Tuesday February 07, 2006

A rat's tale

I don't know if this happens to most pet owners, or if it happens to anyone else at all for that matter. But I'm starting to think that my rat, Weezie, models my eating and excersize habits. A few weeks ago I was in the middle of a weight loss frenzy and dropped 40 pounds. I worked out four times a week at the Y and ate small meals. Weez seemed to get a little more active himself. He dropped about 30 grams.

But now that Christmas put me on a diet detour that gave me 5 of those 40 pounds back, Weezie is doing nothing but stuffing his face and lounging on his hammock all day long. He's well over 700 grams now, which is really big for a rat. Think big, hairy football. And no matter how much time I give him outside his cage, he doesn't do much. He'll stroll around for all of five minutes, then retreat back to his hammock.

I know that pets supposedly look like their owners, but I always thought it had more to do with hair do's and things like that. Is it possible for an animal to pick up eating and excersize habits?!