April

Yesterday Evan and I had to euthanize his pet rat, April. April had had a very long and happy life, though in the last several months she had been developing tumors. Evan operated on her three times to remove these tumors, which were superficial, but the tumors spawned and grew faster with time, and though she recovered quickly from the surgeries, they were still hard on April, especially as she got older and the cancer took its toll. These past weeks April hasn't been eating or drinking. She couldn't make it up the ramp to the upper floors of her cage, and couldn't even navigate around the lowest floor. So Evan made the tough call, and we took care of it. As he says, it was harder than he expected. This afternoon he went to his parents' house to bury April in the back yard.

Here's a picture of Evan's rats, Lily and April. April's probably the one on top.

There's still Lily, who is remarkably healthy, feisty, and cancer-free. We wonder whether she will notice that April's gone, or if she will care. More banana chips for her, I guess.