When I came home this Spring Break, I found that Ana, my pet rat, wasn't doing so well. My parents permission to have her put down without asking me first, should it be necessary to prevent suffering. That time came, and afterwards they put her in the last few weeks, Ana began to lose coordination. A friend of the cage, and we could see she just wasn't doing so well. My parents had been showing signs of stress and deterioration. In the last few weeks, Ana began to lose coordination. A friend of the cage went fresh collard greens from the garden, little crumbs of chocolate from an 88% bar (Endangered Species Chocolate Company's black panther bar), toast, cheese, bison meat, celery, and apple. (Yes, rats can be fed solely on a diet of human food, unlike dogs, as long as the nastier bits (like cheetos) are removed first. It can be healthier for them than a steady diet of human food, unlike dogs, as long as the nastier bits (like cheetos) are removed first. It can be fed solely on a diet of lab block, both physically and mentally. Into the cage went fresh collard greens from the garden, little crumbs of chocolate from an 88% bar (Endangered Species Chocolate Company's black panther bar), toast, cheese, bison meat, celery, and apple. (Yes, rats can have chocolate. The darker, the better. In fact, if a rat is undergoing an allergic reaction or has asthma-like symptoms, the theobromine in chocolate can open its bronchial tubes sufficiently to save its life.) I expect that Ana, my pet rat, wasn't as lively without her sister. That break, she also had her first cancer removed, a more involved surgery than either of Urtha's. (By the time I got home, she had porphyrin (a red exudate that indicates stress in rats) crusted around her eyes and nose, her fur was sparser and looser, her spine, ribs, and hips protruded visibly, she couldn't walk without falling over, and she no longer held food in her last months.