My husband and I went to the pet store to get some more lab block for my other rats. As I was paying for the blocks, I noticed several glass aquariums behind the check out counters. One aquarium was labeled SNAKE FOOD-small rat $2.99.  I looked harder at the cage and saw this teeny tiny honey & white colored fur ball huddled in the corner. It was smaller than a golf ball all hunched up.

I asked the boy, is that a baby rat. He said, "Yeah." So I said, "Can I see her?" At this point my husband audibly groaned. The boy reached into the cage and picked her up by her tail and swung her towards me while saying "I hate rats."  I grabbed for her with both hands and pulled her close to me. My husband groaned again and said, "Now Kate, you already have 3, do you really need another one?" I immediately lifted her tail and squealed "It's a girl, it's a girl!" He knew he was doomed. The next thing I knew I was kissing her and patting her and telling him that she was going to die a horrible death if we didn't take her. She was so tiny and so sweet and had that special baby fur. I handed her off to him and he immediately kissed her little back. I knew  she had him!

As he's kissing her he asked me, "Do you think this is a smart idea?" I said, "No, but  we can't leave her here to die." He sighed and told the boy we'd take her. Believe it or not they charged  us $9.99 instead of the $2.99 because she was going to be a pet instead of a meal! We argued a little and then realized they were simply heartless, so we paid for our new baby rat and left.

My husband named her Natalie after Natalie Wood because her eyes have that sweetness that Natalie Woods had. Natalie was only about 2 weeks old, her eyes hadn't been open for more than a day or 2 and she hadn't even been weaned. I can't imagine the terror and the hunger she was feeling. It sends chills up my spine.

Natalie was so sick she couldn't even stand up or walk because she was so weak. She was truly within 24 hours of dying.  I used Debbie "The Rat Lady's" valuable and wonderful medical knowledge and gave her amoxicillin. I  originally had her on tetracycline for 2 days and that did nothing.

I fed her canned puppy milk from the pet store called Esbilac. It costs $4.99 per can and each can stays fresh in the refrigerater for 72 hours after opening. She hated the powdered baby milk and refused to swallow. That is my second rat that refused to drink the human milk. Both love the Esbilac. It's worth every penny when it saves their life.

In order to give her the milk I had to wrap her in  a paper towel because she would start crawling, wiggling and squirming. I would get her wrapped up to her neck and still she'd manage to get one of her little legs out and start squirming. Then I finally got it tight enough around her neck so just her head was sticking out, but she still wouldn't suckle. Finally after wrapping her over and over and out of pure luck and frustration and sweat I had just her little nose and mouth sticking out of the paper towel. Her eyes were covered. I put the eye dropper up to the side of her mouth (not the front) and she began to suckle wildly. She took at least 4 cc right then and there.

Over the last 5 days I've tried to feed her with her eyes exposed and each time she's refused. But as soon as they are covered ... wham she starts suckling like a starved animal. I don't know why she does this. Maybe this will help someone else in the future. It  is so strange, eyes must be covered and syringe to the side, not the front of her mouth.

Now little Natalie is alive and doing great! She has put on quite a bit of weight and is now walking and climbing her water bottle!  She looks great and her coat is soft and smooth again. I really believe that between prayer, Debbie's medical advice and the puppy milk she is alive today. She is sound asleep on my chest right now curled up in a little ball.

So, that is the story of how we got Natalie. My husband Russell, who has the biggest heart in the world, has now banned me from going to buy lab block. He said he will buy it ALONE from now on or I have to get it thru the mail. After all, I now have 4 rats (Sarah, Ratleigh, April-Ann and Natalie) and 3 were purchased because they were snake food, so I totally understand.  Ratleigh was my first and was the only one not slated as rat food. Sarah was only 8 days old when I got her from a reptile convention and bottle fed her.  She was never meant to see the light of day. Today she is a fat 1-pound rat with tons of personality and our favorite rat.

• Lucky Joe by Jess Burns, Windsor, VT

• Brave Shrek by Clivia, Bern, Switzerland

• Natalie by Kate Borus, Toms River, NJ

• Popeye by Charlotte Tropp, Upper Marlboro, MD