Rimsky
was a perfect representative of how affectionate,
loveable, mischievous, and outgoing pet rats are. He was always eager to
come out and play, and would run to the cage door as soon as I entered the
room. He never missed an opportunity to give kisses and would often
insist that my nose was desperately in need of affectionate grooming.
Rimsky loved to explore and was known to forego an offer of treats in
order to spend more time exploring. He was quite the character and
was more likely to get into mischief than his brother Korsakoff.
Rimsky
loved people.
He would run excitedly in the direction of anyone, even a stranger, if they
entered the room in anticipation of a visit. He charmed
visitors and staff at a vet clinic with his wonderful personality.
He even gave the receptionist a kiss on her knuckle which she was
delighted about.
Rimsky wass a cuddly rat and completely relaxed while being carried so that I could hardly feel his claws. He wasn't afraid at all of new situations or noises, in fact, he became very curious when I used our noisy vacuum around the apartment. He wanted to come out and investigate what all the noise was about.
I
trained Rimsky to
come when he was called using treats as rewards. Rimsky also
learned a few tricks of his own, one of which was to get under the
comforter on my bed despite my best efforts to stop him. Even though
I pulled the comforter up so that all the edges were hanging over the sides,
Rimsky still managed somehow to get underneath and pretend he was a little
mole tunneling through the bed sheets.
Rimksy also mastered the art of "couch diving" which (fortunately) he never taught his brother. Rimsky frustrated my husband to no end because Rimsky would lay in wait until the human was distracted and then bound over to the crevices between the couch cushions and slip quickly into the interior of the couch (which is a pull-out bed so there were lots of neat bars and springs to explore).
In August of 2001 (at 10 months of age) Rimsky began to develop the early signs of a respiratory
infection. A course of Azithromycin cleared it up. Then in May
of 2002 Rimsky started showing signs of another infection. Although Rimsky was put on
Azithromicin again, he didn't
improve and later that Month I had a real scare when Rimsky suddenly
became extremely lethargic with laboured breathing. He refused to
eat and drank only from a syringe. It was a Sunday I rushed him to
an emergency vet in Toronto where Rimsky was given some oxygen and sub-cu
fluids but no
antibiotics (they didn't have the proper ones). Despite looking near
death, Rimsky made it through the night and on Monday I took him to the
regular vet. The vet gave Rimsky an intramuscular injection of
doxycycline (vibravenous) and within 24 hours Rimsky was back to his normal self.
I was amazed at his recovery. Rimsky was given another injection one
week after the first, and then put on oral doxy. He was put on oral
doxy and although we tried to take him off it several times, the infection
would come back within days. Rimsky lived 7 months longer, until his
sudden death at home on January 8th, 2003 at age 2 1/4 years.
Rimsky and his brother were the inspiration for PRC. I started the website
when I got them. I learned alot from Rimsky, and I think one of the most
important things that I learned was that a rat with myco can still live a
long, happy life if he/she gets the proper care and treatment. Two and a
quarter years is a respectable age for a rat who had his first myco flare
up when he was 10 months old.
The grief I experienced at losing my little wonder rat was eased significantly by the support of people on the PRC forum. It was truly wonderful to receive condolences from people that I knew understood the hurt that comes from losing a pet rat. I will miss my little "Rim-Skrim" but I know he had a good life and that he was happy right up until the end.
I entered Rimsky into an online rat show in 2001 and he won as best rat
in his category - Mismarked.
And so I am glad,
Not that my loved one is gone
But that the earth he lived and laughed on
Was my earth too.
That I had known him, and loved him,
And my love I'd shown.
Tears over his departure?
Nay, a smile - that I had walked with him a little while.