ODE TO MILLEFEUILLE

Sweet Millefeuille

On Sunday morning, August 22, Daddy came out of the shower and found Millefeuille lying on his side. Cat was sleeping and Daddy came to wake her up, to inform her that Mille had indeed passed away. Cat was a bit sad, but she knew Mille had not been well for 3 months. He had been on antibiotics and was weak, with some days being better than others. Cat was happy that Mille was a in better place called Rattie Heaven.


Mille had lived a great gourmet life. He had eaten plenty of raw and vegan food. He had had great adventures in the REAL RAW RATTIE FAMILY'S first apartment, climbing the kitchen cart for food scraps and fishing around in the bathroom, especially the garbage! When the REAL RAW RATTIE FAMILY moved to their next home, Mille and his brother Chev would have a great time as they had a HUGE space to free range outside their home cage. Cat would leave their door open, and Mille and Chev would climb on top of the TV cart, leave their territorial markings everywhere and hide and play in the recycling bin. In fact, back in the good old young days, Cat would make club houses made of cardboard boxes, and Mille and Chev would hide and play amongst the levels.
In those days, Mille was a real bugger! He was a sneaky fellow, stealing Chev's food and hiding it for later! There were many days when Mille and Chev even played a game out of it and would steal food from each other and hide it in their hiding spot!! Cat even got long plumber tubes so the Mille and Chev could hide in them and they would connect to great places, like from the home cage to the recycling bin.

Just Cuddlin' Together, Mille & Chev

In those days, Mille would also get into T-R-O-U-B-L-E. He would bite on the baseboards close to the doors that led to to the closet and the living room. In fact, at the least opportunity Mille and Chev would bolt for the big wide space where Cat and Daddy hung out in the living room, and there Mille would try to chew up the TV wires. Both boys had several field days when Cat forgot to close the closet door and had a great hoot digging holes in the items they found on the floor. Chev would climb up the clothes hanging in there and make it to the top shelf, where he would leave his signature rattie chew marks in Cat's personal belongings.
Mille was never that great at climbing, but when Cat decided that the home cage would fare better in the kitchen area, neither REAL RAW RATTIE complained. Indeed, it was a delight to have so many wonderful odors around! Cat moved the recycling bin under the kitchen island, and Mille came full swing into his days as the builder architect. He would take pieces of paper and plastic bags and stuff his room and Chev's room, too, to the brim. Chev would get mad at all this mess and unfortunately Mille didn't take it too well. That was when he started spending his time hiding in plastic bags and tissue boxes in the recycling bin. He was tired of Chev always playing rough with him. He was a peaceful kind of guy, and chilling and cuddling with Cat were some of his favorite activities.

Move Over, Zuko, I'm Coming to Join You!

His other favorite activity was eating! Chev was always so busy running and bouncing around that Mille would eat his portion and Chev's. Unfortunately, that meant that- raw, vegan or not- Mille ended up gaining weight. Exercise was not his strong suit and he refused to listen to Cat's chidings and advice on going on going on a diet, eating slowly or getting in some running. No, he would walk around--and come out of his home cage to see what was for dinner! Eventually, Cat started piling on the fruits and especially veggies, and Mille was not too happy about that. Nor was he happy when Cat imposed a restricted diet and even a few times, a one day fast. In fact, although he seemed to bound with energy and be highly affectionate, even happy!, after these occasions, he would always return to his old behaviors of stealing food and eating too much.

Then, one day, Cat noticed that Mille seemed to be spending a LOT of time either in his home cage or the recycling bin. In time, Mille seemed to prefer just being alone in his room. The mycoplasma  had realy declared war on Mille and began to stop eating. He subsequently lost a lot of weight, and his health continued to decline. For the last 3 months of his life, he ate almost a 100% raw diet. He had changed to eating his food slowly; he would savor his food, especially his favorite---fruit! He also still liked to cuddle with Cat, sometimes just hiding his head in the crook of arm and side, earning him the nickname the Ostrich Cuddler, and sometimes just being on her shoulder and hiding in her hair.

WE LOVE YOU, MILLEFEUILLE!!!

Since his departure, Chev has been a bit more quiet, still his usual self, but quieter...no one to talk to or groom or cuddle with at night...Cat has been calling him grandpa lately as he too is getting older. He seems to be showing signs of mycoplasma as Cat found red porphyrin stains on the inside of his box...Oh, Zuko, not you too!!
Cat and Chev miss You, Millefeuille, but know that you are happy and will meet with you one day...We love you, Millefeuille!