When Your Rat Passes on Rats are unfortunately gifted with only a short time in this world. The average rat lives for only two to three years. And in that short time a rat can really burrow his/her way deep into your heart. When the sad, inevitable time comes when you must say goodbye to your rat, the grief you feel can sometimes be unbearable. Some people find that the grief is too hard to suffer and stop bringing rats into their lives because of this. We here at RattyRat feel that although the loss is hard to bare, the love and happiness that our rats bring to us during their short lives, way out weighs the brief period of sadness that their death brings. It is during these times that we reflect most upon the years of joy. Joy that we wouldn't have otherwise felt if we hadn't let this little creature into our heart. Another thing to keep in mind, is that nothing can stop the hands of fate, all life on this planet must die eventually. This can not be changed. However, not all life gets to live in joy and comfort. There is much pain and misery in this world. So find great comfort in knowing that because of you, this rat had a wonderful life that he/she might not have otherwise had. Try not to think about how much you miss your rat. Think instead about how you gave your rat a great life for the short little time that he/she was given on this planet. That is something to feel very proud of. The best and easiest way to ease your aching heart when you loose a rat, is to turn to those surviving rat(s) still in your care. If you have no other rats in your care, you should go out and adopt some more ASAP. Rats have the special ability to weave magic on our hearts, helping to heal it's aches and pains, so spend as much time with your surviving rats as you can. Also keep in mind that you might not be the only one who is grieving. Animals also grieve and can become very depressed over the loss of a friend. Sometimes they can even stop eating! This is another important reason to spend lots of time with any surviving friends and cagemates of the lost rat. This can be hard to do, but one thing that you can do to help your surviving rats better understand what has happened, is to let them examine the body of their lifeless friend. An animal recognizes the smell of death, and will understand what it means. This is better then having their friend simply "vanish". It will give your surviving rats a sense of closure. Take your surviving rats to their play area, and allow them to sniff, groom, and interact briefly with the body of their lost friend so that they understand that their friend has passed away. After each rat has had a chance to examine the body you can take it away. If all you have left now is a lone rat, you need to quickly go out and adopt him/her some new friends. (See "Introducing New Rats to Your Colony" located within this Guidebook for more information.) WARNING! This is going to be very disturbing to hear, but you should be prepared for the possibility. If your rat passes away within his/her cage, and is not discovered for some time, you could find that your rat has been eaten at by their cage mates. In the wild, if a rat dies in the colony, the other rats will carry the body out and far away from their burrows. This is because the smell of death would attract dangerous predators to that location. Even though your pet rat has been domesticated, their instincts can still kick in, and they will want to move the body as far away from them as they can for safety. However, if your rat's enclosure is small, they can't do this. The ONLY alternative left to them is to try and get rid of the body by eating it. They do not do this out of evilness, it is simply an act of protective instinct.