Wisdom
Everyone has lost something in their lives, a friend, a watch maybe even a pet. As I sit here trying to figure out how to
tell the story of the best friend I ever had I look back at all the good times we had. I am not really sure what I
should tell you…or where I should start, I just know that his story has to be told. Throughout my life I have had
many pets and when the time comes to say goodbye there is just no real way to make it easy. Of all the pets that I
have ever had the pleasure to meet the most wonderful of them all was a little blue rat named Wisdom. I decided
shortly after my graduation from high school that I was going to breed rats. I looked through a lot of books and
talked to a lot of people. When I finally decided on blues I had to go to all the trouble of finding them. At the time
there were none in my area and I had to ship them in from Vancouver and Ontario. I ended up with a mature male
named Midnight and a young female named Whisper. Needless to say I waited until her sixth month birthday on
that day her and Midnight were bred. Everything went well and whisper grew to look as though she had swallowed a
golf ball. On day 21 she gave birth to 14 beautiful babies. She had a few unexpected problems. I had her in a large cage
and she had the babies on every level. When I got there there were babies everywhere and mom was in the house. The
babies had stuck to the levels and I peeled them off gently and she took them from me into her house. I held the babies
from day one while whisper had her adventures in the house and decided right from the beginning that they would all go
to new homes. Needless to say one male remained. You see I have learned since then not to name these guys until they
are sold but at the time I had no idea. I named the little gaffer wisdom, not cause he was smart but rather because if you
looked at him you got the feeling he knew more than you. Wisdom was my companion. No matter what life was like he
was always there. A few years later when his mother died I sat on the couch with him and cried. He curled up under my
chin and licked the tears from my face, always there to help.
Throughout his life Wisdom suffered from skin problems,constantly itchy and scratchy we tried everything to stop
the itch. Needless to say nothing helped and while his brothers and sisters remained healthy his skin drove him wild. In the
end his skin and my stupidity would combine to create his demise. I am sharing this story with everyone cause I finally feel
ready and I think that it will help to heal anyone else who has had a pet die and then put the blame on themselves. My
Wisdom and I had a nice last night together. He was not sick or ailing at all. I played with him for over half an hour before
realizing that he was due for a bath. I took him to the bathroom placed towels around the bottom of the sink and put
him on the counter. I turned around for a really quick moment to grab the shampoo and when I looked back I could see
him falling in slow motion. You know he had fallen once before, it was such a short drop he would jump off of there
and run around. This time I knew would be the last. Even though he landed on the towels it was painfully obvious from the
way that he was headed he was not going to make it. Sure enough that was the end. I held him for almost half an hour in
tears trying to keep him warm, hoping it was shock. I took him in to the vet the next morning; I wanted to make sure that
it had not been painful. His neck was broken, there was no pain I was told. I decided right then and there that I would
never breed again; I would never have another pet rat. The line that I had at the time was superb but I couldn't do it
anymore, this was the last time. As I sat at his grave mourning the friend I would miss for eternity I thought about what
he had taught me. He had let me know that it doesn't matter how big you are or how short of a life you have, the love
that comes from such an extraordinary creature can change someone for life.
I have just recently started breeding again. I am back into that line with some luck. Wisdom never was
a father because of his skin but the male I have now is very similar in temperament. I will never forget little Wisdom and
what he taught me about life, I can't wait to see him on the other side of Rainbow Bridge.
Ayri Wylie
Whispering Wise Rattery