Stitch

Black Berkshire Doe

March 2003 - July 2005

Stitch came to us from Rae's Pet Store in Stoke, Plymouth.I had been there a few times before (this was also the pet shop Smurf came from) and one day I saw this tiny little black rat sleeping all on her own.She was round and plump and the darkest black - all except for her ears, nose and feet, which were bright pink. She looked for all the world like a little mole. Two weeks later I went back with my mum and sister and she was still there, only this time there were younger girls in with her. I cooed over her, left with my family and went back to get her two days later.Shortly afterwards my sister rang and asked me how my new rat was doing. "How did you know?" I exclaimed.She sighed and said, "We just knew."
 
Originally going to be called 'Mole', we called her Stitch after the film 'Lilo and Stitch' when, that evening, we watched her scuttle upside-down across the underside of her cage-roof, like the alien of the same name does in the film. The name would prove to be startlingly predictive. Stitch was naughty from the word go. Whatever we wanted her to do, she'd do the opposite.Even kind, gentle Smurf was getting severely annoyed by this cheeky little interloper.
 
As Stitch grew, it was obvious she was going to be top-rat. Basically, she was a little thug.She was never a huge rat, but she was certainly a fat rat.She had the same physical shape as a plum and, after being frightened half to death by an exploding paper-bag, she also had a little white mandarin beard.
 
Stitch was an averacious hoarder of food and was quite prepared to thump anyone who even thought about going near it. She was also a very vocal rat and would tell us off if we did anything she didn't want us to do - especially if we were putting her back into her cage far before she was prepared to go. And she screamed at Derfel all the time - it was no wonder that he was so nervous of her.
 
When we moved to London Stitch had to live with Bronte.One of our then younger man-rats, Baldrick, was besotted with this dusky beauty and would stare lovingly into her cage whenever he could.We knew Stitch liked him too, because he was the only one of the boys she wouldn't try to claw if he came up to her cage.
 
We knew it was time to let Stitch go when she started to develop large tumours which were clearly painful for her.Too old to be operated on, she made her peace with Derfel and they died together on 1st July 2005.There will never be a rat with as much attitude as Stitch.