Ratablog

And what about some of the other rats?

Nope, we haven't forgotten about the other rats. Let's take a clockwise trip 'round the rat room, starting with...

SPARROW'S BOYS (Arthur, Rabskuttle, and Misto): Misto still has a collapsed lung, and sadly, he has slowed down a bit in the last couple of days. His appetite is down a bit, but he's still active, and he now loves taking his medicine. He must've gotten to the sugar layer in it, although we do shake the bejeebers out of it before we give it to him. Abita fears he may be ready for another chest tap, but is debating whether or not to put him thru that again. Rabby is wheezy every now and then, but when we take him to the vet, he checks out OK. Arthur hasn't given us any problems, save from being scared silly of Rabby--when Rabskuttle approaches him, Arthur gets very defensive and he cries out.

OLIVER: I'm starting to see why Abita thought he looked lonely--he acts lonely. As soon as I enter the rat room he's at the door to his cage, practically begging to be let out. I think we should try to schedule a neutering for him soon, but right now we're more concerned about Abita's hand. One headache at a time, you know? He did have some very supervised time with the girls the other day, and I'm hopeful he'll get along with them once he's neutered.

THE FRAT BOYS (George, Jack, and Jim): After biting Abita, George was good enough to turn over the igloo and climb into it, so I picked that up and put him in Kanga's isolation cage. When we got back from the emergency clinic, he had calmed down...but I still wore my welding gloves to put him in the Frat Boys cage. The next night during playtime, we used blankets that had already had other rats on it, and he got very puffy and agitated, so I broke out the welding gloves again. Since then, however, he's been the same old mama's boy he was before he bit her. Jack and Jim are still healthy and cute, though Jim spends a lot of time tucked away in the bench sleeper.

THE GIRLS (Kanga, Roo, Zoe, Niko, and Ohana): Aren't as active as they used to be when they used to be almost bionic. I figure they're just getting a little slower as they age. During playtime (over one hour), they're not as active, and they're all pretty much sacked out at the end of playtime. Niko and Roo are still the most active, and I'm glad Niko hasn't shown as much interest in trying to climb into Harley the Guinea Pig's cage anymore. Kanga is still healing well, and Zoe has slowed down a bit. Ohana's tumor seems to have stopped growing, but she, like Zoe, has also slowed down. During playtime she eats a few treats then camps out.