Hi everyone - so tonight we are doing the blog with just one of our pets - Raspberry the Rat. She's a lovely sweet old rat now but we got her when she was only little, from a rescue centre run by the Scottish SPCA. We also rescued her big sister Cranberry but she is feeling a bit tired and doesn't want to come out to play just now, so we are leaving her be.
Our rats are pampered and spoiled because we love them very much and we want to be as responsible as possible so that they have a good life. (Don't worry we don't let them have too many treats!) Taking care of a pet can be lots of work though and a lot of the time, pets end up in rescue centres because their owners didn't realise how much work it would be.
The have 3 bottles but hey!
They are just like little people and have lots of needs. For example, our rats get out to play most days so we have had to "rat proof" areas in our house to make sure they have safe and exciting places to explore (and so that they can't chew wires and blow up the house - they love tech!). We also have to help clean their cage and make sure it is as fun, cosy and interesting to them as possible. They have two floors, a hammock, two tunnels and a rope swing as well as a wheel to run around in. Rats also love to burrow and make nests, so we give them lots of old rags and things to play with - sometimes we wake up to find really crazy creations!!!
Anyway - we could talk about how amazing our rats are all day but that isn't the point of the blog. It's basically that if you are going to have a pet, think really hard about where you get it from and make sure those people are treating the animals well and breeding them responsibly. Don't buy from pet stores or puppy farms etc!!!!
Read to your rats!
To be honest, having lots of pets is not very good for the planet because they use food and create waste just like us. But we also share the planet with all animals - their lives are precious too and there are lots of good things about having a pet as a companion. If you can, it would be best to adopt a pet from a rescue centre because there are lots of animals out there who need our help. (links at the bottom) It is horrible to think that some people are cruel to animals and even make them fight each other, so that's another good reason to support animal charities and rescue centres who help to stop this.
Our rats are getting old now, they are more than 2 years old (we don't know exactly) and one day, we know they will go to rat heaven. Sometimes that makes us very very upset to think about but we know that we gave them a better life than the one they were born into. They are happy and have been loved and we feel loved by them too. It took a lot of work to get them to trust us but it was worth it and we would recommend rescuing a rat to anyone who can spend a little time every day giving them cuddles and playing with them. They need a fairly big cage they can climb in and space to burrow and hide. You also have to be prepared to take them to the vets when they get sick and look after them properly when they need extra care.
Always time for a morning kiss
Raspberry likes Elsa too!
We love our rats so much - but it's true, we did really want to have a dog and still do one day. We know though that we don't have the space or the time a dog would need to live a happy life and it wouldn't be fair to adopt one when we can't look after it properly, no matter how much we would like to. Our rats are so special to us though and have made our lives very happy - we hope they have been happy with us too!
Cranberry is a yoghurt licker!
Any pet is a big commitment but making the life of an animal better is a pretty nice thing to do and we think they have made our lives better too. Learning to love, take care and be responsible for something probably makes us into more caring people and that's a pretty good thing for the planet too we think!
We're off to see if Cranberry wants a snuggle before bed! No more banana chips for her sister though!
This was a lovely blog to read. As owners of two soppy Dogs Trust dogs we totally agree that Rescue is quite often best. Hello Cranberry and Raspberry. Away to catch up with your other blogs now
This was a lovely blog to read. As owners of two soppy Dogs Trust dogs we totally agree that Rescue is quite often best. Hello Cranberry and Raspberry. Away to catch up with your other blogs now
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