The rat boys had a big bowl of kale this morning. I didn't mean to give them the bowl, but they climbed in before I could empty the kale out. Edison seemed to be trying to empty out the kale so he could get to the yummy kale water at the bottom. Pity the camera with the good video wasn't around. I think my OH has hidden it because I keep using up the battery.
So I eventually gave in and got them a heavy serving dish, put some water in there and stuck the kale in with it. That'll keep them occupied for a while, I hope.
Ginnie carved some pumpkins for Halloween, and what do you do with used pumpkins? Give 'em to the rats of course. They nibbled them a little, but mostly just took lumps out and left the bits all over. Bless 'em.
I gave my first injection to a ratty tonight. Archie ate his medicine nicely last night, but this evening he wouldn't take it, so I used one of the syringes the vet did for me. It was really easy.
OK, I admit it. I seem to have some sort of infection here. Doppler was ill at first, and the vet thought it was a heart problem, but as he seems to have recovered it was obviously an infection.
Next Tesla and Theo started rattling, so we put the whole cage on Ronaxan. After a week we added Marbocyl. That seemed to work, so when I thought they were all OK on Monday 24th I stopped medicating. By Wednesday Archie, Hubble and Edison were ill, so they all went back on the Marbocyl.
Now they mostly seem OK, except for Theo who is still a little rattly and Archie who I'm giving daily injections as he still won't take his medicine in food.
Question is, do I keep on with the antibiotics? I can't keep them on them for ever, yet I feel reluctant to stop in case more of them suddenly get ill. Also it's a major pain to dose 13 rats every evening.
Not a bad weekend, that. Had a quiet day at Mum and Dad's on Saturday, went to a firework display, came home and cleaned out the ratties.
The rat boys were playing on the table as usual. They were a little nervous of all the bangs outside at first, but soon settled down. Then while I emptied their litter trays Theo came pottering round the living room door to see me. What are you doing here? I scooped him up, gave him a hug and took him back to the others on the table. Counted them. Twelve. Twelve? There should be thirteen! Where's William? Not in the cardboard box. Not in the ferret boat. Not in the wine rack. Phew, there he is, fast asleep behind the litter tray!
Little Archie still isn't eating well. He's having his jab every day, and seems to be feeling a bit better. It took me four goes to get the needle in on Sunday night. I kept bending it. Poor little lad, I felt so bad for him, but he either doesn't notice the jab or doesn't care.
End of the week already!
I've had a fantastic week with my Kleeneze catalogues. Loads of orders. Not so good with the ratties though. Archie is still not back to normal and Hubble is rattling now.
I opened my emails this morning and discovered that someone had hacked into my ebay account and listed 70+ items. Grr. Told ebay, so they suspended my account. What??!!
I think Blaize will have to be pts soon. Her tumour is enormous and she's getting aggressive towards her cagemates, which probably means it's hurting her.
I think we have got past whatever it was affecting the litter of six. They all look better now. I'm thinking of taking a couple of rehome girls to keep Vixen company. I was in Pets at Home this morning and was very tempted, but thought I'd come home and look on the rehome list before I did anything daft in there. There are two girls in Leicester who seem just right. Also some girls with the RSPCA in Coventry, but I've already talked to the lady in Leicester now.
The ratties are really getting used to their new extension. They're spending a lot of time in there. I added some eye hooks to the top floor yesterday, by screwing them through the ceiling of the cage extension and into blocks of wood in the roof space, as I haven't opened up the attic of that part of the cage to them. It let me add a hanging plant pot for them.
The tunnel between the two parts of the cage seems to be a popular place for sleeping, meaning the sleeper gets trampled every time someone goes through the tunnel. Doesn't stop them though!
I lost William yet again last night. I cleaned the cage as usual, transported most of the boys back to it, and had two unaccounted for so I assumed they were in the cardboard box and left them to it while I went and had a glass or two of wine. When I finally decided to extract them, only Archie was in the box. I apologised to him for leaving him behind all on his own, and it was not until I was about to go up to bed that I rethought and looked around on the floor for the second ratty. No one there. Then for some reason I looked under the table on the chairs, and there sat a very lonely William, just waiting for mummy to come and rescue him. Silly little boy. We had a big cuddle and I popped him back in the cage to eat his dinner. Poor little lad, he could have been there all night!
I'm thinking of trying to clean out the cage while they're still in there. They would get more interaction, and I might not lose them as easily. No guarantee though, they do like to get out for an explore. It's quite hard to change hammocks while they're occupied too!
I took some photos of Ragrat and his nephews, thinking they might work on t-shirts, but I don't think they will. It's hard to see what the pictures are of from a distance.
Well, the idea of cleaning the cage while they were in there didn't really work. It doesn't give me the certainty that I've held each rat and checked that they're OK. The boys were really good, didn't get in the way much while I cleaned yesterday's bit of the cage. I did have to spoil a really nice nest they'd made in their tardis, but I've put some more hay in there so I'm hoping they can rebuild it. Took a good photo of it; can't get it off the camera atm.
I've been giving them a bit of hay each week, and it seems to make the cage smell less. It's not absorbent, so it wouldn't work on its own, but it does seem a pleasant addition to the cage.
I need to phone the vet about Blaize and Dali, but I'm putting it off. I really don't want to let them go, but I think it's time. :-( My poor babies.
Took Dali and Blaize up to the vet to be put to sleep. Feeling very empty now. I went through to the back with them and they didn't fight the gas, just curled up and went to sleep. Now Vixen is alone. I know it was time for Dali, he was so tired of fighting to breathe. Blaize could maybe have gone on longer, but she was getting scratchy with the others. I don't know. How do you tell when they're hurting?
Thursday, November 16, 2006Vixen looks a little lost without her cagemates. I've been trying to keep her company but she isn't generally a cuddly rat. She has grown another lump, but I don't see any reason not to have it removed.
I have two rehome girls coming over on Saturday, so maybe they will all live together. We'll have to wait and see.
I've finally got my photos off my camera. I took some last photos of Blaize and Dali before they went to the vet. You can see the horrible lump that Blaize had. The vet said it was too close to her urinary tract to have a good chance of success with removal, and it was her fourth tumour coming straight after the previous removal. I was worried that she would have a digestive block because it had pushed everything over to the side, and she had started getting tetchy with the others. I think it was the right time to let her go.
Dali was just using so much of his energy to breathe that the weight was dropping off him. He had to rest for a minute after climbing the ramp to their shelf. He was just sooo tired. I'm so glad he had a happy life with the companionship of the girls after his rough start as a rescue.
Here's little Archie, my little champagne hoody, finally eating again. I've been so worried about the little chap.
Took Dali and Blaize up to the vet to be put to sleep. Feeling very empty now. I went through to the back with them and they didn't fight the gas, just curled up and went to sleep. Now Vixen is alone. I know it was time for Dali, he was so tired of fighting to breathe. Blaize could maybe have gone on longer, but she was getting scratchy with the others. I don't know. How do you tell when they're hurting?
Vixen looks a little lost without her cagemates. I've been trying to keep her company but she isn't generally a cuddly rat. She has grown another lump, but I don't see any reason not to have it removed.
I have two rehome girls coming over on Saturday, so maybe they will all live together. We'll have to wait and see.
I collected the two rehome girls from Leicester today (Saturday). They're very hand shy but don't offer to bite. They met Vixen this evening and it all went fairly well. A bit of puffing up, but no fighting or chasing. I gave them a big pile of hammocks and cloth, and a bit plate of human baby food. I'm fairly confident now that I will have them all living together happily.
The pink eyed white girl was called Salt, but is now renamed Sophie, and her sister? the agouti hooded is renamed from Pepper to Lucy.
I'm so pleased with those three girls. They're in together already! Vixen seems a little bewildered, but not a hint of aggression from any of them. I'm so happy that we brought Lucy and Sophie home, Vixen won't have to be on her own any more. It's a pity it's not usually that easy with boys.
The two new girls have settled in well. I've been giving them 20 minutes each of holding time every evening and it's making a noticeable difference. Lucy is the bolder of the two when they're in the cage, grooming my fingers and trimming my nails. She trembles when I have her out on my shoulder with my hand on her, but calms down after 10 - 15 minutes. Sophie is a little more shy, and squeaks when I try to lift her out, but sits looking round quite happily once she's out. I don't think her eyesight is up to much, so she probably can't see anything to frighten her.
I don't have any new photos of them; they're a little camera shy. I tried to take some videos, but need to get them off the camera. Don't know if they're any good yet.
Vixen needs an appointment to go to the vet. I wish I could just make the appointment for the lump removal - it would save me the £10 for the consultation. I know exactly what's wrong with her. She has a mammary lump, quite mobile beneath the skin, not well attached at all. You can almost get your fingers right round it. She doesn't have any respiratory issues, so I expect it to be a very straightforward operation. I just could have done without spending an extra £80 just before Christmas.
I've been out delivering my Kleeneze catalogues with my shopping trolley today, but had a slight problem. I was ringing a doorbell when cat came running up, expecting me to open the door. Sorry cat, I can't open the door for you. I don't have the key. In fact, I know you don't even live at this house because I've met you at home next door.
So cat follows me back to my trolley, where I put my clipboard down across the top. Cat jumps onto clipboard. Clipboard and cat fall into trolley. Scared? No. Interested. Cat sits in trolley, sniffing catalogues and examining the trolley.
I stand there and stroke cat, thinking I'll get accused of cat napping if I move away. Two or three minutes later, cat finishes inspection and jumps out again. Nice to meet you cat!
I picked up Oliver on the way to a committee meeting last year. The reaction was 'Is it a mouse?' He was such a tiny little scrap, coming from an accidental litter.
He met Toby, a pet shop rat of about the same age.
My two old gents, Vlad and Henry, took care of him and Toby before they were introduced to everyone else.
He was got to explore the big cage while the big boys were out, though it was all a bit big for him.
He enjoyed his first Christmas
and soon became one of the gang
playing with the other boys.
Then came the day when he gained an apprentice of his own
and lots of other nephews to live with.
Oliver's a big boy now!
Vixen is booked in for 9am on Monday to have her lump removed. She's had a couple removed before with no problems, so I'm hoping she will take it in her stride.
I took all three girls with us to my parent's house yesterday, just to give the new girls a bit more attention and a trip out. They didn't seem at all worried about the experience in the morning, and then slept in the open carrier all afternoon. They were glad to get home again in the evening. I took some video. Got to get all these films off Mark's camera.
I'm getting confused! Even more so that normal!My new little girl, Lucy, looks so much like Finch used to that I keep calling her by the wrong name.
Finch 
Lucy 
I usually walk up to the vet with the ratties in a rat bag. It's only 15 minutes slow walk (don't like to step out with a rat in my coat). The funny thing is, they know when we're home. They almost always come out of my neckline as we walk down the drive towards the front door. Does my house smell THAT much of rat?
Vixen is back from the vet. She seems her usual self, to be honest. I don't know how they do it - I know what I felt like after a general anaesthetic, but it hardly seems to affect the rats at all. They seem to have invisibly mended her - the stitching is incredibly neat. I think she'll have a job to pull it out, it's so tiny. Seventy seven pounds, it cost. Erk! Hoping this is the last lump for a while!
Well, I've put three entries in for the rat show on Saturday - Darwin, Edison and Oliver. I'm not completely sure that Darwin will still be in one piece by then though. He must have worked his way up to 2nd position, because he's making a bid for alpha. Theo isn't making it easy, I'm quite surprised not to see any injuries yet. The tube between the two cages is causing a log jam. They get into full chase mode, then try to zip through the tube and find it full of sleepy bodies and get cornered.
Vixen's op site is looking very good. Slight haematoma, but nothing major. She doesn't seem to realise that she should be taking things easy.
I'm so glad I gave the girls a wheel. Sophie loves it. :)
Last modified: Wednesday, 07-Nov-2007 23:57:28 GMT
