Thursday, December 25, 2008

Mimi and Junior

I've decided that Mimi and Junior should do very well together. Mimi was acquired through my friend LR. She picked her up with the hopes she'd do well with her neutered boy. Mimi didn't. I took Mimi. Oh, she is such a kissy girl!

Anyway, I've been unable to find someone to bond with Mimi. She does not like other girls. I did have her spayed because I wanted to double her chances of finding a friend for her.

Enter Junior. Junior was saved by CR. He needed some extra special work so he came here. He is doing WONDERFUL.

Anyway, their cages have been side by side for the past several weeks. And they've been playing outside their cages together. I will be changing their cages to one cage with a divider and hopefully, within a few weeks, they will be residing together in rattie happiness.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Chupachup, Harold, Rutherford, and Billy Arrive

Chupachup and Harold are both big agouti boys and Rutherford is black and white, and Billy is tan/blonde and white. They are all sweet boys! Chupachup and Harold are 6 months old and Rutherford and Billy are 9 months old. They were adopted from a rat board member when her family developed allergies. I've not integrated them into any other group of rats because they get along so well together.

Cages and Vet Care News

Ok. I couldn't wait to post, but I am charging the camera. The new cages are UP and they are freaking awesome! I'm still missing 3 cages so I have 3 old ones still in use but the rest are up and OMG. Pull out trays, lots of space, removable ramps, full floors on each level, ability to separate levels, each level pulls apart with a spring clip for easy cleaning. There are no balconies with wire to worry about. It is just so awesome.

As for vet care, a well qualified rat vet will be coming to my home to provide general health care from now on. I'm so excited. For advanced care, they'll continue to go to the vet's office (surgeries, et cetera). This is such an awesome option. I'm so glad! Less stressful for the little guys for the general health checks.

So all in all, it has been a fruitful week.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Joey Redecorates...and the others

Well, Joey is doing pretty good today. He has rearranged his cage. He's moved his box around (he is using a box instead of an igloo since he has his collar on. He has pushed ALL of his blankets over and he does all of this while wearing his collar. lol Little hoodlum.

Anyway, he seems to be responding really well to his treatment. So I hope Dr. S will be pleased with his progress when she sees him on Saturday. Again, I'm going to bring him in every Saturday until he is healed to make sure nothing else goes wrong.

As for the other critters, they are all anxiously awaiting their new cages. Tomorrow....

Monday, December 8, 2008

Joey's Woes

Poor Joey. He has taken a beating with his immune system. He got an abscess in the fatty tissue after his neuter surgery, while he was on antibiotics. So now he has to take antibiotics for another month minimum and he has to have his incision flushed and packed twice a day. I'll be bringing him to the vet every Saturday until it has healed up to make sure the infection goes bye bye! He has to wear a collar, but right now he is sitting on my shoulder while I wait for his pain medication to take effect so that I can flush and pack his wound.

He's such a sweet little guy. He took his antibiotics like a trooper. It's a lot. .3ml of cefa and .24ml of baytril, then his pain medication. He's groomed himself so he doesn't look so raggy. We'll be flushing shortly. ::sigh::

Saturday, December 6, 2008

My husband's company Christmas Party

Well, why in the world would I put this on my rat blog? Well, because it is my blog and because I can. lol We went to my husband's company party. We played a get to know you bingo game and the residents of Vermin Village were on it! "has more than 15 rodents" That was us!

Cage Update

Well, went to pick up my new cages yesterday. Turns out that my stackables have a snafu so those will be a bit more. It is a relatively small issue so it will be fixed shortly. BUT BOY ARE THEY AWESOME! I know I will be more than pleased when I do get them.

I haven't paid for the full order yet so I am picking up the other cages that are ready. I have two here now. These are BC-6 with large doors. I ordered 3 of these cages to use and when I start taking in more, these will be the quarantine cages used as they are super easy to clean and they fit in my car easily. Right now I'm using them as hospital cages so they are downstairs.

Sprite, my 190 gram girl, is on medication and I'm still trying to pull her out of her respiratory slump. Pixie, she is separated from Sprite (the cage has both a solid or wire removable dividers). If I get Sprite well enough, I was going to try to introduce these two girls. Pixie is the late Pinkie's sister. So right now I'm giving Sprite medication. She'll have to be on it the rest of her life, but I want her to also put on some weight.

Now Joey - - he was neutered the Friday before Thanksgiving. They also found an abscess on him after they shaved him. He went in to have that removed today. But I noticed that the incision site had an issue. They aspirated it and it was infection. So he is now on two antibiotics and will be going in Monday for a surgery when both Dr. B and Dr. S can work on him together. Poor little guy. But he is a trooper and hopefully this will clear up his little problem. I'm keeping Potter, his cage mate, separate from him so that he leaves his wound alone. They are in one of the new divided cages.