( Shocking News! )

I have learned an important life lesson today.

If you are going to have rattie cuddle times, it is probably best not to put on candy flavored lip gloss immediately before loosing the rats.

That is all.

I'm feeling a bit down today about our girls- they're all just getting old.

Lola died a few weeks ago after what the vet thought to be a brain tumour. She had bags of porphyrin around her eyes and nose, was unable to eat and drink properly and lost her balance and the use of her front paws. The vet tried what she could, but it was obvious that after initially picking up for a couple of days, that she was very unwell.

Leeloo is totally unable to shake off her respiratory problems (despite the drugs) and she seems to have developed a habit (old age?) of weeing in her bed, which cannot be a good thing. Means we have to clean out extra often as having all three girls sleeping in their own urine cannot be good :( I took Leeloo back to the vets with her respiratory problem and her second lump (mamory area). We need to clear up the resp before she can have the lump removed, and she is totally wheezy at the moment.

Medusa has suddenly developed something similar to Lola- but porphyrin only around 1 eye, a little bit of sneezing and a head tilt. She's not eating much and she seems quite slow. The vet has given her some antibiotics, and she's pretty perky... but it doens't look great.

Flo seems to be just fine- since her sister died she's putting on weight (comfort eating?!) and looks really well.


Why does it all happen at once eh?

This is Lola (l) and Flo (r) before Lola died.

We have successfully introduced our two new boys with our two girls. It only took a week. =)

( The intros are done! )


In other news, I have been reading the forum lately and it seems to me that there's a lot of talk of megacolon. This is a new term to me. I'm versed in much that is rat health, but this one escaped me somehow. I was so curious I looked it up and ended up engrossed in what I was reading for a couple of hours (I loooove reading everything on rats. It's an addiction). Now I'm not sure if I've psyched myself out and read too much or if I just never noticed it until now, but I'm wondering if one of my girls has that. Picassa had a tumor removed a couple of months ago and since then she's been gaining weight around her abdomen. She doesn't gain anywhere else, just there. It's solid more than soft and before we just assumed she was eating more now that she's more comfortable without the tumor. I'm going to be placing her in the smaller cage for a day to observe her stool (ewww). I'm hoping I'm just paranoid and read too much, but perhaps she really does have this. She has gained nowhere else at all and her belly looks like a balloon. If I can post pics of it later I will. Maybe that would help.


****EDIT FOR PICS****

( Picassa's Belly )

Excel is dying ;_;

Yes, Excel. Do any of you remember the post I made back when I was in Scotland about Little Girl and Excel having tumors and taken by my (amazing) mom to the vets to be euthed? Well, when I got home...(and I don't know why I never posted about this), I went to the cage and there was Excel looking back at me. It was Bonnie who had passed away with Little Girl. Go mom for not knowing the difference and giving me incorrect information via phoneline.

Excel is a really old rat. She is only a few months away from being five. She was a pet-store rescue, had an enormous litter of fifteen pups and avoided tumors which are common in female rats, especially after pregnancy. She survived an almost-housefire and did a really amazing thing for her pups when it happened - she burried them under the Aspen and when it was over, uncovered each one and dipped them precariously into the water dish, as though to cool them off. She's moved three times and has seen the passing of ten rattie friends. She has done what not many ratties get to do - she's ridden around on the back of a German Shepherd Dog who became her admirerer and close friend (especially for grooming).

Now, Excel has a tumor growing on her chest, slightly attached to her left foreleg. It started developing a few weeks ago and is now large enough that it is close to being a hinderance. I am not having my vet remove it - Excel is nearly five and the opperation will undoubtedly kill her. I just want to make her comfortable now. She is refusing to let it stop her, though, and still makes an admirable effort to climb the cage walls when she hears the bag of Yoggies. Her back legs are, well, the hindlegs of a five-yr old rattie - she isn't dragging them but now and then she scrabbles to sit on her haunches while she's grooming. I had to remove her hammock...it was extremely heartbreaking for me when I came into the room and found her half in half out of the hammock, her back legs simply hanging, as if she had valiantly tried to jump into it, couldn't, and gave up an exhausting struggle.

Now her cage is devoid of all rattie toys save for her chewies to physically ease her last days of life. I put her favourite mexican blanket inside (that was an ordeal, let me tell you!) and now her cage is simply a huge snuggly den with lots of soft tunnels and crooks to curl into (and chew, but I don't mind). I am spoiling the shit out of her, giving her all the treats that she was never allowed many of, such as McDonald fries and corn on the cob, and spending as much time as I can with her. Whenever I pick her up she bruxes so loudly and nuzzles my hand, I think she knows, and she wants to go out cuddly and full of love. People say that female ratties aren't as cuddly as males, but Excel was an exception. I can't remember all the times she's fallen asleep curled inside my shirt, or just spent hours licking me, grooming me, and simply sitting on my shoulder.

Sometimes I hate that I had to fall so desperately in love with rats so many years ago. I have had my heart broken by them too many times. Why do their lives have to be so short?

Excel, you might be old, and your coat might be shabby and patchy in some places. Maybe your eyes aren't as shiny as they used to be, and you sneeze now and then. You tail is scratchy-scaly and your teeth ancient, your whiskers droopy. But you are as beautiful to me now in your passing as you were as a baby rattie full of bright-eyed mischief at the petstore. Perhaps even more so, because now I see so many stories and so much wisdom reflected in those round, beady eyes of yours. I love you.




<3

Has anyone tried using a litter box with a grate in it? They started selling them where I work and now I'm thinking I might want to try it. My girls leave their litter box alone unless they are using it for what it's meant for or eating in it. The boys on the other hand think it's great fun to joyfully fling the litter and what's in it around the cage. I found about five pieces of YN in the litter box today and the rest was on the bottom of the cage. Cleaning that was a blast. I might as well use it as bedding at this rate. I'm hoping the grate over the litter would work and help fix that issue but I don't want to try it if people have had problems with it. I'm concerned about them catching feet in it or just pulling it up. Any thoughts?

For reference, it's basically this:http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752717

I have Regal Rat food. Now everyone may stop worrying about the lack of essential diet. ;)

Boys are behaving themselves. They seem to make the place stink very soon though after its changed though... anyone have luck with odour control using Yesterdays News? (that's the option I have, beyond the Carefresh I currently use). Wood chips are not an option for me.

They don't pose for pictures well, unless I don't have my camera on me. They were curled up together in their "hutch" and in the hammock in the past two days. It was awwwwwwww-worthy.

I've kept rats as companion animals for the past 14+ years. I've always fed them a grain mix; however my girls now only will eat certain pieces so a) they're not getting a balanced diet and b) I'm wasting a lot of money. After looking at other food options, I've decided to order them Harlan Teklad Global 2014 lab blocks.

My rats like to free-feed, how many blocks should I offer them at a time? How long can these generally be left out before going stale/losing nutritional value?

I also give them fresh fruits, vegetables, dried pasta, and oats every night. What are the best fruits & vegetables for my girls? How much should they get?

I currently am taking care of five girls (two 11 month olds, one 1.5 year old, one 2 year old, and one 4 year old squishy old lady!) if that helps.

Thanks in advance!

 I'm worried about my rattie Scout. She's done this weird thing for the last few nights. It almost looks as if she's having some sort of seizure. Scout will shudder and shake and act like she's not aware of her surroundings. She will very quickly 'wash' her face and then stay absolutely still. After a few minutes she acts normal again. 

Has anyone else experienced this with their ratties?

I'm also jumping on the megacolon paranoia bandwagon. Scout's about a year old now. She's a lot bigger than her sister. I don't know if she's fat or if it's something else. I just separated her from Sparrow and Grania to see if she poops.  She went several times last night so I put her back with the other 2 girls.

I can't get her into the vet until Friday. 

Any ideas or suggestions? I've tried taking a photo of her belly but she squirms and it comes out terribly blurry. I'll keep trying.