2006 - 15 August 2007

Verity came from the SSPCA Dundee animal welfare centre. She had been in the centre for months because she was aggressive to the staff there and had bitten several times. But she was a different rat when she came here and never tried to bite. She was confident and affectionate and loved to be out. She was very lonely, though, so another unwanted rat, who we named Patience, was given a home here and she and Verity soon lived happily together. Verity had had a litter of babies when she was at the AWC and they had all been rehomed except for one, who had escaped and was living semi-wild in the centre, evading all attempts to recapture her. But a couple of months after Verity arrived here, her daughter was caught and she came here too.

In early August 2007, after only a few months here, Verity began getting nose bleeds. There were no other symptoms at first and it was treated as a respiratory problem, with steroids and antibiotics. But then my poor girl developed a head tilt and a bulging eye, and it was obvious she had some kind of tumour. She was put to sleep on 15th August when she was obviously starting to suffer. I miss her terribly, and only wish we could have had her longer. She was always so happy here.