When the Cat's Away...

You won't see this picture in a Lands End catalog!

We went out of town for a couple of days last week, leaving the rats unattended. Because we were leaving Thursday and returning Saturday, we figured that the rats would be completely fine for that period of time. We cleaned their cage before we left, gave them plenty of food and water, and shut the cats out of their room to ensure no unfortunate incidents.

We returned two days later to discover that, when left unattended, the rats are no better than teenagers. Their cage was a disaster and it looked like they had completely stopped using their litter tray in our absence. Our normally messy but not filthy rats had completely trashed their cage.

That afternoon, Dave put their cage back in order while I unpacked. The rats were very interested in unpacking.

Checking out the view.

Looking for souvenirs. 

Shortly after these pictures were taken, the bags were emptied and the rats climbed inside and peed. Next time we'll bring them something back from our trip.