Lilspaz Rat Hospice: Smitty

Smitty - July 2010 to February 15, 2013 :(

Smitty was hand-raised from 2 weeks old by his former owner. When he was older he tried to introduce Smitty (Smitherman) to his older adult males and fights ensued. So Smitty lived alone. Then he developed scabs and mites and instead of his owner asking for help or advice on this matter, he put up an ad saying that the mites wouldn't bother a snake and you could have him for food for free. What the...? Of course I didn't know until later that Smitty had been hand-raised, it just shocked me that a pet could be blithely offered as food and for such a minor thing.

He was a big stocky boy that tended towards fat, with a poor rusting coat, and lots of mite scabs which of course was treated. :) I did find him hormonal with other rats so he was neutered. Sadly that did not stop his behaviours as Smitty was terrified of other rats and would "attack them before they attack you"

He was incredibly sweet with me though.

Smitty was a very happy and content boy. He lived in a "re-modelled" rat resort cage, and would poke his head out the holes and give me kisses. Or drop his big head so I could kiss it. I tried him with all sort of rats and it either n out, or he was only able to live with them for a short while due to his aging and disabilities. Smitty was a very cuddly boy and loved nothing more than lying in my lap getting strokes, cheek rubs and scritches. He would completely zone out during this.

A few weeks ago, he started showing signs of PT, so I got him to my vet and we put him on bromocriptine. I slipped him into the Oldies cage while he was still confused and when he became more aware he realized that no one was trying to kill him and that these friends are who he wanted all alone. I was THRILLED. Sadly Smitty only improved a little even with the bromocriptine...and this past week he'd been slowing down a lot. I think there was something else going on with my big lad but it wasn't respiratory and probably was not his PT. Tonight I got to hold him briefly as he left this world, leaving a large Smitty-sized hole in my heart

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