In a recent episode of 90 Day: The Single Life, Natalie Mordovtseva made some claims about what happened to her pet rat, and it turns out they were entirely false. On 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?, Natalie adopted her beloved rat Lucky/Pulya, who she doted on throughout the season. But Pulya pulled a disappearing act on The Single Life. Natalie told a lie about its whereabouts, and it may be because she’s trying to avoid criticism.
Natalie has always claimed to be a great animal lover, and in addition to a Siberian husky dog she had while living with her ex-husband Mike Youngquist in Sequim, Washington, the 90 Day Fiancé star had a pet rat. Pulya was “liberated” from a pet store by Mike and Natalie, and though many fans were grossed out when Pulya got the run of the house, Natalie seemed to love it. While Natalie was breaking up with Mike, she was petting and weirdly cooing over the rat the entire time. It was a bizarre scene, and made it appear that the rat was more important to Natalie than Mike was.
Though Natalie says she loves animals, she doesn’t have the best track record with them. She reportedly ran over her husky dog Nymeria with her car (on accident), and she later left Nymeria with Mike when she moved away. Some fans wondered about Pulya’s fate as well, which Natalie addressed recently on The Single Life. “I do miss my pet rat, Pulya girl,” Natalie said, “but where I live I can’t have animals.” Natalie continued on to reveal Pulya “wanted to be free and she run away...like me!” That explanation was suspicious to many viewers who noted that A—apartments usually allow small animals like fish or hamsters, and B—letting a domesticated rat run loose in the woods isn’t very responsible.
As it turns out, Pulya didn’t run away into the woods—the rat is still staying with Mike, just like Natalie’s dog. Mike posted an update video with Pulya exploring the grass outside, and it seems like the rat is living a great life away from Natalie. It’s weird that Natalie would lie about what happen to the rat, but then again it’s not a good look for someone who says they love animals to keep abandoning pets. Natalie knows about all the criticism she gets from fans, and her lies about Pulya may be an attempt to minimize the blowback. Apparently Natalie thinks it’s better to say Pulya ran away rather than admit she left her pet with Mike.
Natalie is sometimes ruthlessly criticized by fans of the show, but making up stories about herself won’t help improve her popularity. She’s clearly lying about Pulya—there are ample receipts that prove Pulya is alive and well, far away from Natalie. Though she likes to sell herself as a great animal lover, her words and actions don’t match, and when she lies to make herself look better, fans are even more critical of the 90 Day: The Single Life star. Viewers are already suspicious of Natalie’s new storyline, and the lies about her pet rat make the show seem even more staged.