Due to personal reasons,

I showed Frodo the body twice (the first time he acted as though he didn’t understand) and he still went around last night frantically searching, I’m not sure if he was searching for Pippin or what, but I’ve never seen him act that way. I left the ramp to the cage down all night so he was able to come and go (and I felt safe doing so because even if he wanted to say hi to me on my bed he doesn’t like to lay up here or stay long) but I think I’m going to maybe start doing that for a while, if not from now on.

If any of you don’t know, I am in a place where I would like to take a break from owning rats. I also currently live with my mom, who has told me not to get anymore.. This kills me because, although I’m ready for a break, I probably would have had a couple new boys to keep Frodo company before Pip had even passed, because I was dreading this situation. I am absolutely not willing to rehome him, because he has his own health issues and I also love him too much, so leaving those suggestions out would be helpful.

Basically the only thing I can say is, be prepared for him to go downhill quickly or become quite miserable. When Skitty passed away last year, her sister Skunk clearly became very depressed, she slept all the time and wasn’t as active when I got her out either, even when I was spending many hours with her. She perked up as soon as she had a new friend. If you definitely want to keep him, you’re probably going to have to really up the time you spend with him to keep him company. 

From the stories I have heard of this happening to other people, some rats may surprise you with how well they do alone after going through the mourning period. At the other end of the scale, you have rats that pass away quite soon afterwards. I know it sounds harsh but you should be prepared incase that does happen. 

Depending on how old he is (i.e. if you think he doesn’t have particularly long left), would your mum allow you to get a rat to keep him company until he passes, and then rehome that rat? I have seen people do that, or foster a lone rat from a local rescue. Obviously it’s not an amazing solution but if he does seem to continue to suffer it may be best for him.

It’s day 1 and he’s eating and being quite active, even though he’s acting a bit different. Fortunately I’m actually working part time right now so I do have more time than I used to when I was working 47 hours a week.

Frodo actually has quite a few health issues stemming from the good ol’ URI I have lost so many to already now. He’s currently on medication but we actually had to go to the emergency vet for his respiratory distress literally a week ago. That’s another thing I’m a bit worried about in regards to bringing in another friend, he has lots of flare-ups and I would feel really bad if he passed that on. At the same time, even though I don’t like to think of it, the other 4 of my boys have a bad track record so far in terms of living long so I’m not expecting Frodo to be around too much longer (even though I obviously wish he would live to 3 years).