It has been a week since I had to put my fancy rat Absinthe, aka Captain Jack, down. I have had three male rats; Fenrir, Cthulhu, and Absinthe. My brother and i got a pair of boys a few years ago, Pyro and Fenrir, but my brothers died. After almost a year my brother got a pregnant female rat and she gave birth to fifteen babies, this was her fist time but not one of them died. Nothing compares to the bond you have with an animal that you helped care for while it was in it's mothers womb and help birth into the world and keep it alive. The mother needed no help but i still felt a strong maternal bond with the babies as helped raise them. We sold most of the babies but my brother kept the mother and two daughters and i kept two boys to keep Fenrir company. Cthulhu was the first to die and my first loss, and I got to say goodbye. a few months later i knew it was time for Fenrir to go so i cuddled him and looked into his eyes and told him it was time and it was okay for him to go and he died, then it was just Absinthe and I. Two weeks ago he lost the use of his feet but otherwise he was fine, but over the week he got worse until that Thursday It seemed the merciful thing was to put him down, but at least i got an extra week. Absinthe loss was the hardest and most lingering, for some reason I had a stronger bond with him than the others, and with the others when the end was near i distanced myself emotionally because the pain was too much, but with Absinthe i wouldn't let myself. It has been a week and the pain has not lessened, for me grieving does not stop until i have bonded with a new animal. But Absinthe's death has given us new life.
Yesterday my mom did something wonderful, my boyfriend and i want to get a ferret but can't right now and i needed an animal to temporarily bond with. We're young in my family when we get our own pets and my four year old sister has been long overdue for hers, and she and my parents had been talking for a few months about getting a rabbit. After Absinthe died the only relief i could get from the pain was by looking at pictures, videos, care guides, and sale adds for ferrets and other animals. This lead me to an add for a baby Flemish giant rabbit and when i talked with my mom about my need for a temporary animal she told me about my sister wanting a rabbit and i showed her the add. My sister and I got her together, her name is Liefje the Flemish word for sweetheart, and if Absinthe hadn't died we would never have found her so in a way he gave me what i needed to make it though my grief.