Did I do the right thing putting my rat down?
This is my girlie spotto in the second photo, yesterday I chose to have her euthanized. A little back story: Spotto was rescued two years ago as an adult I would say she would have been nearly three years old! She was rescued from this household that was a crack den she was looked after horribly in the past. Over the last 6 months or so she has begun to lose a lot of weight, this is obviously just because she is a very old lady!
Yesterday I picked her up and had her in the carrier with her three sisters whilst I was cleaning the cage. When me and my partner checked on her she was shaking uncontrollably, then she was unable to hold her head up. I then called my nearest emergency vet and they don't even treat rats, I wasn't sure what to do. My mum has had rats before and the same thing happened to her girlie and she lived for a few days after it happened and she was struggling to eat and drink and it wasn't very nice according to my mum. Considering she was really old for a rat and how this is often un-treateable and fatal I did not want to see her suffer. She was unable to stand, her head kept falling to the ground and her heart was beating like crazy. After about half an hour of talking with my partner the most ethical option was to put her to sleep.
Our nearest exotic vet is a three hour drive and I wasn't even sure if she would live that long, and what could they actually do for her?
We decided to take her to the emergency vet where they were able to euthanize her. I feel so guilty what if it was the wrong decision? We where going to have to euthanize my dog a few months back after his health deteriorated from an auto immune disease, but he made a full recovery (he's only 7). What if she did make a recovery? I just feel guilty I might have made the wrong decision. I am 17 I would not have been able to even afford treatment if it were possible, now I feel really bad. What would you do in this situation?