I met Sage in my 7th grade science class, when our five class rats turned into forty-five one day. My teacher had to find homes for all of those rats, and Sage was one of the new arrivals. I wasn't the only one that liked her, though, there was another student who wanted her and she was also my teacher's favorite. So, I had to wait for four months before my teacher let me go home with her at last. Why was this one rat so popular out of forty-five choices? Well, she was the only beige hooded rat in the classroom, that was one reason. Another was that she was so adventurous; she was the escape artist of the rat community! She was always trying to get out, whether it meant learning how to open a lock, pushing a lid off, or chewing her way out, so be it. She even learned how to scale the table legs and get into cupboards! Sage loved to eat strawberries and watermelon, and would do just about anything for a piece. She was very friendly, and loved to have her head rubbed between her ears. I would take her out in the backyard and let her run around at the end of her leash, a leather contraption I made myself. She just had to poke her nose into everything and would run so fast that I would have to jog to keep up! But, it couldn't last. Sage developed a tumor between her hind legs, one that the vet said he couldn't remove without messing up all her plumbing. It kept getting bigger and bigger, even after we treated it with tamoxifen, a great medicine shown to help reduce tumors. I admired her spirit more and more each day, since she tried harder every day to keep going on with her life. Even when it was the size of a small apple, she refused to give up, and would come waddling over to the door of her cage when she heard my voice. When she grew two more tumors, one on her chest and one on her shoulder, it got to be too much for me, and I decided that Sage would not be able to recover. So, I made the impossible choice and got her euthanized on January 30, 1999. I've missed her every day since.
Like my page? Got questions or comments? Email me at ratlovr@hotmail.com