Plebee Dweeby

One night, we drove by an Applebee's restaurant where the first A and P were burned out. My boyfriend exclaimed, "Hey, let's go eat at Plebee's!!!" It gave us such a belly laugh I thought I would pass out. We then thought what a cute name Plebee would be for a rat. So, the next one we got was named Plebee .

This is one of the prettiest photos we have of our Plebee. I had placed all the girls in the tank while I was cleaning their house. They all went to sleep except for Pleeb, so I got my camera out and snapped her photo as much as I could (she never sits still, so this was a treat!).

We came home from labor day vacation to find Plebee had passed away. She had not been doing particularly well for about a month. Our vet suspected a lung problem unrelated to any illness. In reality, ever since she lost her P-nut (who you can see loafing in the background) she had not been the same.

Plebee, pronounced Plee-Bee, came to live with us shortly after we lost our Cleah. We were hoping for a nice big momma rat who could mediate between our more fussy girls, as Cleah had always done. Instead, Plebee was darty, wild-eyed, and seemed to be afraid of the world. Over time though, we began to really love her untamed nature. She always behaved more like a wild animal than a domesticated one. She even has a face like a meerkat more than a rat, so I started to call her our little Meerkat . She quickly bonded with Pnut, our big ol' stand-in Alpha who was always a grouchy sloth. For some reason, she never left Pnut's side, even though Nut always gave her a lion's share of pummelings, lol. If there was screaming to be heard, it was always Pleebus being reemed by her big ol' Nut sister. When we lost Pnut, Plebee became depressed and lost much of her spark. She didn't bond with the other girls as closely as she did with big P. I hope now she can venture over the rainbow bridge and find her beloved big sister once again.

This was a terrible shock to come home to, and only added to a dismal day of passing. Steve Irwin, Australia's famed Croc Hunter, also passed away this weekend. We learned of both passings the same day, and both were heart wrenching. I have always loved the Croc Hunter ;_;. I hope Steve gave Pleeb a little pat as they passed eachother on the way home. We will miss Plebee so much...I have cried for two days. I love you little crackhead, and your little tiny meerkat ears. We will miss your bedazzled eyes and your funny, cautious affections.

I love our little rats way too much. I think each time one leaves us, they take a little ratty-handful of my heart with them to the other side.