Rat Care

[bluedawg]

i'm so sorry. {{{{{lamb}}}}}

[squirrel]

Oh, lamb.

I'm sorry.

[abbicus]

I'm so so sorry for your loss. It's really awful.

I do feel some comfort in that he was able to let go peacefully in his cage. Its better when they get to be somewhere familiar. Ugh, I'm tearing up now...

{{{Lamb}}}

[lamb]

Thanks guys, I really do appreciate the support

It's been a really rough weekend- friday morning it happened, then I had to go to work and be professional that afternoon and evening, and then the boy's sister and sister's boyfriend came to stay with us from friday-sunday as a pre-planned weekend visit. Pretty much kept composure and played hostess by day and bawled myself to sleep by night. The apartment is so empty with no Indie- being in a little one bedroom apartment he and Hobbes were a really constant part of our life- especially after Hobbes we were always stepping into the bedroom to peek in on him and see if he wanted to come out or just chatter as we talked to him.

It's so wonderful to be able to vent to such a caring community. Part of me is finding the idea of throwing away his bedding cloths impossibly hard and part of me wants to put his cage on craigslist right away. Anybody need a large wire cage, small carrier, or "wodent wheel?"

[Dugan]

{{{Indie's Family}}}
I still have Blizzard's collar and leash hanging on a hook by the door, even though he eased from this life in 2003. It's okay to hang onto stuff, there are good memories.

[squirrel]

I still have my grandma's dog, Sadie's collar. She passed away years ago, when I was about 10. I was the only kid she liked, and I loved that dog. It is good to hold onto things sometimes.

[lamb]

thank you so much Dugan and Squirrel- I'm tearing up at your stories, thank you so much for sharing. That really does make me feel better, I'm hopelessly sentimental in normal circumstances, so this helps me feel less crazy. We live in an apartment so my sister who is in my same city is taking Indie home with her when she drives 3 hours to our hometown for Christmas so he can be buried beside Hobbes in the spring. I don't know what I would do without my so rat-loving and rat-involved parents. I'm dreading the hand-off Thursday morning.

Thank you again, so much for such support. Does anybody have any rat stories or pictures? Let's liven the thread up.

[abbicus]

Sweet Pea is finding all sorts of warm places to sleep now that its cold. Now that the hammock is on the ground level, she likes to go in the lining of it. Either way, she likes having an air hole to stick her nose out of, so lots of times this is what you see.

[squirrel]

I don't have a rat, or any rat stories, but here's a cute picture to make you smile.

[abbicus]

cute!

[abbicus]

Sweet Pea is all settled in the small cage ready to go away for the long weekend. I'm hoping part of an oatmeal craisin cookie will go a long way towards mitigating the stress of the car ride.

Plus, she has her pants. SP+pants=

[lamb]

Originally Posted by squirrel

but here's a cute picture to make you smile.

And it totally did- you're good at this game

Abbicus, I also totally loved your picture of Sweet Pea, nothing is more funny and endearing than a big pink nose poked curiously out of somewhere unexpected.

I hope she's okay on her trip- it makes me giggle about her beloved pants, hopefully they will keep her content!

[LesMiserablesLove]

Lamb, I'm so sorry to hear about Indie! I hope you are feeling better as you remember her.

Clementine is in a pickle again. Two days ago I felt a grape-sized lump on her side. Yesterday I felt a cherry tomato sized lump near her throat. We took her to the nearest vet this morning (we're out of Miss. for the holidays) and he confirmed that it was a tumor. He also said some other weird things that I wanted to check with the rat experts at VeganRep.

The vet said that rats can pass diseases onto humans through their urine, and he claimed to know two people that had typhoid fever from rats. Then, he dropped another suspicious claim: We could develop cancerous tumors from handling Clementine.

I've never heard of anyone catching cancer, and I pretty much surmised that this vet didn't like rats. But I wanted to check with some others about this: is any of this true?

Also, do you know of any books or websites that discuss cancer in rats and the progress it makes? I know people on VRF have gone through this with their rats, so I'll be checking the rest of this thread for more information.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

[squirrel]

I don't believe the cancer being contagious bit, but rats can carry Leptospirosis, which humans and other animals can get through contact with their urine or saliva. But I think it's pretty rare in domestic rats, plus I think you'd know by now if Clementine (or you) had it. Hope that helps a bit.

[lamb]

Thanks LML, we're still missing our little guy a lot but VRF has really helped

I'm so sorry to hear about Clem's ongoing woes- and even sorrier for your having to deal with that vet. I am not a vet and am no expert but it kind of sounds like BS.

Not sure if it will be any help, but all of my offical non-vet resources come from Debbie the rat lady-

http://ratfanclub.org/helpinfo.html

Good luck, and hugs!