| Parents:
Radar (Am. Blue) x Spot (Chocolate Hooded)
From:
Aquatic Pets, Northfield, MN
Status: Deceased
- April 16th, 2004 at 5:07 PM -
companion only
Health: Mara's
health record is, unfortunately, poor, at best. She had
several respiratory infections (the last two were in January and
August of 2003), 2 eye infections in left eye, and 2 mammary tumors
(June 2003 and Aug 2003). Both mammary tumors have been removed
(June and October 2003). As of February 2004, Mara developed 3
more mammary tumors in various locations. She also developed
weakness in her hind legs, making walking difficult for her.
Temperament: What
Mara lacks in health she makes up for in temperament. Mara
loves to be held, petted, and kissed. She enjoys taking naps
with people in bed or on a couch. She is not shy of people,
loud noises, or other animals .
She is also not
adventurous enough to get herself into trouble.
Her Story: I
arrived at Aquatic Pets in Northfield, MN to help a friend get more
water for her fish tank. I discovered that the small, family
owned pet store also owns and breeds rats. There was a small
8-week-old female beige rat in an aquarium all by herself.
Being curious about her I decided to try and hold her. I had a
difficult time getting her out of the aquarium, but once I did she
settled into the nook of my arm and fell asleep. It was love
at first sight.
I took her back to my
dorm room where my roommate also fe ll
in love with her. We named her Mara after the strong and
independent heroine
from the Daughter of the Empire trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and
Janny Wursts.
Mara lived alone for the
rest of the school year. She was never bored, however, since
she spent about 15 hours a day out of her cage playing with me, my
roommate, and our other friends. When I left school for the
summer I decided it was time to get her some friends. Kirika
and Sato moved into the "mansion" in June and July of
2002, respectively. She and Kirika formed an inseparable bond
very quickly. They almost never sleep apart. She and
Sato also had a good friendship, but Sato's weakness in her hind
legs eventually kept them from sleeping together in the hammock.
As Mara's health began to
fail in her old age I began to realize what kind of tenacious little
girl she actually was. She recovered fully from the first two
tumor surgeries she had, but began to decline in health after
developing three tumors in February. She moved into an
aquarium at the end of February when she began having serious
problems getting up the ramps in her wire cage. The aquarium
was turned on its side and always open, so she could play on my desk
whenever she wanted.
She began to show how
miserable she was at the beginning on April when her tumors became
quite big. She began to lose weight (although the tumors actually
made her weigh more) and was no longer eating as much. On
Tuesday April 12th, Mara finally made it clear that she no longer
wanted to live in her condition by no longer giving out kisses.
She was taken to Carver Lake Vet Center in Woodbury, MN on Friday
April 16th and humanely euthanized to end her suffering. It
was the hardest decision as a mother I have ever had to make, but I
feel relieved knowing she is no longer suffering. She gave me
one final good-bye kiss while we waited for the vet to set
everything up for us. I know it is what she wanted. She
was, and always will be, my best friend.
Mara's wonderful
temperament made me decide that in the future I wanted to breed rats
in order to better the fancy rat community. Everyone should
have as good of friend in their rat as I do in Mara.
The Many Faces
of Mara
|
