Taking Care Of "Buck Grease"

I am looking for input from owners who have had bucks, and specifically bucks with a problem. A "buck grease" problem.

I have only had does, so I'm not much help to a friend of mine who is struggling with this problem. She has been having a hard time keeping her rat clean and grease free, without irritating his skin.

So, I figured I would ask my knowledgeable little community what their ideas are.

What do you recommend or have found does/doesn't work in the past?

The Rest Of The Story

As you've noticed in the previous post, our Sugar passed away late Monday night. It was a long, drawn out process to get where we were that night, in the exam room at the emergency vets office, and it passed in literally 4 days. This is long, so be prepared.

As you all know, on May 7, Sugar started bleeding. I suspected it was the same problem that Half Rat had, and I still believe I am right. We took her to the vet on May 8, and as happened with Halfs, the vet prescribed antibiotics for 7 days to make sure it wasn't an infection. We took her home, gave her the meds and waited.

In that week she became the rat I knew she would. She fully developed and gave us a glimpse at all the adorable ratness that she kept hidden for so long. We got to play with and appreciate her quirks for just a few days, which leaves me feeling terribly shortchanged.

On May 15, one week after our visit to the vet, I called and said the medication hadn't changed anything and asked for the vet's recommedation. He chose not to see her again, and instead just scheduled her for surgery on May 22, which was the earliest he would do it, despite my complaints that she really needed it sooner rather than later. Apparently, he only works part time, and his schedule is rigid.

I accepted that, and stopped giving Sugar her antibiotics that day. By the next morning, Friday, May 16, she was having very dark poos and a lot of them. Her appetite and demeanor were normal, so I just chalked it up to her body rebalancing after the medication. (As we all know, antibiotics wreak havoc on a rat's system.) By the end of the day the poos had turned bloody, though not horribly bad, and she still seemed in high spirits. I called the emergency clinic and they said the best they could do is stabalize her until the regular vet opened on Monday.

While I didn't like leaving her the way she was, I figured as long as she was still eating and drinking, she'd make it. By Saturday afternoon, her poos had changed again to a dark green and were more solid and better formed. She was still eating and drinking at this point, and still running around the cage, so I figured I'd still take her in on Monday but that the worst was over.

Wrong! I got up Sunday morning and her cage was full of very soft, very dark poos. She had lost control of her bowels during the night and her cage, which I had just cleaned the night before, was a mess. She was also having difficulty breathing and her sides were heaving.

Worst of all, she wouldn't take any food or drink. The last time I saw her voluntarily drink was on Saturday night.

I spent Sunday trying to get her to eat soft foods like yogurt and applesauce and baby food. She'd sniff it and push it away. I syringed her water, but I don't know how much she was getting, as she was doing the same rubbing of the chin on the bottom of her cage after I gave it to her, like she did when taking her medication. She also started having this dry, raspy cough. No regular vet was open that day and the emergency clinic didn't open until 5:30pm.

I just prayed she'd make it to Monday morning so I could take her in.

We got up early Monday morning, and it was obvious we had a very sick rat on our hands. She had again, lost control of her bowels all over the cage and was sleeping in her food dish, I assume because it was elevated off the floor and clean. Her fur was sticking straight out all over, her eyes had started leaking porphorine, she was breathing through her mouth, making this "clicking" noise with each inhale, wouldn't eat or drink and was still bleeding.

I took her in to the vet on an emergency basis to be seen asap. We went to the other exotics vet I had been debating about. Their staff was nicer, but it was the same bedside manner of the first vet. She was just a "thing" and not a suffering rattie.

He agreed she was very sick, and recommended that I spend $750 for a complete work up. I opted out of the parasite stool samples (2 of them), the blood tests (since she was already so stressed, blood tests could have thrown her over the edge), the geriatric exam, the "misc." and the overnight monitoring. I chose to have her hydrated and vitamined, and to have xray's taken.

Then I left for a couple hours, after having been there for 2.5 hours already, to get some lunch and let them work on her.

When I came back in the afternoon, the vet came out to talk with me. He didn't show me the xrays, which bothered me, but he said she didn't have any lesions on her lungs and everything looked ok.

His diagnosis was that she was having trouble with her uterus, which he said felt "tonic", "enlarged" and "hard". He agreed she needed to be spayed. However, she wasn't a good candidate for surgery until she was properly hydrated and eating again. She was too fragile at this point to do it. He then said the GI tract problems were probably from the antibiotics, and those two problems compounded and made her stressed, so she started having breathing problems, since there was nothing else to suggest why she was having trouble breathing.

He still wanted to do the other tests on her, but she was perked up a bit with a big bubble of fluid under her skin, which seemed to be helping her to feel better, so I decided to just bring her home for the night. Our plan was to get her on probiotics to bring her intestinal flora back to balance, something to get her poos firmed up and electrolytes for her water so she would get double effectiveness from the hydration. He prescribed this bunch of homeopathic medicines for her, which I bought, I paid my bill and we came home. The vet said I should see a change in 3-5 days, and to let them know in a couple days how she was progressing.

She was still having labored breathing, but it was not nearly as bad. She also had enough energy to hop into her cage by herself. I gave her the first dose of her new meds and left her to relax. It was about 3pm by this time.

I checked on her at 4pm and she still seemed to be doing about the same. She still wouldn't eat or drink, but I didn't worry much as she was recently hydrated.

I checked on her at 5pm and she had started to go downhill. She now had porphorine coming out of her nose, which was a first. She was breathing much more hard, but wasn't breathing out of her mouth yet. She had only taken 1 poo. But she was in her igloo and didn't want to come out, so I cleaned her face, pet her and let her be. Her fur wasn't poofing out yet, so I just let her rest.

At 6pm Jason was home and we went to dinner to discuss Sugar. I hadn't been able to tell him anything all day, because he was locked in a meeting, so I was just about bursting when he got home. I laid it all out there, and we both decided if she kept getting worse, we'd put her to sleep because there were so many problems and if she wasn't showing progress at this point, but regress, there was probably nothing more we could do. I felt better with his input, and we headed back home.

At 8pm Sugar was a mess. She had still only pooed once and hadn't had any more diarrhea that she had early that morning. She was also bleeding less. She wouldn't eat or drink and her fluid bubble was almost completely gone. The vet said it should last for 24 hours, but she had nearly depleted it in about 9. I was horribly worried, and she had porphorine all over her face.

I pulled her out, cleaned her up, and did with her what I did with Rat to ease her breathing. I elevated her head and just stroked her head and back. I sat with her over an hour this way, and her sides were just heaving and she was breathing out of her mouth and coughing. She was obviously in a lot of distress. I tried to alleviate it by steaming her, to see if it would open her airways or clear up any blockage. It did help, minimally, but the moment we went back into the rest of the house, her breathing got worse.

At this point it's 10pm and I know there's nothing else we can do. I can't let her suffer overnight; there's no way. So I call the emergency clinic and they agree to take a look at her, but don't promise anything.

We bundle up and head out. The ride must have excited her or something, because when we got there her breathing and coughing had calmed down a little. We sat around and sat around, and finally got to see the doctor.

*As a sidenote, this was the most incredible vet. He was just like our vet in Albuquerque. He was so nice and gentle with her, and he kept her head elevated so she could breathe a little better and he complimented her on what a sweet girl she was and was gentle with me too. He was wonderful, and unfortunately, only works nights at the emergency clinic. He doesn't have a day practice. Boo on that! I'd recommend him to everyone, because he was 1000% times kinder and more concerned with Sugar than the other two we saw.

After actually wanting to hear her history (when the other vets brushed me off, cut me off mid-sentence to ask a question I had already answered in my narrative and generally tuned me out) and listening to the tests and symptoms we had done, he said he didn't know how to put all the illnesses together. He couldn't give me a reason why she was as sick as she was. He suggested it was multiple system and organs failing, because there were so many involved. He said they could put her in an oxygen chamber for the night, but I'd have to pick her up by 8am the next morning, when they closed. What would I do then? There were no easy answers.

He looked at me and I looked at him. We both looked at Sugar.

I told him we were ready to put her to sleep, because we felt she was suffering too much and she was so frail (she had lost 80 grams in these 4 days) and we just weren't seeing any improvement that would warrant letting it drag on. He agreed.

It was nice to have the vet on my side saying it was ok to let her go, while the vet earlier that day had wanted to do everything to test her and go to heroic measures. Sometimes you just need the doctor to "give you permission" to put your pet to sleep. It's such a hard thing to do, and it's nice not to feel like you are cheating your pet.

The decision itself wasn't really that hard. If you could have seen her, you'd agree. She was just miserable and scared and struggling. She didn't seem to be in any pain, though, which was a blessing and a relief. She never squeaked; not once.

So, I spent some time with her, cuddled her, stroked her head and her lovely dumbo ears and told her how much I'd miss her and how I was sorry we only had 4 months together. I kissed her on the head, signed the papers and watched the doctor take her out of the room. If I had to choose anyone to help her over the bridge, it would be him. I am so thankful her last awareness were gentle hands and a sedative.

I was exhausted, mentally and financially, and by the time I got home, I realized I had spent $750 that day alone for her, and I feel like I didn't do her much good in the end.

The cage is still fairly clean from Monday afternoon, and I haven't had the heart to clean it yet. I still walk in looking for her to stick her head out of the igloo. When I was working yesterday, I swear I could hear her thumping around in the cage, but of course she wasn't there. Last night I came in to tell her good night and give her a treat, and was shocked to see the cage doors open and the rat gone.

It's amazing how attached I got to her, so quickly. I can't believe she's already gone.

Too much, I tell ya. Too much.

Who Are You...

And what did you do with my rat??

After last night, I can't help but wonder if the antibiotics cleared up something in Sugar we never knew she had. I wonder if she didn't feel well or was in pain and that's why she was such a lazy, uninterested rat.

Because after 4 days on the antibiotics, she is completely different. She is still bleeding, although not as heavily. It got worse on Friday, and then has been slowing down since then. I'll still take her in if it doesn't stop completely by Thursday, which is her last day of medication.

But her attitude and personality have just blossomed in the last 24-48 hours. It has been an amazing transformation to watch. It was literally like she came out of her cage last night a completely different rat.

She was hopping and running around. She's still got a limp, but she doesn't seem to notice it at all. She came to her name, which I didn't know she could do. It was awesome! I got her to follow me about 20 feet before she got nervous and hurried back to the cage. She played "chase the hand" for the first time. I drug my finger on the carpet in a circle around her, and she turned and turned to follow it. She was going pretty fast, and really seemed to enjoy it. I wish I got a video of it.

She's more comfortable coming to me, too. I just call her name, or tap (hard!) on the floor and she comes right to me. She's always been kind of licky, but last night she cleaned my toes and was very serious about the whole matter.

And the funniest thing of all: She is a fraidy rat for the most part. Loud noises startle her, and she runs for cover and watches from the safety of her igloo. However, night before last she was out and I had to vacuum up the bits of food and bedding she tossed out of the cage. As I'm pulling out the vacuum she's curious, but not really sure what's going on. When I turned it on, though, she started chasing after it, coming right up to it and confronting it and wasn't the least bit afraid of it. It was incredible. She was absolutely comfortable with it, and was even playing with it. The vacuum! The noisy vacuum!

It has been the most rewarding 2 days to watch her come out of her shell and metamorph into a normal rat. The only thing I can think is the antibiotics cleared something up, because why would she suddenly be acting more natural when we're forcing a foul tasting liquid down her throat twice a day? If it were me, I might be a bit more reclusive thanks to that.

And, on the topic of her medication, she's too funny with it. I hold her head still, slip the syringe in the side of her mouth to the back of her tongue and give her the dose. After I let her go, she puts her mouth on the bottom of her cuddle cup and rubs it around as if she's trying to get the drips off her chin, which is cute enough in itself. After a couple minutes of that, though, she then sits there for another couple minutes licking her lips and smacking her lips like she's trying to get the taste out of her mouth. When she's satisfied, she'll eat the cheese or yogie I gave her. I'll try to get a video of it, because she looks like she's trying to get the nastiest taste out of her mouth. LOL

I have to say, she is adorable.

Oh Wait. I Remember How This Works.

Having cute rat= Vet bills

Sugar made her first trip to the vet yesterday. She is suffering from the same symptoms Half Rat had here. The vet gave us the same treatment as Halfs had here.

I personally think she needs to be spayed, but the vet wants to do this route first, which is fine. I don't like watching her bleed, even though it doesn't seem to bothering her at all. She just cleans herself a lot more.

She's still eating normally, pooing normally, drinking normally and giving it all up for a treat. Her attitude is fine. It's just the blooding bedding and fabric pieces I have to clean out each day bother me.

The doc put her on Clavamox for 7 days. He flavored the liquid like banana, and I guess Sugar actually likes it. She is an absolute dream to give meds to. She doesn't struggle or fuss. She doesn't like being held, so she struggles against that, but when I put the syringe in the side of her mouth she lets me give it to her and she swallows it instead of spitting it out like... I don't know... every other rat I had did. So, really, she's very good and I can't complain. Of course, she gets a yogie after every dose.

As most of you know, I had to leave my amazing- wonderful- incredible vet behind in Albuquerque when we moved up here. I took her a to a new vet here, and while he said he specialized in exotics, gave me some concern. I explained things about the situation to him, and he nearly ignored me. I guess I assumed he'd be like my old vet and want to know every detail. Anyway, as we're leaving he asks me, "So, you have other rats at home?" "Nope", I said. "This is our only one. But we've had rats before her, and she's the sixth one we've owned." He replied with, "Oh. Well, then you probably know more about them than I do."

I was a little stunned, and didn't know what to say, so I just said, "No. We've just been through it all before. All our rats had health problems." And left the office.

Weird? I don't know if I should look for another vet. There is one other one that specializes in exotics, so I've been playing with the idea of taking her to him. I certainly hope he was joking, because I don't want to know more than him. That's why I pay to go see him! LOL

Update On Sugar

So, I've finally gotten a moment, and here's the newest on our little Dumbo rat.

After 2 months of trying to diagnose and treat the problem, our little rat keeps grooming herself to shreds. Granted, she isn't as scabby as she was when we got her, but she's still developing new scabs every week.

We thought her diet might be to blame. We brought her home and immediately put her on a new diet lower in protein and rife with fresh veggies. And of course, 1 or 2 yogies a day. That did nothing for her, except help to fatten her up a bit (which she needed anyway) and introduce her to new foods. So, not a total loss.

We thought it might be because her skin was dry and irritated.

• The first thing we tried was putting a great wheat germ/vitamin e salve that worked wonders for our other rat's dry skin. And if they licked it off, it was all natural, so no harm done. Not for this little girl. Sugar could not stand the salve on her skin, and wound up tearing herself up worse than we have ever seen, even when she first came to us. After 1 try of that, we ditched it.
• Then, still thinking it was dry skin, we bought a new, fancier humdifier (the old one was ultrasonic and this one is evaporative). We used it for a month with no noticeable change, other than her fur was softer and silkier.

We thought it might be that her nails are too long. We trimmed them, and that made a little bit of a difference, but she sharpened them up right away, so we have to keep on them every few days.

Then we figured it might be neurotic. I thought she might be bored, since she doesn't have a cagemate, and might be self-destructing. So, I started bringing her out more each day. She's getting 5-6 hours out instead of 2-3. She's content to find a hole and go to sleep.

I also cannot get her to play for anything. She doesn't have the playful spirit I'm familiar with. I figure that may part of it, so I've been trying new things with her to encourage her to play, explore, use her brain, etc. I think boredom may be a big part of her problems; she sleeps all the time, and is happier in her igloo than coming when I open the cage door so she can come out. To counter this I'm trying new training techniques and seeing if I can teach her new tricks.

She is a slow learner, but once she gets something she wants to do it over and over again. She's a good shoulder sitter, she'll run up my arm if I put it out for her, and she's learned to respond to her name. She still won't always come when I call her, which is why she isn't allowed to free range. If I can't find her, she needs to come when I call. I know it can be done, because of the success with my other girls, but like I said, she's a slow learner.

*Side Note* If I've ever seen an argument for buying rats in pairs, this is one. I honestly think that being isolated has done a great deal to affect her psyche. She didn't know how to nest, how to climb cage bars and has never had a buddy to cuddle with, fight with, groom or teach her things. (She did learn to nest and to climb cage bars, so that's good.) So, always, ALWAYS get your rats in pairs. *End Note*

Anyway, we're still working on her. The scabs have greatly diminished, but they're still there. I'm trying my hardest to figure out what is causing them. The combo of trimming her nails, making her work for her food and basically forcing her to exercise and the humidifier are what we've got her on now.

She may always be like this, but of course, I'd like her to be scab free. She's also got a patch of very thin hair on her left side, and it's just not growing back in. I don't think she's over-grooming, but I think she's a slow hair-grower (is that a word?) like Coda. I'm not sure what the inital hair loss is from, but it doesn't seme to be getting worse.

The Good News

She has discovered the amazing world of food. She's got a ton of new favorites, the top being cheese. She will do just about anything for a piece of cheese, so it's a great training tool.

She's also thoroughly pleased with her new food mix we started her on when we got her. She has started hoarding peanuts and her favorite crunchies. That's a great rattie trait she didn't have before.

She is extremely particular about her nesting now. Now that she's got a place to hide and plenty of bedding, she shores up the sides of her igloo with bedding nearly to the top and works countless hours perfecting it.

She has also potty trained herself incredibly well. She will not go, not even piddle, when she's out of the cage. And in the cage she will only go in a particular spot, so after 5-6 days it smells absolutely foul and I have to clean the cage. I cleaned the cage every 7 days with 3 girls! But she piddles in the same spot over and over until the bedding is soaked through. However, it's nice to cuddle her and not get a big wet spot.

All in all, it's a good thing to have her. I'm still trying to decide if we should attempt a buddy for her, or if she'll be more calm by herself. Maybe if I find another single rattie.

Settling In

Well, our new little rat has been with us for almost 3 days now, and she's settling in pretty well.

She's very headshy, but she sure did learn what a yogie was! She loves yogies and knows what the container sounds like when I shake and she gets very excited and comes up to the cage door.

In fact, when we talk to her she comes up to the door, which is great progress, but when we open it she still backs up and is unsure until it's been open for awhile, at which time she'll come up to it and stretch her little head out and sniff sniff sniff.

She's a curious rat, which makes me happy and relieved. She has enjoyed exploring the couches and has found her niche where she's happy to lay while I am on the couch with her. She even fell asleep on my lap for about 5 minutes yesterday, which pleased me.

She is too dang cute with those dumbo ears, but she's still very thin (which makes me so sad) and her scabs are doing better, but have not cleared up yet. She's still pretty itchy, but we're watching her. Some of the ones on her head have healed up nearly all the way, so that's a good sign.

She's kind of like Rat Rat was in her last 6 months, with her gimpy back leg. She doesn't put a lot of weight on it and will hold it up and hop if she is readjusting herself. She also has trouble scratching inside her left ear (which is the part like Rat Rat).

So far it's been a good change, but we've had our bumps. I think she'll develop a great personality and be a real sweetie once we've got her settled in, but right now she's still very interested in "test biting" my hands, fingers and nails. Some of them hurt a little, but she hasn't been aggressive or drawn blood, so I figure she's testing her limits. I do admonish her a bit though, because she gets focused on it and won't let up.

We still haven't thought of a good name for her yet. Here's where you come in. Please help me think of a name for her. I just need some brainstorming ideas, so feel free to jot down whatever comes to mind. My sister suggested something having to do with a second chance, so that could work too.

Thanks! And more updates and pictures soon (stupid camera batteries died, so I got them replaced and will take them tonight).

Just An Update

As you know, I closed Rattie Corner down in March. I just wanted to give a brief update.

Rat Rat lived until early this morning. She had a double lumpectomy in May, but within a month had two more tumors growing. One was a bening mammary tumor and one was a malignant tumor. After her surgery the vet recommended we not do any more, because the tumors were getting more embedded, more blood flow and harder to safely remove. We agreed, and she was almost 3 at this time. She also lost a lot of weight from the surgery and subsequent recovery.

She's also been living with spinal cord compression, which there was nothing we could do for. It slowly took her back leg mobility. She was able to get around pretty well until the last two weeks or so, as her hind leg muscles had so degenerated that she couldn't keep her hind-end upright. She got around by pulling herself with her front legs, and was still the sweetest rat you ever met.

In the last month or so she developed a thyroid problem; hyperthyroidism. There is no treatment for it, but all it really did was make her fur fall out and cause her to lose weight.

She had a great attitude and a great appetite up until yesterday evening. She still was hungry, but would only eat a couple bites, instead of all we gave her. Her breathing was much more labored, and since she was down to skin and bones (she never gained her weight back, no matter what I fed her) you could see how hard it was for her. She was really lethargic and we could lay her on her back and she didn't resist.

She still cleaned herself, but it took so much effort. She was exhausted from just a few licks. We knew it was coming, so we all said our good-bye's last night. She was out pretty much all day in somebody's lap, and seemed happy to be out of her cage. My sister flew up on Friday for a visit, and was very happy she got to play and cuddle with her one last time.

She was our oldest living rat at over 3.5 years.

I'm going to post some pictures of my sweetest girl, and then her obituary.

Coda Update

I just got off the phone with the vet, and we've decided to let Coda stay home.

She isn't suffering. She's just comatose. She's having no trouble breathing. She just doesn't respond to stimulus.

It's easier on me to have them go here at home, and the vet saw no reason to euthanize if she wasn't suffering.

If she starts having breathing problems or seizuring, we'll take her in. But if she just "goes in her sleep", it'll be easier on us all.

The sad part is, she's only 21 months old. Her sis, Cleo, was only 15 months when she passed.

Anyway, updates will follow.

The Final Trip

Coda is going much the same way as Halfie. If you remember that, you know it was a horrible, heartwrenching ordeal.

I'm taking her to the vet today.

I don't think I'll be bringing her home. :(

Rat Watch 2006

continues...

Coda hasn't changed much. I'm still keeping an eagle eye on her.

Vet Followup

Well, Rat Rat has arthritis, like I thought. We got an x-ray and her little bones and joints are rough looking, not smooth.

She's on a glucosamine/chondrotin and asprin regimine, so hopefully she'll be feeling better soon.

Coda...well, we did an x-ray on her too, but can't figure out what is wrong. So right now she is just on "Rattie Watch 2006".

And I'm ready to send out my Secret Paw's Goodies. I hope they like them. :)

No Clever Titles

Today Rat Rat and Coda are going to the vet.

Rat Rat has tremors and stiffness in her hind legs, so I'd like to see her on something to help her move more comfortably. Cosequin or something.

Coda is in dire need of a lumpectomy. She's got 4 biggie tumors, but the two by her back leg are by far the biggest and the worst.

Anyway, we'll see what the vet has to say.

And please visit our friends Rat In A Box because they just lost their Valentine boy, Jim. He was a cute Albino.

Pleasant Tuesday, All.

Rat Is Living On Borrowed Time

She's better, but not well.

And...

Well, Rat is no longer responding to her treatment. She did great for the first 36 hours after her injection, but since then, she's just gotten worse.

She takes her meds like a champ. I mix them into her food, and that's about the only time she eats. I try to feed her several times a day, but she's usually done after a bite or two. I guess I should be happy she at least takes her meds.

I left a message for the vet today, so we'll see what he says when he calls me back.

Rat Rat on the other hand is doing great. Her stitches have been in a week and she hasn't messed with them a bit. I am so proud of her!

Drama at Rattie Corner, that's for sure.

In The Course Of 24 Hours

We went from Rat acting pretty normal, but having some difficulty breathing to yesterday morning where she was coughing non-stop, couldn't hardly breathe and wouldn't eat or drink, to yesterday night after her injections being able to breathe again and eating and drinking like a champ.

Of course when I got her to the vet, she didn't wheeze or anything. You could tell from the heaving of her sides that she was having trouble but that was the only indiciation. Rotten Rat!

So the vet gave us an injection of Baytril, a steroid and a diuretic. He said if it was a respiratory problem that we'd notice a dramatic change for the better by yesterday evening. If it was cancer (she has 6 tumors now) we wouldn't notice a change at all. Either way he wanted her on oral antibiotics over the weekend. Well, last night she was back to her old Rat self: drinking and eating like it was going out of style.

This morning she took her meds like a doll and I was relieved. So, we know what the problem is and we've got a gameplan. Rat's doing a million times better: her breathing is so much better and she's eating. Yay!

I will post pics of Rat Rat this weekend. Have a safe one, guys.

Just When You Think You're Home Free

you find out you aren't.

Rat Rat is doing great. She hasn't pulled out her sutures and she's racing about like a champ. She's pretty much back to normal, aside from the huge incision and some slight limping on that side.

Rat, is a different story. She's been a noisy breather, but lately she's gotten much worse. Since I brought Rat Rat home Rat has started coughing and breathing through her mouth. Her sides heave and I know she's having a rough time of it. I steam her, and although she hates it (Halfs LOVED it), it really helps her. Except now, it's getting out of control.

So tomorrow, we're off to the vet. If they can get me in. I'm waiting on a call back tonight.

I'm so happy about Rat Rat, but now I've got worries about Rat. I'll let you know what the outcome is.

Home Again

Well, your thoughts and prayers must've worked. Rat Rat did great! She handled the anesthesia like a champ. She's got a huge incesion, but the tumor wasn't attached to muscle, so he didn't have to cut anything but just below the skin.

So far she isn't messing with her stitches. She's also on an injection of metacam for the pain, and it really seems to be helping her.

When they brought her out to me yesterday I took the lid of her travel cage and she jumped right out onto me and started trying to burrow! All of our other rats have just wanted to sleep, and sure didn't want to talk to me (mean vet-going parent that I am). I knew then she was doing much better than I had hoped for.

I have some pics of her before her surgery and when I get some taken of her sutures I'll post them.

Thanks again for thinking about Rat Rat. We really appreciate it. :)

Good Thoughts

Your good thoughts are selfishly coveted by me for my Rat Rat as she goes in for her intense lumpectomy tomorrow.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Rat Rat's Update

Well, we're a happy group here at Rattie Corner.

It was wonderful to get the rats back to their vet. Yay! Took Rat Rat in yesterday for her lump, and my suspicions were confirmed. She has a cancerous tumor on her tummy. The doc thinks she's a good candidate for surgery, so she's going in on Tuesday to have it removed.

I'm worried about her since it's a huge tumor, it's gotta have massive blood supply because she's lost almost 100 grams (about 1/4 of her total weight) and it's causing her to have leg spasms. She may have to be under anesthesia longer, she may have uncontrollable bleeding and she may have diminished function of her leg (the least of my worries).

Anyway, I hope everything goes well and that Rat Rat has another 6 months with us. She's my babe.

But I am soooo happy the vet is back.

No Voice Today

*sigh* I wanted to post an audio post, because there's a lot to catch up on, but guess what? Audioblogger isn't working. Of course. grrrr

Anyway, to update:

The vet now has his office open! yay! Rat Rat is heading over there on Weds. so he can look at her huge lump and see if we are safe to remove it. It's causing her leg to have continual spasms and she's not really able to use it. Otherwise, she's really active, so I don't feel right just letting it take over her little body.

Rat still has 4 lumps. They're getting big, but none are growing as fast as Rat Rats. She just slugs around anyway, so I don't think they impede her too much. ;)

We found a new lump on Coda. Dangit. She's been lump free for 8 months, but now that's over.

Annnndddd....*insert drumroll*.....we're looking at a house tonight! yay! Hopefully we'll be able to get out of this hellhole apartment in a month or so. Please cross your fingers for us (and the rats) that this will work out.

K, I think that's about it for now. If anything else exciting happens, you'll hear about here. Take care everyone.

(And Dari, we're hoping your son is ok.)