Ratablog

Quick Rufus update

Rufus saw the vet today. He's healing up well. Dr. G did re-wrap his splint (now it's purple) because the longer he wears it, the better his chances of the bone healing in the correct place, and thus the better his chances of normal leg function. But at this point, if he does manage to get the whole thing chewed off, we don't need to worry about it.

I was very relieved...I was afraid we were going to need the collar, and I never want to do that to a rat again.

Roo & Neiko hang in there

I haven't mentioned the girls lately...I guess I've been sort of afraid I'd jinx them if I do. The tumors are continuing to grow, and both Roo and Neiko are a little slower and quieter than they were in their prime...but they are both pretty old now, too.

I'll be honest, I'm a little surprised that they are still with us, especially Roo. Her tumor is enormous...the pictures I've posted of her are strategically posed to hide it, because any reasonable person would see it and be shocked that we haven't done anything. I think that in size the tumor probably has more mass than she does now.

But she's bright-eyed and alert (often the first one to wake up when I get home in the evening) and she has a great appetite.

A couple of weeks ago I thought I saw a bad sign, a dark scab on the underside of her tumor. That has been the beginning of the end for some of our other rats, when the skin starts to ulcerate and bleed we've had to let them go. With a very heavy heart I called Victor in to look, then as he picked her up I had a brainstorm...I'd given the rats red grapes earlier in the day. Sure enough, the scab was just a grape skin she'd sat on.

Tonight, though, the scab really is a scab. She's oblivious to it, and I hope she can stay that way for a long while.

Artax and his Mom

I remember asking my mother for a drink of whatever she was having, too.

Rufus update

Here's our little crippled guy. As you can see, his cast is looking a little, well, chewed up. I'm hoping he keeps it on until his appointment Wednesday.

Except that he's pretty annoyed, he's doing fine. He's eating well, and drinking, and he's moving a bit more than I'd like...I'm glad he's not in pain, but I'd rather he be still so he can heal. Hopefully the splint is preventing him for doing any damage.

Rufus update

Rufus does indeed have a broken arm (well, leg...ok, humerus, to be technical.) It's a clean but full break up near the joint, and to really set it "correctly" would require surgery and pins. I do not want to put any of us through that (Rufus, the vet, or Victor and me), and actually the vet didn't think it was a particularly good idea. Setting it with a splint is the best bet for a non-invasive good outcome, although he may still have a limp later.

Although it looks like he's trying to crawl out of the cage here, he's really been very still. The vet gave him a little extra sedative to help keep him quiet tonight, in hopes that he doesn't decide to pull the cast off himself.

I'm a little worried about how he's going to eat. I gave him yogurt and applesauce, which he licked at just a bit, and puffed Kashi, which is small enough that he doesn't need to hold it. I know from our past experience that rats are remarkably adaptable, but I am also a remarkable worrywart.

Day 3, downhill with a bang

I am starting to wonder if we dreamed the introduction on Sunday, because today the boys got along even worse.

And worst of all, Rufus got hurt, even though Victor got them separated within seconds. (Even going by the book, introductions can go bad.)

I think all the blood came from Rufus' ripped toenail, but right now I'm more concerned that he isn't putting weight on or using his left front leg. We've gone back and forth about whether to take him to the emergency vet, but really, we don't think they can do much tonight besides an x-ray, and that probably wouldn't change his treatment any.

We have him in a small cage with a plate of soft food (he's picked up dry food a couple of times with his right paw, but he can't seem to figure out how to eat without both hands.) I just gave him a dose of baby ibuprofen (since the bleeding toe has clotted up), and he took that like a champ.

I don't see any swelling or bruising like we did with Leather's broken leg, he's groomed himself, and he's eaten applesauce, so I think he'll be ok to wait til morning to see the regular vet.

Poor little guy. I feel so bad about this.

I also have the feeling that Kado and Artax won't be getting any roommates.

Intros, Day 2

In a nutshell: Intros didn't go as smoothly tonight as they did last night. I took the three boys into the tub, with no vanilla on them, and everything was OK for about ten minutes. Then Rufus and I think Kado got into it.

I say, "I think," because the moment they chose to squabble was the same moment I chose to look at my watch (on the sink) to see how much time had elapsed. Glance, then squeeking & tumbling and I used the dustpan to separate Rufus from the tumbling mass of rat-manity in the tub. All three boys were in the same area, but I think it was Kado he was rolling around with.

Things went pretty well for another 15 minutes or so. There was definitely some sidling by Rufus, mostly toward Artax, but also toward Kado. Kado would frequently "pin" Rufus; I thought he was protecting him from Artax. Also, Rufus's tail would frequently writhe, usually when Artax was near him. Both Artax and Rufus would get puffy at times; it's harder to tell with Kado when his hair is puffy and when it was just naturally kinda being fluffy.

I should also mention Artax seems to bite a lot (even biting Kado) but didn't break the skin. Once he even bit and held Kado's foot when Kado was walking by him.

To be honest, I probably projected too much. At times I thought Kado was being friendly or protective toward Rufus, particularly when he seemed to be putting himself between Artax and Rufus.

I almost cut it short at the 28-minute mark, because Kado and Artax were at one end of the tub and Rufus was at the other, but just as I decided to do so Artax headed toward Rufus. It looked as if a squabble was going to develop, but the countdown timer started beeping at the 30-minute mark and that distracted everyone. I decided to start the timer again, more just to keep track of the time rather than to give them another 30 minutes, and separate them when they retreated to opposite sides of the tub.

I never got the chance. Just a few minutes after restarting the timer, Rufus was sidling up to Artax when Kado came to his rescue--or so I thought. I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but I think Kado tried to flip Rufus and Rufus didn't want to be flipped. It took me a couple of tries to get the two boys separated (Artax's getting his nose in there didn't help) but I did so, then I scooped up Rufus with the dustpan and held him there with my welding-glove covered hand and put him away. Kado and Artax got the same less-than-distinguished trip to their cages, and I waited about thirty minutes before checking them out for any injuries.

I think Rufus lost a little fur, but I neither saw nor felt any cuts or injuries on any of them. We'll give it another shot tomorrow night, but I think we'll dab some vanilla on them again.

Playdate

Today was the first meeting of Rufus, Kado, and Artax. We were ready to break up any fights with leather gloves, a dustpan, and a spray bottle of water. We needed...absolutely nothing.

The boys did groom each other, but mostly they walked around the tub looking confused (maybe they were wondering where the soap and water was?)

Kado and Rufus really hit it off well, grooming each other and bruxing and boggling.

Artax got so bored that he resorted to playing with the drain plug.

We'll keep letting them out together for a couple of weeks (probably again in the tub but without vanilla, then on the bed with toys), then we'll see how they do in a cage. Today was an amazingly peaceful meeting of boys, but eventually there will be a power struggle to establish the alpha.

A few pictures

And one from the other night, the last pictures I took of him:

It was hard seeing the empty cage when I got home.

I have more to say, but Kado and Artax want to play right now...

Goodnight, Jack

Jack passed away this morning. When I checked on them after I got up, he was lying still on the bottom of his cage, still warm.

Last night I mentioned to Victor that he was starting to lose weight...although he still looked huge, I was starting to be able to feel his spine. Other than that, though, he seemed in good health.

Jack and I didn't really bond until George died. Jack was always shy, but once he was alone in the cage he seemed to appreciate my company more, and because I was afraid he was lonely without his brothers, I carried him around with me as much as I could.

As sad as I am, there are comforting thoughts...he didn't suffer through illness, and he's no longer alone.

I'll post some pictures tonight.

Perhaps Weight Watchers...

Kado went back to the vet yesterday to make sure his sniffles are clearing up. (They are.)

He's gained 18 grams.

The vet was fine with the weight gain...he didn't like seeing Misto and Rab waste away as their respiratory problems progressed. But I was a little shocked...18 grams in eight days?

The medicine is in cherry syrup, so that adds some calories. But 18 grams?

Believe it or not, we don't stuff these guys full of treats. They do get berries (antioxidants!) and most nights I give them whatever vegetable we have for dinner. I guess you can over eat good food, too, though.

Maybe I can take them to the gym with me.

Harley

Harley the guinea pig passed away this morning.

He was a fairly old man as guinea pigs go...Victor adopted him in August 2001, and they estimated then that he was three years old. He'd been losing weight lately, but was still active and eating well until just last night. This morning Victor work up to find Harley curled up on the cage floor. He hadn't eaten his favorite food, dandelion greens, from last night.

We took him to the emergency vet, but he was gone by the time we got there. He passed in Victor's lap, peacefully, with just a few gasping breaths.

Here's a picture from his first Christmas with us, 2001:

Here he is chatting with Ohana:

Victor has said this several times today, and it seems a fitting epitaph: He was a good pig.

Bad boys bad boys, whatcha gonna do?

Gonna become minions of Riff, of course!

Here's Artax caught in the act of mugging Kado:

I don't think Kado is having trouble defending himself, but Artax sure is a little pest.

He's also a cutie. When I catch him bullying Kado, I've been giving him the absolute worst punishment known to rats: belly kisses.

Vet trip

Rufus, Kado, and Artax all saw the vet today. We always take new rats in for an introductory visit, but I did hear some grunty breathing from Kado that I wanted checked out. (Other than the grunts, he is acting perfectly fine...no porphyrin stains, good appetite, and he's certainly not lethargic.)

Using an overabundance of caution, the vet did a chest x-ray. (I'm paranoid since Misto's collapsed lung.) It looks like Kado has a bit of an infection, but nothing dire. He's got a round of antibiotics which he is not enjoying, and hopefully that will be all he needs.

Artax and Rufus were both in great shape. And all three were adorable and friendly and charmed everyone in the waiting room, as our rats usually do.

More pictures of the new boys

These guys are so photogenic. (Or maybe they haven't yet learned that it is so much more fun to point your tail at mom as soon as she points the camera at you.)

One rat subject that I haven't bothered to spend much time on is the varieties of fancy rats. (When we adopted our first two rats, Victor spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out what Krycek was. He'd say things like "I think she's a champagne berkshire," and I'd answer "I think she's a tan rat.")

I know just enough to identify Kado as a Siamese.

More new boys!

This is Artax:

This is Kado:

Four hundred miles in the car is oddly exhausting...I need a nap.

Rufus' story

The web site is behaving for the moment, so I'll try to get this typed up.

A few months ago I did my ex-husband's taxes. (He's got a phobia about the IRS and I have the soul of an accountant, so I still help him out with this every year.) In conversation he said "My brother has a rat."

Often when people say things like that to me, they follow up with a horrible story about traps and exterminators, so I said "I don't want to hear how he's getting rid of it."

My ex quickly clarified that it was a pet rat that the kids had found in their yard last fall...but the kids were no longer as impressed by the novelty of the rat, and my ex-BIL wouldn't mind finding the rat a nice new home. Of course I said sure, we'd take him.

They warned me that Rufus squeals every time you pick him up, but other than that, he was reported to be healthy and friendly. When they found him back in October he was about half his current size, so I'm estimating he's probably about 10 months old. He's missing the tip of his tail (it was still scabbed over when they found him) and he does indeed squeal when you pick him up, but he's very mellow, socialized to people, and curious about the other rats.

I'd guessed that he was a snake food escapee, although my ex-BIL did take him to a vet who suggested he might have been a lab rat liberated from a school. Either way, he found himself a good home with my ex's family, and hopefully now he'll be even happier here in the company of other spoiled rats.