10/15/2026
Moss 😭
This is not the update we wanted to make. Moss had her surgery yesterday, and all seemed to be going smoothly. The mass was a nasty fibrosarcoma that was firmly planted into the muscle wall, but they got it off, closed her up, and started to wake her up. Suddenly, she went extremely pale and despite attempts to resuscitate her, she passed. The vet asked about performing a necropsy, which we approved. The mass on the surface was just the tip of the iceberg. Below it, on the other side of the abdominal wall, was a much larger mass originating from her kidney.
Moss has always been a bigger girl. Apart from all the natural variation in size, she was also one of the rats who gained and maintained extra weight after her spay, which made it more difficult to recognize a change. She had gained a bit in recent months, but not an alarming amount. The changes week over week fell right in line with normal fluctuations we see, especially considering we were supplementing many of the rats to help those who had lost significant weight with the SDAV outbreak. The mass felt identical to normal abdominal organs and fat, which means we also missed it on our routine physical health checks until the mass appeared at the surface. Her behavior never really changed over the time it was growing. Even our vet wasn't able to detect it on her exam last week.
If there is an upside to all of this, it's that she passed peacefully under sedation, and that she didn't have to experience any discomfort either from the mass itself or surgical recovery. But despite that, our hearts are heavy. We had such high hopes for her. She was so healthy throughout her two years with us.
This loss comes on the heels of four others in just the past three weeks. Our own boy, Dale Cooper, Ozzie, Hot Pocket, Chowder, and now Moss, gone so close together with no time to properly grieve.
On top of it all, the medical expenses have piled up and donations have slowed to a trickle. We desperately need help catching up. The financial burden on top of the emotional one is breaking us. We truly appreciate your support, and we know we will recover, but anything you can do to ease the strain is appreciated.
