Oh poor Ratty.
Reminds me of when some girls at school asked me to take care of their parakeet over Christmas break. I said "sure" and brought it home. Got home one night from the bar, took the bird out of the cage and was teasing my dog with it. well the bird escapes from my hand and flies back and forth , the beagle goes berserk chasing it. well the bird slams into the wall breaking its neck. bye bye birdie.
oh boy, now i had a month to think about a story to tell the girls. anyway i just told them the truth, i thought they'd be pissed but they said they were relieved, the bird kept waking them up too early. LOL.