Sweeney Todd was my first "rescue" in the sense that someone gave him to me when they could no longer care for him properly. A coworker friend at Petsmart found out that I loved rats, and asked if I would take this lone boy she had saved from the shelter. Not much is known about Sweeney's past before the shelter, but he had lived for several months all by himself. You would have expected him to be neurotic or antisocial from that ordeal, but he was the sweetest, gentlest rat I've ever known.
Everybody loved Sweeney, even people who didn't like rats. And he loved everyone back. He was devoted to his friend Ripper, and when newbies came into the group he welcomed them lovingly. He was the alpha of the cage, although you'd never know it looking at him -- he ruled gently and lovingly, and everyone was obedient to him just from sheer devotion.
In his middle age, Sweeney suffered from an inner ear infection that gave him a permanent head tilt and balance problems. He ended up needing to have his teeth trimmed regularly and had to eat a liquid diet in the end, but he never complained about anything. He passed away quietly in his sleep on Christmas Eve of '09.
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