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How I came back to rats:
I've had quite a lot of pets in my time; sometimes it has been easier to list the animals I HAVEN'T had rather than try to list the ones I HAVE had!!
Let's see...there was Bonny, our first dog; that was when I was about 3. There were my two hamsters at 7; that was the start of my ongoing menagerie. Hamsters were followed by yet more hamsters; then mice (which I bred but didn't show). There was Mr.Hare the rabbit when I was 9, then my brother got 2 lizards and we all got into stick insects for quite a while. More hamsters - this time Siberian Dwarf hamsters. Another dog - Patches. A fox cub once, that I successfully managed to reintroduce to the wild, plus assorted overwintering hedgehogs annually from the age of 14 onwards! My zebra finches, Bobby and Belinda; Belinda unfortunately died eggbound, but Bobby lived to a ripe old age. My sister then got into guinea pigs in a big way; due to the fact I was more experienced with rodents, I ended up treating their various ailments (and I'm still the first person she calls if she has a problem with them!); her third girl came to us already pregnant, so I got experience of a guinea pig birthing. I had a Netherland Dwarf rabbit called Hoppy about this time.
Then there was a break from pets for a while from the age of 19 until I was 22, whilst I got married, had kids, and got divorced again. Then a friend introduced me to his rats; he was trying to find homes for a litter of silver fawn hoodies. Reba came home with me, and the rest was history. Brock followed, then Rowan, then Rowan and Brock had babies...then I adopted Cara...then Amy, Tulip, Cassidy and Jess were dumped on my doorstep! I joined the NFRS and the LSCMRC, and started showing and breeding under the name Pagan Stud.
Unfortunately, people locally in Hemel Hempstead thought I was running a rat rescue service; more and more rats kept turning up on my doorstep in cardboard boxes addressed to "The Rat Lady". There were a lot of cats around that area; my own cat, Tom, was well behaved but most of the local cats were absolute killers. Sometimes I would come home to find dead or nearly-dead rats on the doorstep. Sometimes I got home in time.
The RSPCA didn't want to know; and the local council weren't impressed with the fact that I was keeping 45 rats in a council flat. As fast as I could rehome rats, more were arriving; I had to give up breeding and showing because there were too many rescued rats already.
In the end I gave up altogether. I rehomed what I could, and managed to get the council to agree to let me keep two rats at least. Sheila Sowter was wonderful in this time, and helped me find good homes for the rest. None went to rescue shelters.
It was a heartbreaking experience. The council evicted me; not really my fault, but that of those thoughtless people who'd dumped rats on me. Right up to the day I left the flat, there were still boxes turning up on the doorstep. I swore never again. The two rats I kept were Brock and his granddaughter, Flash. A lady fell in love with Flash, and so I allowed her to have Flash. Brock finally died at the age of 5 and a half.
And then Sava, my ex, got some rats. Three of them. Gabriel, Michael, and Raphiel. I tried not to get too interested; I commiserated when Raphiel died of myco, but didn't get involved. Then, at the age of 2, Michael started going down hill. I gave what advice I could; but Michael had a stroke, leaving just Gabriel. On that Friday, I went to visit the kids, and I got out Gabriel and had a look at him. I gave Sava some advice, and made a big fuss of Gabriel. That Saturday was the monthly LSCMRC show at Enfield; so I went up to have a look and fell in love with a little blue rex dumbo boy. He was already taken - but I'd been smitten. I found #ratpalace that night, and RatloversUK the next day. On Sunday I went back to see the kids and Gabriel.
And on Monday I bought Jerry, my little banded husky boy.
Now I have GMR (Get More Rats!) very badly!
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