Chester

Health:
Oct 2007 - neutered. Recovered really well from the operation.
Oct 2008 - Getting quite podgy.
Jan 2009 - Managed to get a little weight off him.
15th Jan 2009 - Blood in urine, fluffed up coat. Still eating well and pottering round.
16th Jan 2009 - Inj Convenia 0.12ml - take in urine sample if continues to be a problem or comes back when injection wears off.
18th Jan 2009 - Urine clear, but still looking under the weather.
22nd Jan 2009 - Looking much, much better and a lot happier.
22nd April 2009 - Ivermectin for mites. Sudafed and Clavaseptin for congestion - due to SDAV?
1st May 2009 - repeat Ivermectin. Looking healthy, no more wheezes.
5th June 2009 - Back legs slightly weak, but other than that looking good.
18th June 2009 - Struggling on the ladders. Holding his own.
19th June 2009 - Blood in urine. Giving antibiotics.
21st June 2009 - Sprained ankle. Started on Metacam - might help his legs too.
30th August 2009 - Legs getting worse. Can't get off the ground floor of the cage now.
25th September 2009 - In a bigger footprint cage now. Can get into hammocks using a gentle ramp. Swollen 'wrist' at the moment. Visibly losing weight.
23rd October 2009 - Sore eye.
26th October 2009 - Swollen nose around eye. Probably infected tear duct, poss abscess or tumour. Inj Convenia and Fucithalmic eye drops.
31st October 2009 - Not working. Vets on Monday.
2nd November 2009 - Booked in for exam under anaesthetic tomorrow. Drain if liquid, euthanise if solid. :-(
3rd November 2009 - It was a tumour.

Temperament: Insists on a cuddle at breakfast every morning. Becoming less clingy as he gets older. Phantom ankle nipper.
5th October 2009 - Still knows his own mind, but allows me to help him on occasion.

About Chester

Chester came with his brother Pickle to live at Ratty Corner when he was 8 months old, on 21st July 2007. His brother Brunel already lived here. Chester and Pickle were a very clingy pair of rats, quite needy, possibly due to a lack of attention from their first adoptive home over the few months before they arrived. They were quite hormonal, as they were completely unused to smelling other rats. This resulted in me getting bitten once, I'm not sure by which of the pair.

Although they became more used to the smell of other rats, they were still obsessively scent marking when they came out to play, showing dark patches around the scent glands on their backs. I made the decision to have them both neutered, and am really pleased with the result as I believe it has improved their quality of life.

Chester and Pickle moved in with a group of girls and since Pickle's death Chester continues to enjoy his place as man of the cage.

24th March 2009 - Chester had a slight mishap today. I was cleaning out their cage, and he decided to jump down into the bag of dirty litter. The drop was about a foot, the litter was quite soft, and rats are naturally wedge shaped . . . this resulted in Chester getting stuck head down in the rubbish bag, with his feet waving above. He didn't seem too upset when I pulled him back out, but it took me a while to stop laughing!

Awards/Critiques

MRC April Show, 12th April 2008 - 3rd of 13 Adult Owned Pet Buck
Beautiful soft boy. Clean tail, non scratchy nails, happy enough to brux for us. Lovely colour and cute markings.

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