This is Squee. Squee is a teeny baby rat (we think), who was found abandoned on the ground of the Lowes parking lot not far from my house. In fact, poor Squee nearly got stepped on!
Had my ex not done the "oh noo... aww" sound he does when he notices a dead animal on the road, I wouldn't have looked back. Usually I try not to look, but he also did the "what's that?" before it. So of course, I had to examine the situation.
"Oh noo.... poor little...." wait, did I see movement? It was faint, but the poor baby was breathing!
My ex protested as I carefully scooped the little one into my hands. I argue I'll wash my hands, and get shots if I really need to. "Do you think the vet is open?" I'm feeling oddly emotional over the tiny creature, but I can't help it. I couldn't leave it in that parking spot just to get run over by a car, or someones shoe!
Thankfully the vet was open, even if an appointment would have cost a decent chunk of change.
They gave me little hope, but said, if I wanted, I could attempt kitten milk in a medicine dropper and keeping it warm. Done. I was crying because the only other option was leave it to die all alone.
How could I do that? If Squee is going to die, at least I will do everything in my power to see to it that at least its tummy is full and its body is warm so it doesn't die alone.
Or crushed by a car, perhaps maybe even spared. Just to be caught in the storm we had later that night.
Not on my watch darn it.
The day before I'd spent time with my new niece Sarah. She's 6 days old and cute as can be, teeny, snuggly, and she's suckled on one of my fingers for comfort instead of a pacifier. Just like my kids used to do as babies.
I felt that internal twinge 'have another one!' nope, not happening body.
I had to leave feeling those twinges only to remind myself over and over. No more babies, the youngest just turned 6. You don't need that.
Enter Squee the next day. A tiny baby, all alone in the world. Somehow alive there on the pavement despite everything?
Thank you Universe, I have my 'baby.'
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I have no idea how old Squee is, my current guess is someone bought feeder rats (Squee would be considered a 'fuzzy' according to my research), and one (Squee) got free of the package.
All I know is it has been 32 hours so far since we found Squee. I've washed my hands what feels like a million times. I've been up every 2-3 hours to feed it and bathe it with a warm wash cloth. I've used more Clorox wipes than I can count.
But I don't care, because I've watched this tiny baby go from barely able to twitch and breathe in my hand to being able to walk around my hand, squeak, and feed oh so happily.
Hopefully, s/he survives the long fight and all goes well at a vet appointment so we can keep him/her!
Pictures and video's of Squee's progress will be posted here daily. :)
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