One Month

Well, it's been one month since our first day without Sugar. It's been a pretty ok time; I only had one real breakdown about a week after she passed and cried my heart out.

I still couldn't clean her cage until this past Monday. I cleaned it the day she died, and she was only in it for 6 hours or so, so it wasn't dirty. But it did need to get cleaned and put into storage. Again.

Ironically, two days before she passed we bought fresh food, a huge bag of bedding and a couple bags of treats. I listed them on our local CraigsList for free on Monday and they were snapped up within an hour. I hope the 3 ratties that got all that stuff enjoy it.

Now all reminders of Sugar are put away or gone. I can't believe it took me nearly a month to do it. I do have some cute pictures/stories that I'll post about her in the future. I definitely don't want this site to go stale.

I also got a sympathy card from the first vet we took her to. I called to cancel her surgery the day after she died, so maybe that's how they knew. It was nice, though, that everyone signed it.

And time marches on...

Sugar and J cuddling the first week we had her.

Sugar At The Vet

Sugar's Profile Picture for the vet. She's cute, isn't she?

Huh

We got a condolence card from the vet we took Sugar to Monday morning. Huh. I wonder how they knew?

*A nice aside; they put the Rainbow Bridge poem in the card.

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.

Unexpected

Sugar

Adopted Jan 15, 2008- May 19, 2008

We only had you 4 months, and barely got to
know you. The hole you left is unmistakeable, though.
RIP, Sweet Sugar.

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

World Rat Day

Happy World Rat Day! (Click the banner for more info.)

I look forward to this day every year. I love that we have a day for our special pets; a day we get to share with other rat owners and with people who have never thought about owning a rat.

As I type this, Sugar is running around on the computer desk, and it strikes me how much she's changed and come out of her shell in the last 2.5 months. I feel so blessed that I was able to bring her home and have her share her life with me. As all rat owners will tell you, each rat, though so very different, touches us in profound ways and teaches us something new. They reinforce that we are their world, and truthfully, they are ours.

It's hard to own a rat only once, and I don't know anyone who has. Once they come into your house, they're in your heart forever. And people who have never owned one can't figure out why.

Anyway, enough reflecting. Give your ratties a hug today!

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.

Anniversary

*drumroll*

Today is Sugar's 1 Month anniversary with us. It seems like she's been a part of our family much longer than that. She is adjusting well, and is becoming a much more sociable girl. Sometimes I have to remind myself it's only been a month. So, here she is a month from the day we picked her up. (Curses to the flash!)

Eegads! Crumbs In The Bed!

Rats Go In The "Out" Box!!

Sugar does clerical work for me and gets paid in yogies.

New Cage

I've been thinking that we need to get Sugar a new cage. The old one is in fine working condition, but she's got that damaged hind leg that worries me. She's not always aware where it is, or if it's caught on something until it hurts, and then she panics and squeaks and I feel bad.



So, I've been looking at this cage:















which is available with a ton of others HERE.


I like how the ramps are not as steep as her current cage, so there's less chance of her getting a toe caught. I also like that I can get the option to have a door put on the top of the cage (hello easy rat removal!).


What is your opinion? Do you like it?

With Her Main Man

Hanging out with her #1 fella...

Introducing...

SUGAR!!

Our new rattie has been renamed, and it suits her well. She's a sweet little thing, even if she is timid. Thank you to all the boy rats who have made her feel so special and important. Pancho and Pocket... this means you!