The big scare

 Rowena at the vet

Earlier this week, my daughter asked me to give her a ride so that she could take one of her pet rats, Rowena, to the vet. Before then, I had noticed that Rowena was breathing differently. It really did not look like he was breathing normally. I came to find out he was also lethargic and not really eating so much, either. So I agreed to take Trevor to the vet so that the rat could be examined.

We got bad news from the vet. We were told that Rowena either had a harsh case of pneumonia or cancer. The vet advised that the best thing to do would be to euthanize him if it was cancer because the treatment period would be long and he would suffer from that disease during that time. She also said they had medicine for Rowena to take for the next couple of days to treat the pneumonia – if that was what he was indeed sick with. In the event the medicine did not help him, it meant he had cancer. That would mean putting him down – which is ultimately the choice that Trevor made. She did NOT want Rowena to suffer.

We were pretty upset about this news and crying a little about it. Rowena had only been with us for a year and a half. We got him when he was a baby. It was hard to accept the possibility of losing him so soon.

I convinced Trevor to try the medicine first and see if Rowena got better. So they gave us the medicine and we let them know we would schedule an appointment if we had to go with euthanasia.

That evening, I ran to the pet store to buy more rat food, rat bedding and also rat treats. (I was feeling pretty sad and wanted to spoil Rowena.) Also, Trevor put the medicine in Rowena’s water and we just hoped for the best. Jesse was very upset by this news and we spent the evening huddled around our furry friend.

Now all we could do was wait to see if the medicine worked.

Unfortunately, Rowena would not drink the water. We had to force him to drink it.

The next morning, I was really upset about all this going on. I was sad but also angry. WHY did this have to happen?? Rowena was so young. It wasn’t fair. We were not ready to let him go and we loved him so much.

Later that day, I had to give Rowena the water while Trevor was at school. This time, I did not have to force him to drink the water. He drank the water on his own. He even wanted more water when I tried to move the bottle away. He also ate.

I was very heartened by this and let Trevor know. She was also excited and thought that Rowena was doing better. Indeed, he was. He still had trouble breathing but he was eating and drinking water now and moving around.

Later on in the day, Trevor told me Rowena was doing more better. I was so glad!

Today was the day we would have had to decide whether or not Rowena would be euthanized. Thankfully, we did not have to make that decision; he is recovering, and that means he doesn’t have cancer. He is doing better and the medicine is helping him. Thank God! (And thank you to everyone on FB who prayed for him and sent good vibes!) Still, Trevor wants to take him back to the vet next week to get examined again and just to make sure that Rowena is in the all-clear. I am just relieved he is not as bad as he was before.

We are all relieved Rowena is getting better now. This scare really created a lot of tension, stress and anxiety for us. I was really NOT looking forward to having to say goodbye to our furry friend just yet. I am so very grateful he is getting better and getting his strength back.

I hope the next time we take Rowena to the vet, we will have better news about his health.