February 29, 2004
Jim update...week 3
I'm trying to be very careful with Jim's diet so he won't become as, ahem, well, obese as the other rats around here. Right now, though, he's growing before my eyes and has so much energy that I figure a yogie or two won't be a problem.
Jim is really doing well. We're still letting him out to play with Witter, although with Witt's newfound health issues we aren't going to make them cagemates. I also decided against putting Jim in with the girls...although him chasing them around would probably help them drop a few grams, it didn't seem fair to an active little boy to be stuck with middle-aged ladies.
So, the obvious solution is...more youngsters. I've contacted RAATS in the Carolinas (the rescue organization where I got Bob and Curly) and it looks they have some young guys in foster now. So hopefully in the next few weeks Jimmy will be getting some mates his own age.
'Til then...more in the extended entry!
Jim is still alone in a temporary cage (I don't want to put him by himself in the big Martins, for fear he'll be too territorial when the new boys arrive). I'm trying to give him different cage accessories every couple of days so he doesn't get too bored. He seems to rearrange everything within hours of a cage cleaning anyway, and he's made some very nice nests.
I'd forgotten how much energy a young rat has. Jim is not one for sitting still on my lap while I work on the computer. That's not to say he doesn't like people...he's very social, climbing up your back, across your neck, giving your ear a little nibble...he's just too busy to stay in one place. Here he is peeing on my keyboard.
February 28, 2004
A Lump on Witter
Witter, taken about ten minutes ago.
I discovered a lump on him Tuesday night. It's on his right side, behind his arm, and it's hard and difficult to move. This is a big contrast to the lumps Rizzo and Krycek had--they were kind of squishy, and you could move them around somewhat. However, like the lumps we've seen before, this seems to be growing fast: Nothing noticeable on Sunday, it was there Tuesday, and it felt bigger Wednesday and Thursday. Since Dr. K is off on Wednesdays, I took him in for an exam Thursday. Sadly, the news wasn't good.
As I mentioned, Abita and I observed the lump wasn't free-moving. I was concerned it was attached to his ribs, rather than muscle, and Dr. K's exam suggested the same thing. Of course, Witter's lungs are right up against his ribs, and suddenly, we had a possible explanation for his long-ongoing respiratory problems.
I did ask her if it was possible the lump was attached to muscle instead of ribs, and her answer was it was possible, but it would be easier to move it around if it were.
Surgery is an option, but it would be a majorly invasive procedure: Ribs would be removed for certain; his lung probably would be, as well. Recovery would be long, and with the apparent aggresiveness of it there's no guarantee it hasn't spread already, or that it wouldn't reoccur.
As Dr. K was telling this to us, Witter, in the travel cage, made a small bed of the blanket, layed down on it and bruxed & boggled, then went to sleep. He looked so peaceful and happy...
I did a lot of thinking Thursday night, while Witter played on my lap & peed on my hand, and I ignored Forbidden Planet. Witter is my boy who crawls out onto my arm when I open the cage door, and who tugs at my clothing without (usually) making a hole in it. He plays in my lap and crawls up my arm to my shoulder and pees on me, then licks and grooms my hand and arm before taking a quick nap.
He's about two years old. Except for him being abandoned at the vet, I suspect his life with his former humans was good--obviously, he's a well-socialized rat. His life with me and Abita has been fabulous (IMO, anyway). I think he's had a good life.
He doesn't know he's sick.
Part of being a caretaker, for any living thing, is deciding on what makes a good quality-of-life. We'd all love to keep our loved ones with us for as long as possible--but sometimes, they're in so much pain or discomfort, their quality of life is...well, not of the highest quality.
As I said, he's had a good life. I'd like the rest of it to be as good as it can, and for me, that includes his being comfortable. I don't think he'd be comfortable with stitches in his side and ribs missing.
After talking it over with Abita, I made the decision to let nature take its course. I'll continue to keep treating him for respiratory problems, because he loves taking his medicine--pina colada mix works wonders! He still enjoys eating blueberries & grapes, and watching old movies with me. He'll get more treats than usual, and I asked Abita if she thought he'd like one of his water bottles filled with pina colada mix. He'll continue to have a good life, tho it might be shorter then I'd like.
February 23, 2004
February 19, 2004
Lots of new Jim pictures
Jimmy, come out and play...
More pictures in the extended entry...
Chasing Leather.
Chasing Pinky
Chasing Schwartz
Trying to convince Leather he's the alpha already. He's a cheeky little one, all right. I don't think the girls are thrilled that I brought him home, although things haven't gotten ugly.
I'm thrilled with him, though...he's a handful, but he's very sweet and starting to really act like he likes me.
February 16, 2004
Jim, warming up
He's having no problem marking me as his territory...
February 15, 2004
Rat Weights
I'm pretty sure I was reading the scale incorrectly. Calle does not weight 1.2 kilograms; I think I've got a more accurate reading this week. This week's weights in the extended entry.
Metro 800 g no change
Kono 820 g no change
Calle 1020 g change, but that's due to my misreading last week
Olie 880 g no change
Witter 820 g +10, but on last week's note, I have it bouncing around. First I wrote 810, then 820.
February 14, 2004
Ellie in a Box
Please allow me to introduce our second guest Rat in a Box, Ellie:
Ellie passed away early last July, but she has a very special place in my heart. I confess I tear up every time I see her lovely face. She was a very loved little girl, and Abita and I consider her friend MousiesMom an aunt to our rats.
In the extended entry: Ellie's biography, by MousiesMom.
Ellie (4/1/01 – 7/2/03)
Although I love all of my ratties dearly, Ellie Belly will always be my favorite. She was truly that one in a million furry friend that wrapped herself around my heart and will remain there forever.
I brought Ellie Belly and her sister Bailey home with me one day after stopping in a neighborhood petstore. I took one look at that beautiful face and was hooked. Of course, those dumbo ears and lightning blaze on her forehead sealed the deal. Ellie was laid back, sweet and friendly. She immediately became a mommy’s girl. At playtime, she would rather hang out with me that play with her cagemates. I could never walk by the cage without Ellie giving me the “oh mommy, can I come out for just one smooch” look. She was the best little friend anyone could ever ask for.
As Ellie Belly approached two years old, she began to have health problems. She developed a cyst next to her private area and went in for surgery. Unfortunately, the cyst had ruptured through her urethra. The vet performed magic on her and rebuilt her delicate privates back to working order. Ellie spend the next three weeks in a huge collar while she healed. But that collar never slowed her down a bit. She still toodled around and lived for cuddles from mom.
A few months later, Ellie began to experience seizures. We never knew what caused them but I tried to help keep her comfortable and worked with the vet to find a dose of phenobarbitol that would help keep the seizures under control. It was a long hard road, but Ellie Belly just kept fighting. Her wonderful personality never changed and neither did her love for me.
Ellie had a fast growing tumor that we decided not to remove at first as she would not be a good candidate for surgery with her neurological problems/seizures. But as it became obvious that Ellie would leave me soon otherwise, we decided to try the surgery anyway. Ellie made it through the surgery. She was a fighter like nobody’s business.
For the next two weeks, I hand fed Ellie baby food and cuddled with her almost non-stop. Although she kept on fighting, it was obvious that she was only doing this for me. It was Ellie Belly’s time to say good-bye and leave me for a better place.
My heart broke as I held my dear Ellie Belly while she was helped over the bridge. The only thing that helped me through was the thought of Ellie Belly hopping across the bridge, greeted by her best pal Mousie. Mousie met her halfway and the two passed across the bridge together……..both looking back to me as if to say “mom, we’re ok, and we’ll love you forever”.
February 13, 2004
Introducing Jim...and Witter
We've put Witter and Jim together for at least 20 minutes every night since Tuesday. Wednesday we moved from the tub to the bed, and that was pretty uneventful.
Last night on the bed, tho, Witter started nipping at Jim--he'd bite, hold on, drag him a bit. He didn't really try to make nice with him, and we cut it short. Before we ended the session, tho, we did notice Jim wasn't exactly afraid of Witter. He was still going up to his side, crawling over his head and peeing on him, as well as crawling over and beneath Witter. We were trying to figure out what it meant.
Today, we figured it out. We put them together on the bed; Jim greeted Witter by crawling over his head and peeing on him. Witter would groom Jim; Jim would either push Witter away, or squirm away, then start climbing over and below Witter.
Also, Jim was not at all afraid, and at times, it almost looked as if Witter was trying to get away from Jim. There was more nipping and grabbing, by both rats.
Suddenly, Jim mounted Witter--a big power move. He mounted him again, then a third time. It was obvious: They both want to be the Alpha.
We let them continue, and to me it seemed their play was a bit more heated. Jim did groom Witter, just a bit, and it was on Jim's terms--not Witter's. Evenually, they both started ignoring each other and we ended the intro session.
***
One thing we'll have to be careful of if we do cage these two together is, basically, adolescence. From ages 3 months to six months or so, male rats get a huge flood of testosterone flowing. This can lead to extra aggresion from a male rat.
Keep in mind Jim is about three months old, just about the time for him to start asserting himself. Witter is certainly bigger than Jim, but they both have razor-sharp chisels for teeth--a real fight between the two of them could be very tragic.
We could have Jim neutered, but we'd like to avoid that if at all possible. After all, Witter still has his testicles. Neutering Jim would put him at a disadvantage.
It's very possible we may be faced with some difficult decisions in the next three months.
February 10, 2004
Introducing Witter...and Jim
Rats, like people, are social creatures. They do best in groups--a group of rats is a group of healthier, happier rats. So Witter, being an alone rat...it's not right, and having seen his interactions with the other rats, it's obvious he'd like a friend.
I've written before about the attempts we've made at introducing Witter to our other rats. Abita and I adopted Jim, intending to introduce him to Witter (if it doesn't work out with Witter, then we'll intro him to the girls). There's actually a good chance Jim & Witter will work out together: Jim, being smaller and younger then Witter, probably won't appear to be a threat to Witter.
At the same time, Witter hopefully won't feel threatened by Jim.
Jim went to the vet this afternoon for a checkup and received a clean bill of health. We put them together for the first time about an hour ago.
Our first step was to put a dab of vanilla extract on each of their foreheads and rumps, so they won't exactly smell like another rat. Second, we needed a neutral place for them (rats are very terretorial) that would also keep them contained if one tried to escape; the bathtub was perfect for that. Finally, we needed something we could use to seperate them in case of something disasterous: a dust pan.
We put Witter in one end and Jim in the other, and let them find each other. We were watching for signs of agonistic behavior--behavior that meant the introduction wasn't going well. We were fortunate that we saw nothing truly scary--Witter exhibited a little piloerection, but nothing to really alarm us.
A layman, however, might've gotten freaked out when Witter tried to demonstrate his alpha position: he groomed Jim, and Jim squeeked like he was being eaten, which is exactly what it looked like.
I've been groomed by Witter, and I have to confess it's not exactly comfortable. A rat will drag his teeth across your skin, cleaning up dead cells and whatnot. Rats also have very sharp (self-sharpening, in fact) teeth, like little chisels. Imagine little chisels scraping against your skin, very rapidly, and that's what it feels like.
A rat grooms another rat in the face, eye, and shoulder blade areas--places he can't get to himself. Witter groomed Jim, then threw himself below Jim, imposing his alpha position on Jim, by saying I groom you when I want to, and you groom me when I tell you to.
Jim didn't buy it; in fact, he pee'd on Witter. Climbed right over his head and pee'd on him.
Witter went thru the grooming ritual several more times; I can't say I saw Jim groom him in return, but he did lick Witter's fur once. It wasn't exactly a roaring success; OTOH, there was no blood.
No blood is a good sign, and we'll try again tomorrow night. Pictures of the event can be found at this webpage.
February 09, 2004
Rink Rat Weights
Dr. K thought it would be a good idea to keep track of the Fat Rat weights. I've got small, spring-loaded food scale--and after the first weight session, I have some concerns about how accurate it is. . .though I think we're looking for trends (is the rat losing or gaining weight?) rather than needing an absolute correct weight. Weights in the extended entry.
Metro: 800 g
Kono: 820 g
Calle: 1200 g
Olie: 880 g
Witter: 810 g
February 08, 2004
Sunday
Victor has gotten some good shots of everybody this morning, but of course the star remain Jim...
He built himself quite a nest last night, and he came out for some quality peeing on Mom and Dad time this morning. I think we'll be eating out of his hand...I mean he'll be eating out of our hands...very soon.
February 07, 2004
Jim update
I could take a billion pictures of him, he's just so cute, but I think it would freak him out. Poor little guy's had his world shaken up a bit today...from his foster mom's house to the shelter, then three hours in a car to our house.
Right now he's in a temporary cage on my desk, bigger than his travel cage, but it's smaller than the Martin's condos. He's got a hammock he's ignored, and a balcony he's ignored, his box and a wooden bridge he's stuffed full of paper towels. He's eating and drinking, but mostly he's sitting in the far corner, looking a bit wary. I got a little worried when I noticed him swaying his head back and forth, but then I remembered reading that PEWs have notoriously bad depth perception and do that to see.
The welcome wagon sent over a couple of yogies. He had no idea what they were, and we should keep it that way to keep him trim and healthy. When we got Witter he didn't know yogies, either. The first time I had to nebulize him, I made the mistake of offering the yogie container so he could take one. Within a nanosecond he had stuffed his cheeks full like a chipmunk and gotten away with a few in his paws, too.
I'm going to turn off the office lights and leave Jim in peace. Hopefully tomorrow he'll be more relaxed and I can post a few megabytes of pictures.
Introducing...
This is Ratty Lumpkin, formerly of the Rockingham-Harrisonburg, Virginia, SPCA. Ratty Lumpkin seems like a mouthful for such a wee little guy, so we'll be calling him Jim.
Click on the thumbnail to see larger images.
Here's Jim at the shelter this morning.
Having a little wash in the car on the way home.
Not very content to sit in Mom's lap...
And his very first Rat in a Box pose.