Ratablog

Rat

I'd like to add my tribute to Rat, or Rose...I admit I didn't quite take to Victor's rename. I thought Rat was the perfect name for this perfect little PEW.

Even though technically she was Victor's rat, that's only a distinction we make for the purpose of vet bills. Because my commute is shorter, I'm home more than Victor, and this week I was home even more because I have been ill. That gave me more time to spend with Rat, and I treasured getting to know her.

Since Rat had been free range with Duff, I felt bad for her being in a cage, even a nice one full of toys, so if she was awake when I looked in on her, I brought her out with me. She was very friendly...up on my shoulder, to my head, down inside my shirt...and very active. In the bedroom she found a quick route from the bed across my dresser into the closet...she didn't stop moving long enough to chew up any clothes, but I was planning to build her some jungle gyms just in case.

Duff had taught her tricks...walking along on her hind legs, and jumping to get yogies.

She was delightful, and I can't believe she is gone. When Victor broke the news to me I sobbed like I have not sobbed before after losing a pet. I can't believe her life was so short, and I can't help but feel guilty...I wonder if the stress of surgery was too much for her so soon after moving. I feel so, so terrible for Duff...we obviously intended to give Rat the best and most loving home, and never expected such a quick and tragic end to our time with her.

Rat, my sweet, beautiful girl...no more stupid cage for you. Run and climb and explore to your heart's content, and know that we loved you very much.

Rose May 2003--July 30 2004

We hardly got to know Rose.

She went to Dr. S for a wellness check last night. Dr. S is new at the office where Dr. K used to work, but she handled Teddy the Guinea Pig well, and I wanted to see how she handled rats.

One thing I noticed when I first adopted Rose was some firm tissue under her arm--prime mammary tumor area. Unspayed female rats are very prone to mammary tumors. I decided if we were going to take it out, then 'twere well it were done quickly.

I left little Rosey there overnight. I regret that now.

I had no word from them and called at about 3 PM. I was told she was just finishing up and that she'd call me soon. At about 3:30, she called me with bad news.

Rose had stopped breathing; they were trying CPR. She called me back ten minutes later, and little Rose the shirt diver had stopped fighting.

Good night, sweet Rose, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!

Comments

We've been hit with an onslaught of what I find distasteful and offensive spam today. I'm trying to keep the site rated G, so as I clean up the spam comments I'll be turning off the ability to comment on old posts. When I get a chance I'll be trying to figure out fixes (Blacklist, moderated comments) for this problem...til then, comments are off. Sorry about that!

UPDATE: Ok, going forward comments should be back on. I've got Blacklist up and running, and hopefully that will take care of the bad guys.

Meet Rose!

I've adopted a new girl! One of the members of my main rat forum is going to school and had to give up his girl (and college is, to me, a darn good reason to have to adopt out your rat). He was in Fairfax, so at least it was only about a one-hour drive to get her this time. Meet Rose:

She's a little bundle of PEW energy--definitely our smallest and most svelte rat. The fact she was a free-range rat, I feel, almost certainly had something to do with the fact she's not overweight. She loves to explore and isn't afraid of the dog at all.

We tried to intro her to the girls last night--I'm sorry to say it didn't go smoothly, but we'll try again a few times. We may also intro her to the Rink Rats (they're neutered) if it doesn't work out with the girls. In the meantime, she's in a large cage, with plenty of stuff in there to keep her (I hope!) occupied and amused.

Kono

Rest in peace, sweet boy.

Pictures

It's been awhile since I took rat pictures, so after I formatted a new card this afternoon I thought, why not do it now? Of course, that meant waking rats up...

(The rest in the extended entry.)

George with a feather. This is what I was trying to get...

Finally, a shot of that berk belly!

Jack and George.

Jim in...what else?...a box.

Leather.

Schwatz is shy. I think that may be because, despite the diet, she is still rather, well, obese.

Pinky doesn't care. Take a picture? Sure. take a picture while I eat? Sure. Just don't get between me and the food, lady.

Blackberries

First, a quick update on the boys: both Olie and Kono are doing better. They are still in the one-story cage, but they seem pretty content. I don't think Kono will regain complete use of his back legs, so the retirement condo might be for good, but he isn't completely dragging his feet, either.

Over the weekend we went to a local farm for fruit and vegetables, includin a pint of super-sweet blackberries. I gave one to each rat this evening, and then forgot all about it.

A minute ago I looked in on the girls and almost had a heart attack...Schwartz was sitting on an old t-shirt covered with red stains. I was about to scream for Victor that we had a horrible bleeding emergency when I saw Schwartz licking the red off her paw. Oh yeah...the berries.

The girls are getting a cage cleaning as soon as they are finished with dessert.

Crippled rats.

Right now, I've got two injured rats.

A few weeks ago, I noticed Olie was holding up one of his legs, as if it was bothering him. There are darn few things a vet can do so I decided to monitor the situation--if it didn't clear up in a few days, I'd take him to the vet. It did clear up, and he didn't go to the vet.

Late last week, I noticed he was holding the same leg up. He was putting a little weight on it, but as the week progressed, he was putting less and less. On Monday I made a vet appointment for him (and Kono--we'll get to him soon) for this morning.

He was out for playtime last night, and he wasn't putting any weight on his foot. It also was a bit tender; he squeeked when I squeezed it gently.

This morning it was swollen; right now it's really swollen. I took him to Dr. G's practice, but Dr. G didn't look at him--the new guy, Dr. J did.

Dr. J handled him very well; he was comfortable around rats. He didn't even mind when Olie pee'd all over the place. He examined his leg and noticed a lot of swelling around his knee, and said he'd have to do some x-rays.

The x-rays showed no fracture nor a dislocation (which was my greatest fear), which is good news, on one hand. On the other hand, we don't know what's wrong. Dr. J is guessing he either has an inflammation or an infection of some sort, so I'm treating him with two different antibiotics, and I also have some pain killer I can give him.

Right now, he's lying on his side, and trying to sleep--though I think his swollen foot is making sleep a fleeting thing for him.

Kono probably has the worse injury. At about the same time I noticed Olie having problems, I noticed Kono was dragging his back legs somewhat. Hind-leg paralysis is not uncommon--in older rats. In rats that are not yet two years old, though, it's rare, but not unheard of. I originally thought he was getting a bit old before his time.

During playtime Sunday night, he started making monkey noises, indicative of a respiratory infection. It sounded slight, though, so on Monday I tried to make an appointment for him. The earliest I could get was Thursday.

Monday night, Abita and I volunteered in DC, so we got home later than usual. Kono was *very* lethargic, and his wheezing had graduated to guinea-pig like wheeking. He was not a a well rat, and we began looking for an emergency clinic.

The closest one was honest--they said the wouldn't see him as their rodent guy was not on duty. The second one said they were inexperienced but they would try. I printed out the RMCA Drug Chart, since we figured we'd be walking out with antibiotic for his respiratory infection, and we could follow up with Dr. G. We headed out, but tried to stop at a drive-thru--it was late, and neither one of us had eaten. In the parking lot of the drive-thru, Kono had a seizure.

We skipped the drive thru.

The clinic was about forty minutes away; Kono had a second seizure on the way. When we got there, though, he had stabilized.

I don't have a lot of good things to say about that clinic. Abita put it best--if we had brought in a dog or a cat that had respiratory symptoms and had had two seizures in less than an hour, the vet probably wouldn't have walked out on us three times. We eventually got some baytril, and got to bed before midnight. Barely.

When I made the appointment for the boys for Thursday, they told me if Kono got bad I could take him up there on a drop-off basis. Suffice it to say, I dropped him off the next day.

To make this already long story shorter, x-rays revealed Kono has suffered a spinal injury. We don't know how serious it is; he might improve or he might not. He gets baytril for the respiratory problems, and a steroid to try to help his legs get a little better.

He's by himself, in a single-level cage, and he'll probably be in a single-level cage for the rest of his life. There's already some improvement; he's not lethargic like he was Monday night. He skoots around pretty good, and he's eating well.

Right now, I'll take all the good news I can.