Uploaded July 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
trigger warning for people who are sensitive to animal deaths or other people crying. or, you know, to people who just don't need to have a bad day right now.
~:::UPDATE:::~
upon further research and input from other people, i am 99% sure gemini had a heart attack. he actually showed signs of heart disease that we couldn't identify as such; short bursts of energy as he attempts to run around and exercise, lethargy, head hanging over shelf/hammock, sometimes heavy breathing. one sign he didn't have was that he was not coughing, wheezing, or making any weird sounds until the moment the heart attack started. it could've been that he was fat, it could've been genetic, or both. we did not have him on a fattening diet.
this worries me about aries. he's gemini's biological brother, he hangs his head over the hammock, and he makes sounds VERY frequently, which has always worried me. michael thinks aries just has a bad respiratory system, but not so bad that we should be worried, but i think it's about time i put my foot down and say, "we need to get him checked out." michael is responsible and mentally healthy, but he's not perfect. it might be that he wants to believe aries is fine, and i've kind of always trusted his judgment, but we've never had a rat who makes sounds as often as a guinea pig (which is normal for them). i'm going to tell him tonight that we need to get aries checked out, and if i have to pay for it with my savings from patreon, i will.
both aries and baby girl are visibly depressed.
trigger warning for people who are sensitive to animal deaths or other people crying. or, you know, to people who just don't need to have a bad day right now.
~:::UPDATE:::~
upon further research and input from other people, i am 99% sure gemini had a heart attack. he actually showed signs of heart disease that we couldn't identify as such; short bursts of energy as he attempts to run around and exercise, lethargy, head hanging over shelf/hammock, sometimes heavy breathing. one sign he didn't have was that he was not coughing, wheezing, or making any weird sounds until the moment the heart attack started. it could've been that he was fat, it could've been genetic, or both. we did not have him on a fattening diet.
this worries me about aries. he's gemini's biological brother, he hangs his head over the hammock, and he makes sounds VERY frequently, which has always worried me. michael thinks aries just has a bad respiratory system, but not so bad that we should be worried, but i think it's about time i put my foot down and say, "we need to get him checked out." michael is responsible and mentally healthy, but he's not perfect. it might be that he wants to believe aries is fine, and i've kind of always trusted his judgment, but we've never had a rat who makes sounds as often as a guinea pig (which is normal for them). i'm going to tell him tonight that we need to get aries checked out, and if i have to pay for it with my savings from patreon, i will.
both aries and baby girl are visibly depressed.
