# Twiggy - April 2009 to Oct. 22, 2011 :(



## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Twiggy was an older tilty boy when he arrived on October 9 of last year, but he made himself right at home 




























Everyone loved his plucky spirit and happy buggy eyes. I had really hoped for a cagemate for this lovely boy but with rats it was a whole different story. Blood shed instantly…Sigh


















But then bad things started to happen. He had a swelling behind his jaw…it was becoming a real concern as I was thinking Zymbal’s Gland tumour, a very bad and fatal tumour for a rat to get. It grew and grew but never seemed to bother him. I was just waiting for a sign that he was ready.












The monstrous thing scabbed and then started to open up at the top. I was going to take him to my vet the next day to be pts, but he still wasn’t acting “off” in the slightest, so I took a better look at it and discovered pus…Abscess!!!! I was thrilled for a short while but it was a horrible thing to deal with, and it came back again months later. This time it went away for good, and Twiggy just aged lump-free like a little old man should. He developed a constant URI but it was managed pretty well by antibiotics for the most part.
Twiggy absolutely hated the treatment for the abscess and would cry and flail…but his capacity for forgiveness was amazing. No treats or cuddles for him, just let him run/toddle around on the bedroom floor and he was perfectly fine within seconds. LOL


My lovely brave boy in between abscess occurrences, he was 2 years old here.












At 26 months his HED was pretty bad but this boy could really haul himself around












And at 29 months, happy, bright, and still loving life.












Goodbye Bright Eyes…we did the long haul together and made it out the other side.


----------



## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

Oh my god, what a beautiful rat. He looks like he was a wonderful boy, too.

I'm curious, did he just die of age? You don't have to answer if you don't want to talk about it.

RIP little one.


----------



## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Kinsey said:


> Oh my god, what a beautiful rat. He looks like he was a wonderful boy, too.
> 
> I'm curious, did he just die of age? You don't have to answer if you don't want to talk about it.
> 
> RIP little one.


They rarely die of age sadly. Twiggy had terrible respiratory issues, and when I found him in his cage yesterday, he had had a stroke. His ear drum had burst, the vet was closed, so I gave him a big dose of metacam for any pain and cuddled with him for 4 hours til he had a final seizure. I don't usually include how they died in my memorials because I want to celebrate their life, but I don't mind talking about it. He was a lovely old man of 30 months, which is longer than I thought I would have him.


----------



## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

I know, that's why I was surprised. 

I'm glad he was with you for some comfort when he passed, and you did a wonderful thing by saving him, as you do all your rats. <3


----------



## alliepenguin (May 6, 2011)

He was absolutely adorable, I'm sorry for your loss!


----------



## 1a1a (May 6, 2011)

What a gentleman, RIP Twiggy.


----------

