Posted: April 7, 2020

It took me a while to write this. Goblin has been gone for 6 months now… seems like just yesterday.

When Goblin died, his brother Monkey was left all alone. It was a very sad day.

Monkey was never really the same after that. I think he knew what had happened, even though he hadn’t seen Goblin’s body (Goblin was cremated).

In the following weeks, we brought home two new friends for Monkey, Dragon and Rigby. They seemed to get along fine, but Monkey was becoming a grumpy old man.

Karma paid him back for all those times he stole treats from Goblin - the younger, faster rats were now stealing his treats.

A few short months later, Monkey had lost nearly half his body weight. The vets suspected he had cancer.

We gave him lots of love, and as much baby food as he wanted. He really liked the banana, oatmeal, sweet potato, and sweet pea flavors. Karma was back to reward him.

I couldn’t bear the thought of being away from Monkey when he died. On Goblin’s last day, I had my last moments with him… and then they took him to the back room to be euthanized.

I’ll never forget the look that he gave me. He was being so sweet… he was such a gentle boy. He was obviously in a lot of pain.

I can’t help but think he felt betrayed in that last moment, as I handed him to the vet tech. They said I couldn’t watch because it would be painful for him, and traumatizing for me. I never saw my little boy after that…

When Monkey stopped eating his baby food, I knew things were really bad. I called to make an appointment for end of life care that same day.

This time, I wanted to be with my boy when he passed. Goblin’s death just didn’t sit right with me.

A few minutes after making the phone call, my sweet Monkey died in my arms. I’m certain death is never pleasant, but I hope he felt cherished in his final moments.

Rest in peace buddy.

2017-03-31 x 2020-01-15