Obituaries

Princess Natasha Astonovich was put to sleep today October 10, 2004, after a long fight with a tumor. She was a Blue rat, about 2 years old, and she is survived by 'Her Boy' Elliot, Mom, Dad, and her cagesister Samantha. At the vet's before she was given into the doctor's care, she bruxed, while Mom stroked her head and eye boggled for the very first time.

HRH Natasha will best be remembered for her insistance to make her way to the Floor at every opportunity, where she believed all princesses should be allowed to go. She was particularly proud of the fact that she was able to force Mom to allow her to play in the hallway on the floor. She loved scrambled eggs, tuna, and Mom's leftover 7 grain hot cereal.

She was spunky and continued to argue her whole life with Samantha, that a princess should outrank an Alpha, and was the instigator behind their Big Adventure.

Since Natasha's family does not believe in the Rainbow Bridge, they are particularly glad that they were able to spend extra time with Natasha the weekend before her vet's appointment and feed her her favorite foods to her hearts content.

We will miss our 'Tasha.

Samantha died peacefully today, January 8, 2005. Samantha was a beige hooded rat, and she was 3 1/2 years old. She is survived by 'Her Boy' Elliot, Mom, Dad and her cagenieces Azura and Phoebe. She is preceded in death by Binky, Tiffany II, and Princess Natasha Astonovich.

Sammi will be remembered for her sweet personality and her firmness of rule as Alpha, even though technically, she was outranked by a princess. She continued to rule wisely when she assumed the role of Auntie over the babies Azura and Phoebe.

Sammi loved Her Boy, Food (particularly Mom's leftover 7 grain hot cereal), and chewing on her Jumbone. She was brave when she had to Ride In The Car, and had at least one Big Adventure.

Although Samantha's family does not believe in the rainbow bridge, they are happy that she lived a long life and that her end was quiet.

We will miss our Sammi.

Little Baby Penelope died in my hands on January 11, 2008. She was only 5 weeks old. Penelope came to us by way of Dan, a rescuer. She and her sister were left outside in a cage the cold overnight by some inept people, and Dan whisked her away and brought them to us. Little Penelope, then unnamed, traveled the Big Freeway over a chunk of California to come to be our baby on January 5th. Penelope was undersized and had been underfed and cold just way too long. We had her for less than a week when she finally succumbed to respiratory problems, despite treatment.

She is survived by her sister Misty, and her adopted Auntie Mia as well as her new Mom & Dad. Special thanks to "Uncle Dan" and Diane Newburg who made it possible for Penelope to at least die in a warm house under proper care, instead of out in the cold.

At 4:16pm on January 30th, Our little Princess Mia died in my hands. Mia was 3+ years old. We got her when she was about 4 weeks old, and was the last girl out of a tankful of blue rats. We adopted her at the same time as Brightspot, our little beige hooded that died a couple of weeks ago. After Brightspot died, she was never the same. She missed her sister, and figured there wasn't much of a point to staying around.

Mia was a real sweety, and her favorite task was Supervising Mom On The Computer, perched at the back of the neck under the hair. Occasionally, she'd feel the need to fluff up the hair to proper proportions for comfyness and additional hiding ability. Mia's favorite treat was chocolate and peanut butter chips, which Mom provided from the little dish that magically seemed to stay full.

Mia is survived by Mom & Dad, and Misty and Phoebe, who she didn't really have time to get to know.