Ratablog

Bandit and Girls Update

Been awhile since I've done one of these. I've got a mixed report.

His biting is down, but not eliminated. The last time I put food in his bowl, he bit my hand, twice, but he didn't break the skin. I dropped some food and he grabbed it and started eating immediately, so it's possible he was just going for the food.

Whoops, forgot to mention he nibbled on one of my fingers a few nights ago, but it was exactly like the nibbling the other rats sometimes do--almost like he was grooming me. That didn't concern me at all.

As for getting along with the other rats, he's become a lot more...demonstrative...in his alphaness, to the point he doesn't give Oliver a lot of peace, and he's even flipped Neiko a couple of times. And, I'm sad to say, he's nipping at them all. The other rats are trying to avoid him and I don't think they're too happy with him right now.

I admit I'm rather disappointed with him right now.

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Earlier this year I reported Neiko and Roo have developed some lumps. I'm sorry to say Roo's lump has been growing for awhile and is now quite large, and I'm worried her quality of life is going down. Her gait has changed and she's not as active as she normally is. She's still curious, affectionate, and bright-eyed, though. Neiko has developed another lump between her arms and it's grown significantly in the last couple of days.

Oliver is doing well, and he's happiest when he's with his friend Neiko.

Really, Jack's a Nats fan!

It's times like these that Jack really misses Jim and George...they had much more tolerence for the camera and mommy's silly props.

Jack knows baseball

I listen to baseball on the radio in the evenings. Saturday night Jack was out with me while we listened to the Washington Nationals playing the Marlins. In the bottom of the 9th inning the Nats were only up by one run. Relief pitcher Chad Cordero got the first two Florida batters out, but then he walked the next two.

If you don't know baseball, trust me, this is stressful.

Jack knows baseball: he started bruxing, and didn't stop til Brendan Harris caught the hit for the third out, giving the Nats the win.

(Just now, Jack showed his excitement for a double play by peeing all over the bed...)

Happy Easter from Jack

Jack? Where's Jack?

There he is, eating his Easter yogie.

Tonight's pictures

It's really hard to get pictures of Bandit, because that little boy does not like to stand still. The old rats aren't quite sure what to make of him. (And he is getting a little bolder with his power-groom attempts, but we haven't had to split up any actual fights.)

The only way to get a picture of everybody together is to bring out the yogurt:

Here are Oliver and Neiko:

Roo with her fuzzy face:

And finally, Bandit takes a breather:

I'll need to get some pictures of Jack this weekend.

Quick update

Victor's out tonight, so I took Bandit, Oliver, and the girls out by myself. I was a little nervous...Bandit hasn't bitten in awhile, but I'm still not 100% comfortable handling him, and if I did have a fight to break up, that's easier with two people. But I didn't want to set them back any by skipping a night.

So I started by taking Oliver and the girls out of their cage. They are trained to hop in "the bus," the tray of a travel cage, to make it easier to carry them to the other room. Bandit stood up on his hind legs at his cage door, so I opened it, figuring he could hop on the bus too.

Except Neiko hopped off the bus and right into Bandit's cage.

I about had a heart attack...violating the sacred space of a territorial rat! Bandit sniffed along right behind her as she went into his wooden hut, up his ramp, down his ramp, in his soda box...I quickly put Roo and Oliver on the bed, expecting to hear blood-curdling shrieks from Neiko and/or Bandit at any second. Then I decided that the best way to get Neiko out of the cage without risking my hand (seeing as I only have seven fully-functional fingers left) was to take the top off the cage and carry the cage base into the bedroom.

While I was trying to unfasten the cage top, Bandit crawled out the open door on my arm.

After that, Neiko came out no trouble, and the rest of the playtime was uneventful.

The fact that Bandit didn't go violently nuts when Neiko had the audacity to enter his cage is a very good sign that he's chilling out and that they will be ok cagemates. (And it only cost me a few dozen new gray hairs.)

Interlude

I don't have pictures, but Bandit and the gang are continuing to play nice. Last night we didn't mask them with the vanilla, but it didn't seem to matter. Oliver did flip Bandit at one point, but the little upstart probably deserved it. (And more importantly, he took it!)

I'm paying lots of attention to Jack. I don't think he's a good candidate for communal living...I need to change my shirt before I pick him up, because when he smells the other rats he gets very huffy...so I'm hoping time with me will suffice. Jack was always my shy boy, and preferred the other rats to me (the opposite of George, and Jim was in the middle). It seems rather cruel of fate that he's the last one left from that group.

And this isn't rat-related, and I'm probably the last person on the Internet to see it, but it cracked me up: a little Flash music video called The Guinea Pig Way.

The gang tonight

Nothing brings people (er, rats) together like sharing a meal.

They did so well in the tub that we moved everybody to the bed and gave them some tubes to play with. So far so good...

A terrible evening

Both Arthur and Rabskuttle have gone.

As I mentioned Friday, I stopped giving Rab the ipratropium. By Saturday morning his feet were a darker blue, and he breathing sounded worse. I believe I made the right decision, though, because he seemed much less distressed. He cuddled in the nest ball with Arthur, and although he didn't eat much solid food, he took lots of yogurt and Ensure from a syringe.

Arthur wasn't quite himself this weekend. When I had the boys outside the cage on Saturday he buried himself under a blanket instead of running around the bed. Worse, he wasn't eating enthusiastically. One thing with Art, he ate like a fiend...I couldn't understand how he'd been losing weight. (Kanga was the same way.) Saturday I gave him egg and cheese, and he nibbled at them but didn't even bother stashing the rest.

Today both boys were subdued, eating only the yogurt and Ensure I gave them in the syringe. I was wondering if Arthur was somehow adjusting his usual demeanor for Rab.

This evening I was watching Oliver and the girls while Victor was cleaning their cage, and Victor came in and said he had bad news. Arthur had fallen down a ramp in the cage, and he couldn't right himself. I took him out on the bed, and it was just like George last week and Kanga a few months ago...

Arthur hadn't had a seizure, but I figured it was coming. I didn't want him to suffer through the night while we waited for our vet to open, so we decided to take him to the emergency vet to be put to sleep.

Rab wasn't in full blown respiratory distress, but I know it was coming...I figure it would have been another week or so, maybe. And I don't know how Rab would have done by himself. As much as he and Arthur used to squabble, since Misto died they had gotten closer and calmer. The last few weeks they were always together. I hope this was the right thing to do...I let them go together tonight.

I can't believe how the last few weeks have gone. I knew we were going to be facing more bad news than good because of the health and age issues, but I didn't realize it would come bam-bam-bam like this. It's almost like I jinxed us.

I've been typing this through tears.

Goodnight, Arthur. Good night, Rabskuttle. My four rambunctious boys (Art and Rab, Misto, and Mr. Ratburn) are back together again, far too soon, but I hope you are breathing easy and having all kinds of fun.

Bandit makes new friends

Finally some good news today...Bandit had his first introduction to Oliver, Neiko, and Roo. We did them fairly early this morning, figuring sleepy rats should be calmer rats. We started with Bandit and Oliver, both dabbed with vanilla extract so they'd smell the same.

Neither boy was puffy or hissy. Bandit was definitely the one putting on the dominance moves, but they weren't particularly aggressive behaviors (just grooming and a little peeing on Oliver's head). Oliver sqeeked and took the insults like a good boy.

We brought out Neiko next, and it was pretty much the same, then we added Roo. About the only glitch was that Bandit sort of bit Roo...not like attacking bites, and he didn't break the skin...we are speculating that he's not sure how to go about grooming a rat with no fur.

Hopefully we'll have many more successful play dates this week!

Rabskuttle decision

Rabby has not taken to the nebulizer the way Witter did. This morning, not only did he run away from me when I tried to take him out of the cage, he wouldn't even take his Zithromax. (The cherry Zithromax is the one medicine that the rats like as much as yogies.)

I'm not sure how much the ipratropium is helping Rab breathe, but if it is making him this agitated and scared, it isn't helping his quality of life. I tossed and turned over this all last night, and I decided that if he struggles this much, I won't make him take it.

Which means the end is going to be close.

I'm not sure if I've been holding on to Rab so tightly for Arthur of for myself, because I didn't want to face another loss so soon.

Hey, I didn't go to the vet today!

For the first time in a week I didn't have to take somebody to the vet, pick up somebody from the vet, stop by the vet's to get medicine, or even call the vet. I wonder if they missed me? (Actually, I'm always afraid that when we go through these stages that someone's going to think I have some pet variant of Munchausen's Syndrome by proxy.)

I think the ipratropium is helping Rab a bit, but he hates the nebulizer. Tonight he struggled so much getting into the chamber that I gave up and just held him in my lap with the mouthpiece over his nose. He didn't like that much better, and now he's sulking in the nest ball. Thing is, a few days ago he wasn't even going in the nest ball, he was just hanging over the edge of the hammock. If he's able to tuck himself away, he must be getting more air.

We have pictures of the usual nebulizer set up from back when we made it for Witter. He eventually got so used to it that he'd crawl right in on his own...I don't think Rab will ever be that mellow.

We are almost too late, but...

Have a happy

Quick Monday update

The dog: The radiologist wasn't overly concerned with the blotches on her x-rays. The vet is treating her hepatitis, but we still don't know how she got it. She on three medications (one of which needs to be given on an empty stomach, two with food) and she eats this nasty "l/d" food three times a day. The logistics are tricky. Next week she goes in to have her liver enzymes rechecked. I am crossing my fingers this is another entry in the "amazing Abita medical medical file."

Rabskuttle: The vet confirmed that he does have a blue-ish look, and described his lungs as sounding like a washing machine. Today we started him on a different bronchodilator, ipratropium. This one is nebulized, and boy did he hate the nebulizer tank. It was scary and heartbreaking to see him struggling to try to get out, but after it was over, he did look a little pinker, and I saw him eating one of the chocolate-oatmeal bites.

Arthur: Gained 11 grams! Happy news! (To think I'd ever be trying to get a rat to gain weight...)

Jack: Has been very puffy and hissy when out for playtime. I'm not sure if he's freaked out because he can still smell George but he can't find him, or if he's decided that since George is gone he needs to be doubly territorial. He's snapped at me a couple of times too. I don't have a good feeling about him getting along with any of the other rats.

Bandit: Hasn't really changed much since the neuter. Unfortunately this weekend was hectic squared, which delayed his meeting of Oliver & the girls, but that is still the plan.

The girls: Are ignoring the lumps, so I am trying to ignore the lumps too.

Oliver: Is fat dumb and happy. Gotta love Oliver.

And I'm not going to say "What else can happen?" because when I said that, Teddy the guinea pig started wheezing. He's off to the vet tomorrow.

Pictures of George

I started to go through the pictures to do a gallery for George, but I'm just not ready to face that yet. Here are a few of my favories from old posts, though:

The day he came home, March 2004

November 2004.

September 2005

His second birthday, January 2006

And sadly...here he was this morning, when we were waiting for the vet to open.

Sometimes these pictures probably are worth 1000 words:

Goodnight George

Last night George was his usual self...a little slower than the old George, but he had a good dinner of macaroni and cheese, and when he was out for playtime he made a fort out of all the subscription cards that fell out of the magazine I was reading. When I switched to reading a book, he nibbled the cover.

This morning when I went to give him his medicine he didn't come out of his box. When I brought him out he was minimally responsive. He didn't move much, and his front feet were curled under.

We sat with him while waiting for the vet to open, and he had several seizures. I knew right away he was dying; it was just like watching Leather last fall. We cuddled him and told him how much we love him, and then we took him to the vet for a shot to help him along.

I'm afraid this is likely to be a sad stretch of time here. Rab isn't doing very well...he's starting to look a little blue, like Misto did. Both girls have multiple tumors. Arthur is losing weight. Jack and Oliver seem fine now, but they are both over two. Only Bandit is both young and healthy.