Rattina haunts the narrative of Animal Hospital, being spoken about in flavour text and not existing as an interactable NPC… Unless?

Today, I deep-dive into one of the most devastating theories the Animal Hospital fandom has conjured. Is Rattina the Stalker in Animal Hospital?

Let’s discuss.

Formalities First: Who Is Rattina?

Rattina is the confirmed twin sister of Ratthew. Ratthew regularly visits the hospital for check-ups, whilst detailing cryptic messages. We learn from Ratthew that Rattina once worked for the Animal Corporation, but she has been missing for some time now.

The Keycard

After several visits, Ratthew leaves a keycard with the player, which unlocks a hidden vault behind the cat poster in Room 5. Inside lies a photo of Rattina and a note which reads: “The experiment was a success, the ‘Shadow’ now sees everything.”

Many players theorise that the Shadow is the Stalker, given the shadow-like appearance of the Stalker and its ever-looming presence around the hospital.

Is Rattina The Stalker in Animal Hospital?

Now I’ve explained who Rattina is; what basis do we have to think that she is the Stalker? Firstly, the Stalker’s appearance.

The Stalker is a tall, slender, all-black figure with a shrivelled black rat tail. Granted, its face is different, but anomalies do commonly show alternate body parts. For example, photo anomalies may have different faces, ears, patterns, etc, than their physical counterpart. (Potentially, this means anomaly photos are their original counterparts?)

Rattina was also mostly all-black, and presumably had a rat tail like her brother. Some main differences include expressions, lack of white muzzle, and height.

Also, the Stalker only appears once per run in most cases, or very rarely an additional time. Either way, there is always only ever one Stalker at any time, implying it is the same one we continually see. Unlike this, every other anomaly has the chance to coexist with other anomalies of the same type, and (depending on anomaly type) freely enter and leave the hospital.

Scanning The Stalker

If scanned by a player, the scanner will flash purple with “???” on the display screen. Typically, the scanner reveals if the player is in the presence of a patient or anomaly.

• Patient: green light beam and green screen.
• Anomaly: red light beam and red screen.
• Stalker: purple light beam and ??? screen.
  • The colour of the scanner isn’t too different from the colour of the bow which Rattina wears. One which, if she IS the Stalker, she has since lost.

This strange capture does hint at the Stalker being something between sane and anomalous. But there’s more…

Rattina’s Photo

The largest piece of evidence that connects Rattina to the Stalker is that the photo of Rattina will burn up and disappear if brought to the Stalker. The game triggers the prompt “The photo burns in your hands.”

However, unlike when in contact with fire and losing sanity to burn (-1 Fire), the sanity loss will read -1 ???.

Is The Proof Enough

I believe Rattina IS the Stalker. In conjunction with the note hinting at experimental success, the looming presence, lack of Stalker attacks, scanning abnormalities, and proximity photo burning, it all leads back to the same rat.

What Happened To Rattina?

Dr Harlow is an interesting character; despite his rank, he’s never seen aiding patients who enter the hospital. Even going as far as to frantically run away during ambulance rushes.

But what if Dr Harlow were more versed in experimentation rather than healing? Many players, myself included, believe him to be the reason why Rattina was transfigured into the Stalker.

During the later shifts, he hangs around the lobby waiting for deliveries to arrive just outside of the hospital, taking boxes from men in hazmat suits labelled confidential. What lies within these is still a mystery.

However, from earlier interactions, we do learn of Dr Harlow’s motives. He claims the Animal Corporation saved him from a presumably traumatic event, and in return, he works under them with his high rank.

In that time, Dr Harlow states he has seen many hires come and go, and that he is working towards bettering the hospital through research to hopefully one day end the endless hospital shifts and patient suffering once and for all.

The Hospital Is a Cover

Consider for one moment that the hospital is a front for the Animal Corporation, a clinically invested research facility that creates anomalies. Their motivations for such things are hard for me to place, but it would explain Rattina’s disappearance connected to both her work and Dr Harlow.

Dr Harlow himself seems troubled, as though he had seen things, and if looking up at him from the lobby of the game, we see him as a hollow-faced anomaly. This, at least to me, only further aids the idea that the Animal Corp funds anomalies for some reason.

Being the source of anomalies may also explain their innate draw towards the hospital. Anomalies that invade the hospital are returning to familiarity for one reason or another.

Rattina, however, if she IS the Stalker, never left. After all, the experiment was a success; the ‘Shadow’ now sees everything.

Start Playing Animal Hospital

I got a little fanfiction-y at the end there, but It’s quite fun and addictive to deep-dive into the intricacies of Animal Hospital.

If you want to uncover some lore for yourself and come up with your own theories, I suggest you make a start by playing Animal Hospital via Roblox.

Or, check out more of my theories, including my Is the Intern an Anomaly in Animal Hospital article and my What Happens if You Reject Barney in Animal Hospital article.

However, I’d be so thankful if you had a read of my free-to-use Animal Hospital OC Ideas feature, which I even created custom art for!