Saying goodbye.

Today I had the second of my three pet rats put to sleep. That's two within 3 weeks. We also had to have our cat Harry put to sleep less than two months ago.
When you become a pet owner you know it's not forever, you understand that you will out live these animals most of the time by many years but it doesn't make it easier when letting them go.

As I have been left with a solitary rat, D'artagnan, I have decided to try and re-home him with another owner who has multiple rats already. Rats are group animals and require constant support and interaction with others. Had he been old I may have considered keeping him alone but he could live another year and a half and it's just not fair to make him spend that time on his own.

I do have the option to get other rats to keep him company but I'm not sure I'm in the right position in my life to get more. They are an expense, if I'm being honest I didn't spend enough time with the rats I had and it would be wrong to get more, plus I'm hoping to move out of my parents house sometime in the future and rental properties rarely allow pets and I wouldn't want to give up multiple rats just to move. So I'm going to try and find him somewhere to live that will mean he gets a nice, clean home, an owner that handles him regularly and lots of other rats to keep him company.

I never expected to go from 7 pets to 3 in such a short amount of time .... it's been pretty heart breaking and all around shit. But that's the deal you make when adopting pets, it's your responsibility to do your best by them and accept the pain of letting them go.

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