Loki - Cross

I used to think rats were disgusting little creatures. Their scaly tails and beady eyes just weren’t appealing to me. Roxanne wanted rats as pets, but I talked her out of it in favor of guinea pigs.

A few months after Roxie got the pigs, I saw a post about a feeder rat that had failed to become snake food and desperately needed a home. With much hesitation, I brought it up to Sam and Roxie, and the next day we had a small white rat with a respiratory infection, a massive abscess on the side of her face, and bruises on both of her back legs.

Seeing how frail and small she was changed something in me. I spent the next few weeks giving her tiny doses of amoxicillin and draining the abscess to help her recover. And recover she did.

She came back in full force.

Loki would escape her cage while we were at work and steal chocolate to hide around the house. She even hid the treats she absconded with in the weighted blanket we used in our attempts to keep her tiny body contained in the cage.

When Loki was free-roaming, she ran this house. She would grab chips bigger than she was and hop around the room with her prize until she found the perfect place to destroy her snack. And when she didn’t have something to eat, she would squeeze under doors and explore until she found something interesting. One of my favorite memories is catching her on the hallway camera running into Ben’s room. When I came out and called for her, she turned around and ran right back in.

Loki was the best car rider. Wherever I went, she went with me.

Some people were disgusted by her. Others were surprised to see a rat out and about like that. But the most important impact she had was changing people’s opinions of her kind. She never met a stranger. She would lick new people, take snacks from them, and win them over almost instantly. I can’t begin to count the number of people who went from hating rats to loving them because of the way Loki touched their lives.

She was spoiled rotten. Whatever we ate, she got some too. Cake, doughnuts, cookies, chocolate, steak, shrimp, lobster—this rat ate better than most people.

For two and a half years, I had the privilege of sharing my life with this tiny soul who had such a big heart. She was an ambassador for her species, and she was my little buddy.

The hole in our hearts left by her passing is so much larger than Loki ever was. I am incredibly lucky to have had her in my life, and there won’t be a day that goes by that I won’t miss her little face, the clicking sounds she made, and the way she would sit still for head kisses.

Rest in peace, my Loki.

You are free from the confines of this world now, and you are with loved ones who will care for you until we meet again.