no difference to me, a pet's a pet. To those who dis-like pet rats; you know no better. Rats are loving pets, smarter,more affecionate and bite less than hamsters for example. It's difficult to feel but we all eat pork, I bet none have you have ever held a young piglet,you have no idea,if you did,you'd thing twice about what you ate !

Sure, I have held many a piglet, calf and asorted other edible livestock (baby chicks are really cute). But, thankfully they grow up and lose all their charm. A piglet is cute.

A 1,000 lb boar is not! :eek:

I eat rabbits, goats and what is uncommonly known as bushmeat; I used to eat snakes. Funny thing is folks in my village keep goats as domesticated animals (1 step removed from "pet" status, but close) and one of my best friends growing up reared rabbits. Occasionally, we'd kill some for food.

*shrug*

No, it's more like

...Foo...

What is this: troll = someone who doesn't follow the crowd think?
lol agreed.

No, it's more like

...Foo...

What is this: troll = someone who doesn't follow the crowd think?
lol agreed.

It's more like people who pick on some 14 year old because he wants to discuss his sick pet are seen as trolls. I simply see them as bullies who can't help but show their true colors. Either way, they don't last very long on Foo.

No, it's more like

...Foo...

What is this: troll = someone who doesn't follow the crowd think?
Yes we do give Max a hard time in his other threads, but you notice how when it's something really serious, people tend to be compassionate? The rat means something to him, that's all that matters. Who are you to decide the worth of a life, even if it is a rat?

I don't think much of cats but I don't feel the need to disparage a cat lovers' thread just to satisfy myself.

I like people who don't follow crowd-think. I'm not sure if displaying one's ignorance of rats and needlessly sniping in a dead pet thread would be considered "independent thinking" so much as just being a dick.

I mean ok, fine, be a dick. Foo would get pretty boring if it was all hugs and happy smiles and niceties.

Just don't pat yourselves on the back too hard for being such "independent thinkers".

Very good point Nicodemus.

It's a freakin rat.

And yes, I am a heartless pig or whatever other colorful adjective you'd like to hurl at me.

You have starving kids and people in New Orleans and probably in your neighborhood and you are worried about some rodent.

No, we shouldn't call you a heartless pig- that would diminish us as well as you. However, I'd wager that, as a whole, people who care about animals also care about people more so than do people who don't care about animals. Somehow, empathy (or, unfortunately, antipathy) is transferable across species. Just an observation.

The rat isn't suffering so we decided to keep it alive. It runs in it's wheel everyday and it is in all a healthy rat, except for that cancer tumor. We had it checked out by a vet, and he said that it still acts healthy and that it will die from old age soon anyhow.
Better than putting it to sleep.

Tumors are very common in rats. When I was in 7th grade I had two rats and both grew tumors. The tumors got huge and I had to put them down.

Rats are soooo wonderful and amazing as pets. It's a shame so many people are ignorant to that fact.

It is sad they don't live very long. A couple of ours got tumors also. My daughter just cried her eyes out.

Sorry about the loss of your little friend.