Pet Store Rat

My 15 year old daughter loves small animals. She started with a hamster. Soara and later Twitchy were the best loved hamsters ever. Most kids I know are excited with getting a new small pet but after a while they end up passing by the cage and feeding and cleaning happens only when they are seriously bugged by a parent - not so with my daughter. It was heartbreaking when, after the usual 2-3 year expected life span, she discovered them dead in their cages. They both got proper buriels.

Daughter decided a couple of years ago that she wanted to have a Rat. I had no qualms about this given her excellent track record. Many people have commented to me that if they had to come back as a rodent, they would want to be my daughter's pet.

We found a cute black and white rat which she named Kyla. Again, it was an amazing experience seeing her give so much love, care, and consistant affection to this animal. The rat was always one of the things she packed up when going to her Dad's for the weekend.

Last week, I met the kids and their father to drive them the rest of the way home with me. Daughter had Kyla in her traveling cage. Suddenly the handle broke and the cage fell to the ground. Daughter called out in surprize and picked up the cage. Kyla was jumping around wildly, all shook up. Daughter took the rat out of the cage to sooth her. Kyla was still frantic but daughter was doing her best to calm her down. I squated in the parking lot by the open door and was petting Kyla too. She finally calmed down then we noticed that she had stopped moving. Daughter fearfully said "Is she dead?" Then we both burst into tears. Kyla twitched a couple of times giving us hope. I tried to give her Reiki but it became obvious that she was gone. She died peacefully in my daughter's hands.

Daughter wanted to bury her friend in a good place. We live in an apartment and have no yard. I called em and asked if we could bury Kyla there. Of course she said yes. The hour drive to their home was hard. Tears were shed, words were spoken, anger about the accident were partailly released.

We got to em and eduardo's house. They had guests there who are friends we have in common. Eduardo dug the hole and I laid Kyla to rest. At Dauthers request, no formal words were spoken but the kind, supportive energy of the 11 people present was palpable. It felt right. I little comic relief came from the youngest one there who cautioned us to stand back as eduardo dug the hole. He said that something might jump out. When his older sister said "Nothing's going to jump out" in that voice that only older, "wiser" siblings can approximate he said "There might be a jack in the box buried there!"

Daughter now has two new white albino rats with red eyes - Hiedi and Lyra. They are getting the same loving attention. More tears have been shed over Kyla but life goes on. The pet store clerk was very happy that these creatures would go to a good home and not become feeder rats.

It's so gratifying to see how these small creatures have enhanced my daughter's life. She has learned many important lessons from loving these pets and, in a less obvious way, so have I.