Maisy

Nickname: Maisy moo

Gender: Doe

Variety: Capped Champagne

Born:19th May 2009

Died: 5th October 2011

Origin: Rescue kitten

About Maisy

Maisy was fostered by a friend on behalf of Bearwood Friends of the Animals as part of a rescue litter. She and her littermates were unhandled until they were offered to the rescue at five weeks old, so Maisy is a little bit of a bitey madam. This can't be the whole story though, as none of the rest of the litter were biters. Maisy was the last doe left for homing, so came to live with my litter to see if some of their confidence would rub off on her.

Maisy is named after Maisy Mouse, a children's story series by Lucy Cousins.

Maisy has remained fairly fearful of hands, but now only nips rather than biting. She is very neophobic and prefers to remain in the cage for most of freerange time, although she will lick food from my fingers and can be tempted out. She will climb onto me, but panics if picked up.

April 2011 - Maisy has been very upset by the death of her friend and sparring partner, Dobby, and has not ventured out of the cage since he died. They were like an old married couple, niggling at each other constantly, but curled up together whenever they slept. Maisy kept him cosy at the end by building a big nest around him and keeping him company, and chomping my hand whenever I disturbed him.

June 2011 - Still not coming out of the cage voluntarily.

September 2011 - Maisy is very, very lumpy now, but I keep putting off the final visit because despite everything she still gets around the cage and goes for walks on the wheel.

Pictures

Weight data on all our ratties

Health

18th October 2009 - nasty bite on her right side. Two puncture holes with swelling between them.
25th October 2009 - healing nicely atm.
18th December 2010 - small mammary lump under arm.
24th January 2011 - Vet visit with lump. Became very, very stressed by visit, respiratory issues. Concluded kinder to leave her be as an operation would probably stress her to the point where resp issues became serious.
7th March 2011 - Reached the point of decision, and now having lump removed today. Complete success.
2nd May 2011 - Growing a new lump.
Monday 8th August 2011 - Very lumpy, but still seems OK in herself.
Wednesday 5th October - Put to sleep. It feels like a terrible betrayal. Next time, I'm just going to keep having the lumps removed.

Temperament

19th July 2009 - A little bitey, but she only arrived yesterday and she's not too bad out of the cage.
25th October 2009 - A source of chaos in the cage. Stirs up fights but runs fast.
22nd March 2011 - Maisy has calmed down a lot. She doesn't like to be held, but rarely bites nowadays. She was extremely stressed by vet visits, but does seem more confident now the experience is over.