Senior Rat Gets Everything He Wants On His Bucket List

Oliver, a 3-year-old rat who was given up when his owner had to move in 2014, has since served his kind as a rat ambassador.

Together, he and his brother Jackson visit schools and day camps to teach kids how sweet and smart rats really are.

"Oliver has been to a kids camp with the local animal shelter every year for three years," Peggy McCoy, of Rescued Rat Adoptions, an organization that helps rescue and rehome unwanted pet rats in Indiana, told The Dodo.

When Oliver and Jackson were first brought to the shelter, McCoy said, she knew that "their little lives would make a huge difference to hundreds of people."

"Both boys always took right to being around strangers and seemed to enjoy every single second of it," McCoy said.

But in old age, after a lifetime of love, the rats started to slow down. Jackson passed away last year. But Oliver has been holding onto his life.

Recently, though, McCoy discovered that Oliver's heart is failing him. So she decided to give him the best possible bucket list adventures during his last days on Earth.

Oliver has spent time at Lake Michigan looking at the water and basking in the sun. McCoy took Oliver to the park where he ate a banana split sundae. She also got him a nice new bed for him to rest in at home.

"Rats love to eat so we have been having lazy lazy Sundays on the couch with him enjoying foods I typically wouldn't feed him," McCoy said.

This includes a lot of pasta.

McCoy expects Oliver will pass away in the next few days. If he starts to suffer, she plans to put him to sleep.

"I have spent every moment possible with him since his heart problem started to surface," McCoy said.

We couldn't imagine a better ending to such a full, meaningful life.

Click here to learn more about Rescued Rat Adoptions, which gave Oliver and his brother the lives they deserved.