Ratablog

Sad days

We'd like to extend our condolences to all of our online rat friends who have lost little ones lately.

Goodnight, Arthur, Narnia, Snaggle, Reuben, Suzie, and Cinderella...

Mine!

Kado's appetite is starting to pick up, at least when I'm giving him his Boost with the syringe.

He does not want to share with Artax:

Note Kado's right paw. What I really need is to take a video of the way he shoves Artax away. Victor refers to it as "rat fu."

Friendship! Friendship! Just a perfect blendship!

Kado had his lower tooth removed yesterday. I don't think he's a happy little boy right now...but Artax is doing his best to help him.

And Oliver and Bandit are still friends.

And what about the other rats?

And what about the other three rats, you ask? A fair question.

Oliver is getting old. No surprise there; we got him in November 2004 and, as I recall, he was fully grown at that time. That puts his age at over two, and a gut feeling tells me it may be closer to three. His back legs are starting to deteriorate and he's getting that old-man look about his neck, where the hair is thinning slightly. I think he may be losing a bit of weight, even though he still enjoys eating. Playtime usually consists of him eating his treat, then making Bandit groom him, then falling asleep on the bed. And he's still a happy rat--it's playtime and he was sitting with his head out of the igloo, bruxing and boggling like there was no tomorrow.

Also in the igloo with him is Bandit, who, while still skittish, is also mellowing out. I haven't seen an aggresive move toward my hands at all, although I confess I try to keep all parts of my body away from his teeth. He usually enjoys his scritches, and his snacks, and spending time curled up with his good friend Oliver.

Rufus has acquired a new nickname: Rufus Doofus, for no real reason other than I like the way it sounds. My lonely boy has become quite the sweet, chubby guy lately. While he's still not at all thrilled about being picked up, he does enjoy his scritches. If I scratch the side of his neck, he'll press up against my fingers and his tail will twitch, and his eyes will sometimes half-close as if to say Ahhhhh...

I strongly suspect he wants rat company, but after the last intro disaster, I'm hesitant about introducing him to other rats. What's funny, though, is I think after Oliver passes (which I hope isn't anytime soon!), he may get along with Bandit. Bandit is neutered and certainly seems to enjoy rat company, so....

We'll be extra, extra careful if we ever try introducing Rufus to Bandit.

Also--his broken leg seems to have healed perfectly. He uses both hands just the way a rat would, and when I had him out for playtime, I was hard pressed to remember which leg had been broken.

Kado has bionic teeth!

One of Kado's bottom incisors broke when the vet was trying to extract it, so he wasn't able to get the root. We knew it would grow back, but we figured we had some time.

Nope. By Saturday we needed to trim it again. And the hope that with the extra room to work, trimming would be easier? Not really.

So back to the vet for another tooth pull on Friday.

Sometimes people joke with me that with all the money and effort I put toward the rats, I might as well have kids. I used to say back "Well, rats don't need braces." I guess that's still true, but with Kado's dental bills I might as well be paying an orthodontist.