Drape Is Helped To the Bridge

Drape was helped to the bridge today. After a long bout of respiratory issues, it just became too much for the little guy. He was the last of his cage mates. His "wife" Sprite, passed earlier.

Drape was adopted when Chester came to Vermin Village. He and Chester were introduced and became best buddies. This was the first introduction I'd done with intact males. They did very well and I was most impressed. Particularly because they were both 6 months of age--not a good age to introduce intact males. I think they were both exceptional in that they wanted a friend.

They were soon joined by Eddie, Dumbo, Diego and Hades. All intact males. Eddie and Dumbo were a bonded pair as were Diego and Hades. Sadly Hades and Dumbo were the first of the group passed, Eddie followed and more recently Diego.

Rest in peace little one.

Sprite Slips Away

Sprite slipped away early this morning. She had been suffering from chronic respiratory illness for the past few months. I actually contemplated having her PTS but when I'd think about it, she'd start darting around the cage. So I would put it off.

Sprite (previously named Tinkerbell) had come to us because her previous owner kept 2 of the babies Sprite had had. (They had put Drape, previously named Hammy, in the cage with her and surprise, ended up with ratlets.) They the babies, keeping 2. I had already adopted Drape so when I saw Sprite up, I took her too. She lived with Ruthie, Tweek and Zelda, but as she got more frail, I moved her on her own. Ruthie, Tweek and Zelda are already at the bridge, so Sprite will not be lonely.

I said good night to her last night after her medicine. When I went in this morning to give her medicine, she had passed, curled up in her hammock. I wrapped her in a clean rattie blanket and tucked her in a box and placed her in the freezer to await transport. She is survived by her "husband" Drape.

Rest in peace little one.

Tweek and Zelda Take a Bow and Helping New Ratties Get Closer to Their Forever Home

This morning started off with a sad note. Tweek and Zelda, two independent rattie girls were PTS this morning. Dr. S. at SWAH helped them to the bridge for me with the wonderful tech, J. This was my first experience with the anesthesia chamber. I think I do like the sedative better but this was ok for these girls, particularly Tweek as due to her heart condition, was congested so it was a better way to do this. Zelda joins her sister Samantha at the bridge. Tweek joins her cage mate Ruthie, and of course Zelda, at the bridge.

Their remains were immediately taken to the Oregon Humane Society for private cremation.

This cage of girls is survived by a single member, Sprite. She herself suffers from chronic respiratory issues and takes medicine twice a day and will for the remainder of her life. Luckily she is really good about it and holds the syringe to her mouth herself.

Today I did my first home visit for Little Mischief Rescue. I was honored that they asked me. I hope this brings a pair of girls in rescue one step closer to their forever home. So the day for ratties wrapped up on a positive note.

Rest in peace Tweek and Zelda.

Sprite Medicine Dream Girl

Well, poor Sprite is battling chronic respiratory illness and will be on meds for life. But I have to say she is a dream to give medicine too. She grabs the syringe and holds it while taking the medicine. She is the ONLY one that does this. I don't even have to pick her up. I just need to open the door and call her and she runs to it and drinks it all up like a good girl. So I have Sherman the potty training rattie boy and Sprite, the medicine girl. And of course Joey, abscess boy. Which by the way the last abscess treatment appears to look good so far. Pixie's growth was a sebaceous cyst. It is unknown if it will abscess now. Dr. B said it was not a sterile environment and he did the best he could to get clean tissue but as it had ulcerated and it was on the leg, there wasn't much skin to pull. So far that appears to be doing ok. She is on antibiotics too.

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.

0410 Hours, Ruthie Departs

I usually sleep downstairs in my recliner due to my back and acid reflux. When I have sick ratties, they also sleep in the cage right next to me. At about 0333 hours, I woke up to a noise of crying. I looked in the cage. Sprite, another little sick girl, was dancing around the cage, clearly agitated. I located Ruthie on the other side of the igloo. Her eyes looking sadly back at me. My heart started to cry. I picked her up and cuddled her close in a blanket. I told her how happy I was she came into my life and that I hope her friends had made her happy. The nearest 24 hour vet is at least 20 minutes away. And like Mr. Chuckles, I would rather she have me hold her than be scared in a car with no one holding her. So here we sat. She passed at 0410 hours.

Ruthie came to me in a round-a-bout way. A woman had contacted Quality Cage asking about rat information and they referred her to me. I spoke with her and eventually she asked that I take Ruthie. Ruthie didn't get on very well in my one cage of girls, so I made her boss of another cage. She lived with Tweek and Sprite. Eventually Zelda joined them when her cage mate passed.

So Ruthie will await private cremation at the Oregon Humane Society. I refused to take a picture of Ruthie after she became sick because she never held still long enough for me to take shots when she was healthy.

The only shot I have is with her in her cage after her and her cage mates decided to make a tent with their first hammock. They eventually learned that snuggling in the hammock was a lot more fun than making a tent. She is tucked in there right next to the "tent."

Rest in peace little Ruthie. I'm sure you'll get as many sunflower seeds as you want now.

Rattie Updates

Right now I'm taking care of 60 ratties, 5 will be making their way to Canada before the end of this month as we will be going to pick up our food order. The other 55 are with me. I have many senior ratties. I have 5 over the age of 2, and 2 of these are about 2 months. Then my ratties will hit the 2 year mark in rapid waves. Such a bummer. I'm hoping they stay with me a long time. But...

I still have 4 ratties living on their own. Mimi, she is very bossy and thinks she is a person, but she has NOT bonded with any other rat. Popeetka still is the grumpiest rattie boy and he has chronic respiratory illness! His dad, Mr. Snuggles lives on his own because he has chronic respiratory illness and the other rats chase him around. Sprite also is on her own because she has chronic respiratory illness and gets too winded when other ratties chase her around.

I've got 15 on 2 medicines twice daily. This is to help keep their chronic issues under control. They aren't too pleased with it but it keeps them healthy!

Tonight I have to reweigh the ratties their Revolution doses. Ewww. I should only have to give 2 more treatments until they are eradicated because the bedding now used is fleece.

Anyway, I've got to get back to work!

Neutering, Pictures, Zeb, Tweek, and Cage Arrangements

It has been very busy here. The room will be completely done and photos taken by mid February. I'm so excited. I'm taking 3 rats to get neutered on 2/6/2008 so they can live with some of my ladies. Sherman who is already here and 2 boys I will be picking up on Friday. 1 already had a pass here because he is from the same family as Sherman and Nona. The other two get a pass because they are up on the list for pet/breeder or food and it is a 5 week old pair, 1 boy and 1 girl. It is this third boy that will be neutered so he can continue to live with his current cage mate with the larger groups of rats.

Zeb had surgery to remove lumps from his body. Turns out the lumps were lumps of infection, e. coli, and something else. He has to take 3 weeks of two different kinds of antibiotics. Poor little guys.

Tweek, rejected snake food, has settled in with her two new roomies, Sprite and Ruthie. It is to this cage I will attempt to introduce Sherman, and the two new boys and the little girl to. The cage would then be expanded to a 4 level + a balcony cage. I will have 3 such cages set up. The freed up large deluxe cage will be used to house the 2 babies that have to live downstairs and the cage they are in will be sold to offset the cost of getting some of the babies fixed. (The cage is a different caging system I don't really care for.) The two baby ratties that are coming Friday also come in that same caging system, and that cage will be sold as it is unneeded and will be used to offset the cost of fixing the little boy.

Saturday I sold one of the "other" cages and used the proceeds to buy some supplies for the mice cages and the new gerbil cage. I made the mice real cages instead of that Critter Trail crap. They love it. I also made a more gerbil friendly one for the new gerbil we adopted at OHS. Poor little guy has had a hard life. So now he is having fun in his new home. Gerbils are VERY low maintenance pets and are fun to watch.

On Friday I hope to get a mini-fridge to keep medications in so that I don't have to keep going downstairs to get it and then bring it back down. I intend to bring one of my dressers in the room to use there as a place to weigh the little ones and sit the fridge on it.

Other than this, been busy at work and in class.

A brief update on the gang...

Well, I've been very bad about keeping up with this thing. Ruthie came through her surgery just fine. She is ready to be introduced to two other girls, Sprite and Tweek.

Right now, Sherman is on my shoulder, bruxing away. He is a single cage fellow. I've yet to find him a cage mate he will tolerate. I tried to introduce him and Tickle, but Tickle is too set in his ways. So they both live alone.

I found a lump on Zeb's abdomen. He has an appointment on Monday to get checked out. I'm hoping it is just a hernia and not a tumor. We shall find out.

Other than that, we might get a new gerbil tomorrow. Depends on if I can get around and make him a cage tonight. We do have room for a gerbil and he is NOT a socialized little guy so he would do okay here since I provide gerbils with sanctuary more than anything. I have a little girl named Cocoa. I provide lots of card board tubes, toys, a huge habitat, a sand bath, and fun stuff to dig through. Gerbils are low maintenance and very cool to watch.

I have to get back to cleaning, just wanted to pop a note on here.

Cheers!