So, end of September my girl Toffee (who is about 14 months old), started getting a mammary tumor under her right leg. (Tumors are common in females rats). Usually it is my older or elderly females who get mammary tumors, and they are usually too old to be put through the stress of surgery. Usually it's just a quality of life decision I have to make. But, Toffee is youngish, very energetic, and active. She is only the 2nd female I've owned who got a tumor quite young. So we made the decision to have the tumor removed by my vet. (Which was $400 altogether). If we didn't get it removed, it would just keep growing and getting larger.

When I woke up this morning, I found Curry had passed away in his favorite spot in the cage. It must have been sometime in the middle of the night. I feel bad, because I had a bad day yesterday so I went to bed right away after coming home from work, instead of greeting all the rats like I normally do... so I didn't get to even say goodbye to him. We adopted him from Star's Rat Rescue of South Dakota in April 2011, along with his brother Aspen. Curry was around 2 1/2 years old. He passed away from old age, though he was starting to get degenerative osteoarthritis, and his back legs were not working like they used too. :-( Curry was featured in an article in my work's newsletter along with his brother back in April.


On top of finding Curry this morning... Templeton had a sprain and the swelling had gotten worse, his little back foot looked like a rubber glove it was so swollen. My vet wasn't in so the nurse gave me a number for a 24 hour emergency vet- only the rat doctor wasn't there today & they referred me back to my own vet! So I called our vet again and the nurse tried contacting another vet (which their doctor that treats rats wasn't in either- weekends are so bad!), so eventually she just told me to come over and the doctor that was there would see Templeton, even though she doesn't normally treat rats, (though she did mention she has had them as pets before).

She gave Templeton a anti-inflammatory steroid injection and some Baytril antibiotics to take home. So hopefully the swelling will go down now. That's the same treatment- Lily had before for an extremely swollen sprained foot and it worked. If it doesn't get better he will have to go back to the vet Mon or Tues.

ETA (9/14/12): Templeton is doing just fine! The swelling in his foot was down by the next day and he moved back into the big cage with his brother's on Thursday. :-) 

My Templeton

 

It's not been such a great 24 hours... very early Sunday morning (1am or so) we discovered Rosie had a prolapsed uterus. (It looked a lot like this picture). Unfortunately the vet wasn't open until Monday.... so I had to wait until then to call & make Rosie an appointment.

Also this past weekend Hazelnut wasn't doing so well either. Her tumor had been getting larger and she wasn't as energetic anymore. I had a feeling she would be passing soon and Sunday evening Hazelnut passed away. She was one of my Star's Rat Rescue girls and she traveled 1,500 miles back in August of 2010. Hazelnut was already around 2 years old. She was a very curious girl who always loved getting off the bed to run around and explore. And she loved sleeping in any kind of cardboard box or oatmeal tube that we put in her cage. ♥


Rosie had her appointment at the vet this afternoon. We decided she would go in for an emergency spay. I was pretty nervous already to put her through the surgery considering she would have been 2 years old around June/July. But the only other alternative was having her put to sleep, because her uterus was coming out and the tip of it was already badly infected. So we left Rosie at the vet to be spayed. (I had a female rat, Cinnamon spayed years ago but she was only around 6 months old). Unfortunately, I got a call directly from the vet himself a little later in the afternoon.... Rosie passed away during her surgery. The vet said her uterus was in really bad condition. Sadly we had to go pick up Rosie from the vet. We dropped her off at my parents house to be buried with Hazelnut...

Rosie was so laid back and special. She was my nap rat. She loved taking naps with me. She loved laying near your feet. She was cuddly and would give kisses occasionally. She was such a friendly little rattie and I'm so sad to have lost her so suddenly...  ♥

We had to take Jasmine to the vet this morning, to be put to sleep. I hate having to make that decision... it's the worst.

Jasmine started with an eye injury back in November. We think maybe one of the girls scratched her in her eye. It got infected and started swelling. The vet started her on Cipro eye drops & oral antibiotic. She was doing betterish, but then developed a nasty respiratory cold on top of things. Poor girl was wheezing and losing weight and her appetite was really decreased. She had a re-check at the vet and they switched her to Baytril antibiotics, plus the Cipro. Her eye started to get worse a few days after her 2nd vet visit. The eye had ulcerated. If she hadn't had the respiratory infection, the eye could have been removed. Poor girl wasn't doing so well though, she was hardly eating, and we could not get the antibiotics down her. Even when we tried mixing them in baby food or Ensure.

Jasmine was always really sweet and energetic. She LOVED to give kisses. She would kiss your hands, your face all over. She was a sweet mellow rat. She also loved to eat- when she was well. She loved treats or scraps of food. I will definitely miss her kisses. ♥

You can see just how bad Jasmine's eye was in this picture with Violet & Daisy.

Honey got bit by Olive a few weeks ago. It turned into an abscess (which I've dealt with many abscesses over the years with my pet rats & never saw one like this). It started off marble sized, but did swell to quarter size. We were treating Honey with antibiotics (Baytril) and the abscess was drying up into a scab.

Monday when I got home from work, either her abscess had burst on it's own, or she chewed at the wound. She had a hole in her leg a little bigger than a quarter. It looked really really bad & it was really deep. She also kept licking and chewing at the wound, which was making it bleed worse.

Tuesday I called the vet at 9am, and we took Honey to the vet in the afternoon for an exam. Her abscess was badly infected and her chewing on it did not help the infection.

We had to leave Honey overnight at the vet for surgery so the vet could remove the infected tissue and stitch her up. He used metal sutures so she won't chew out her stitches. She also got a Baytril injection & will be on Cipro for 2 weeks. She has a check up next Wednesday evening.

She was doing really well when we picked her up, they had done the surgery late last night. She is pretty active, but will be staying in a smaller "hospital" cage while she heals up. She was boggling on the car ride home, I had the carrier on my lap and was petting her, while my husband was driving home.

Honey after surgery: (click to enlarge photo)


Thank God for Mastercard though... ugh... her surgery was a couple hundred dollars and since I just started back at work on the 12th, (after a 6 week furlough) I don't get my first paycheck until October 3rd. I didn't have enough in checking to cover her surgery. Like I've said many times before, people that think rats are just pocket pets or disposable pets... they require the same care as a cat or dog. And the vet prices are about the same.

(Blog Article: Why Rats!?) 

In other rattie news... Iris' tail has healed up from her infection & her back injury seems to be healed. But I don't think she will regain use in the lower part of her tail. She can move the base to about the middle. She's still pretty active though and doesn't seem to realize her tail is paralyzed.

And Violet moved in with my 5 girls downstairs in the Ferret Nation cage this past weekend. There was some wrestling & a bit of fighting. But she is all settled in now. She is about 3x's the size she was when we got her in August. She's not a little baby anymore. :-)


And just a quick update. You might have heard about the recent Typhoon in the Philippines. Manila was hit really hard, and the photos are just crazy to look at. Like the US Embassy! Places I've been... They are saying Manila has not been flooded like this in decades. My husband's family is okay and they did not get flooded, thank God! We were really worried, since there was a devastating typhoon & flood there just 2 years ago that did effect my husband's family.

Iris was rough housing with her sisters about a week ago and she got a wound on her tail and on one of her fingers. There's still a scab on her tail. Her tail started getting a splotchy look to it, almost like dried blood- but the color keeps spreading and won't wash off. Last night we noticed she is not using her tail- (Rats use their tails to climb and balance. They can even wrap their tail around your wrist). Her tail was very limp and she doesn't seem to have any feeling in it when you press on it.

I called the vet this morning and we took Iris for her 10:45am appointment. Besides an infection in her tail from the bite wound she also has a lower back injury which was very painful when the vet pressed in the area of her lower back. The back injury is what is causing the paralysis in her tail, because it's all inflamed.

He gave her metacam and antibiotics. We are hoping the tail infection heals, because then he could give her steroids for her back injury. If the infection spreads or gets worse in her tail she could have to have it amputated... Hoping her back injury heals too. I'm not sure if she will get use of her tail again or not though.

Iris: (Her nickname is Ratatouille). ♥

Tomorrow I will be picking up F.B. at Philadelphia International Airport! He left for his flight to the USA about 7 hours ago. He will arrive in Los Angeles around 6:30pm this evening. (9:30pm Philadelphia). Then he will catch a flight to Dallas Texas around 12am. (3am Philly). He will leave Dallas around 6:30am and arrive in Philadelphia around 10:30am. Praying he doesn't have any delays. We talked on the phone last night and he texted me this morning before boarding his flight. Unfortunately it's supposed to rain heavy tomorrow so hoping he arrives on time!

Yesterday & today I spent getting the last of the cleaning and organizing done. I'm finished! (And exhausted, lol!) I only have to put clean sheets and make the bed tomorrow morning.

Besides the toiletries and a few clothing items I got F.B. I also have a snack pack for him in a Spongebob tin, hehe. There's Herr's thin ripple chips, Ruffles chili cheese chips, Goldfish Pizza crackers and two Snapple Iced Teas in the tin. Plus a belated Valentines day card, since we decided not to send any packages.

I also hung up our 'Sarah' & 'F.B.' hearts that originally were on his bedroom door in the Philippines on one of my trips there. They are on my closet door now.


My cousin Chrissy and her husband Matt who are in Georgia, sent F.B. & I cute 'his & hers' towels and a pretty frame. :) I put one of our wedding photos in the frame.



I have the whole week off work to spend with F.B. and get settled in. We will be heading to the Social Security Office probably on Monday to apply for a number for him and also do a little clothes shopping. Were also going out to Chinese Buffet with my family this Wednesday. Lot's to do!

In ratties updates! I've had to take 3 ratties to the vet in the past few weeks. After Basil passed away I decided to try integrating all my girls so I could open up the levels in the Ferret Nation cage. There were a few scuffles and some fighting but it wasn't so bad. Until I noticed where Honey had bit Iris and Clover they had swelled into lumps. This happened to Jasmine a few months ago and she had to go to the vet and get a Baytril injection and antibiotics.

Iris was bit in the neck and it swelled exactly like Jasmines wound had. Clover was bit on her back and it swelled into a painful lump. They were given Baytril and antibiotics and now Iris's lump is all gone and Clover's is just about gone. I've never seen rat bites swell & get infected like that, and it's only when Honey bites someone that they do swell. She has a viscous bite.

Iris

Clover

Then Barley, my hairless rat started to have this weird odor to him. I couldn't figure out what it was. I gave him a bath and I could still smell it. I thought maybe it was coming from his mouth, maybe he had gotten food stuck in his teeth. The smell turned out to be coming from his left eye! He had a vet appointment this past Tuesday. The vet used a magnifying camera to examine his eye and also ultraviolet drops and light to check his cornea.

Barley had something in his eye that the vet removed. They thought it was a piece of litter, but I don't use litter. So it was either food or lint or who knows what that had gotten stuck underneath his left eye and that's what was causing the odor. So strange! Hairless rats do not have eyelashes so they can get stuff in their eyes. He has an eye ointment he has to have for 10 days. But he is doing much better and doesn't smell anymore! Poor guy! :-p

Barley

Sadly... I did not get my SRR Rat Train rats today. Our driver went MIA and never contacted Brittney. The original driver even disconnected their phone number and unfriended Star's Rat Rescue Facebook page. So weird... I don't understand why someone would go to such lengths if they didn't want to do the drive anymore. It would have been nice to just say they had changed their mind. Sooo... we are back to the original plan and Brittney is hoping April or May we can get this rat train going!

Poppy rat has always been healthy as a horse (as they say). She's my chubby curious girl who always explores my room. She's never had any health issues until last Wednesday right before her sister Pepper passed away.

I took Poppy to the vet Thursday evening after work. She had me stumped because she became ill so very quickly, with very little symptoms. She didn't have raspy wheezy breathing, no lumps or bumps. But her fur was puffed, she was making a slight whimper/clicking noise, and she was very lethargic and seemed to be in pain. The vet checked her out for awhile, he really listened to her chest for longer than normal. Unfortunately, Poppy has pneumonia...

My vet said sometimes you can't always hear wheezing or raspy breathing that sometimes a healthy rat will just suddenly fall very ill. He said she was in very poor shape. They had to give her IV fluids, She also got a Baytril injection, an injection of dexamethasone and a two week prescription of antibiotic Ciprofloxacin. He wants to see her for a recheck in two weeks- but warned me she's very poorly and to be prepared just in case...

She made it through last night but was still poorly this morning. She wouldn't take any of the Pedialyte in the oral syringe, but kept dribbling it out- so we just had to do plain water. I stopped after work today and picked up Coconut Water (It has more electrolytes than Gatorade!) & some more baby food to give her in the oral syringe, because she's still not drinking or eating on her own.

I also finally figured out a method with the oral syringe that works. I have to feed her very slowly so she won't dribble anything out down her chin. If I feed her slowly, she will lick and swallow what's in her mouth. I was able to get 3 syringes of coconut water and 1 full syringe of baby food into her. I'd been doing that every few hours but before that she was dribbling most of it down her chin. I'm really hoping and praying that with the antibiotic's, and the little bit of liquid/food I'm getting into her will help give her a little strength to help her fight this...

(If you're wondering why pet rats? Please read my article I wrote a few months ago, here.)

Jasmine was fine yesterday today I wake up to find her alone in the igloo with the right side of her face all swollen & lumpy with a big red scabby gash. I remember some of the girls were fighting last night I think someone might have bit her and it got swollen & infected. (It could have even happened earlier this week since Honey & Hazelnut like to pester the girls & fight occasionally.) But today is when I noticed her neck is all puffed up and swollen. :(

I looked EVERYWHERE and cannot find the half full bottle of SMZ-TMP the vet gave me for Pepper. All I have is some Amoxicillan (fishmox) and oral Prednisolone also from Pepper in the house. I gave Jasmine some of the steroids maybe it will help to lower the swelling.

I called the vet but I can't go in until Tuesday they had nothing on Monday after my Doctor's visit at 2pm. They could have seen me tomorrow but I'm on bed rest until Monday. Want to cry. I don't think it's an abscess but it could certainly turn into one if it gets infected badly. Cleaning her wound with Betadine & Peroxide. They can't see her until Tuesday @ 5:30pm because I won't get back on the train from work until a little after 4pm. Sigh...

Edited to add: Change of plans- I talked to my Mom she is going to run Jasmine over tomorrow at 12pm to the vet for me instead since I'm still on bedrest until Monday.

UPDATED 12/11/10:

The swelling on her neck was down a lot this morning. My Mom & brother just ran her over and it only took about 20 minutes. (Mom took my note of what I think happened.) The vet thinks it's just a bite that got infected and doesn't think it's an abscess at this point. (I don't either.) He gave her a Baytril injection. (Will have to keep an eye out for Baytril burn on her little behind.) And SMZ-TMP antibiotic 0.3ml for 2 weeks. ($115.50 Ouch!) Hoping she will be doing much better by next week! Jasmine is approx 4 months old.

I discovered a mammary tumor on Pepper yesterday. Those suckers just pop up overnight it seems, because almost every day I am checking the girls for lumps. I'm not having it removed. Pepper has too many other health issues. She's always been smaller and weaker than her sister Poppy. Pepper is around 10 months old but she's as small as a 3 month old rat.

The pet store I got her from (Same place I got Basil & Sage from.) had her and Poppy in cedar chips, which are toxic to rats. It can cause long term respiratory issues, which Pepper has. They were selling the rats as feeders. She's always had breathing issues, wheezy lungs. She had a few episodes back in September where she would be struggling to breath and getting cold all over. She's been on antibiotics and now she's also on Prednisolone. It is an anti-inflammatory so it helps with her lungs. We call her my "asthma" rat. Hopefully the prednisolone will also slow the growth of her tumor as well.


My Basil boy!  He is getting older. I'm not sure of Basil's age. I would say he is some where past a year already. He's starting to show signs of Degenerative Osteoarthritis. His back legs are weaker and sometimes stiff when he walks. He doesn't lift his tail when he walks anymore either, he drags it. He's having trouble climbing, some times he will slip a bit because of his back legs. Poor guy. Hopefully he doesn't get paralysis. He doesn't seem to be in any pain right now. If he shows signs I'll have to take him to the vet so he can be prescribed a pain killer. I've also started treating him with the prednisolone since it's a corticosteroid and can help with inflammation.

Everyone else *crosses fingers* is healthy and doing well. I'm hopefully going to take Pepper and a few others to the park with me tomorrow.

Please meet my newest baby girls Lily & Rose, (Rosie). Lily is tan/beige hooded and Rose is a PEW. They are very tiny and have baby faces still, so I am assuming they are only around 5-7 weeks old. Rosie is very cautious and Lily is an adventurer. Ivy and Basil are a bit territorial with them so currently they are in the upstairs part of the cage with Holly. Basil wants to "fight" with them and they are so very tiny I'm afraid he will hurt them. So they will be kept separate until they are a little bigger and able to fight back when it's time to establish the cage pecking order.

Rosie thinks my cup handle is a place to lounge, lol!

I still have 3 girls waiting for me at Star's Rat Rescue. SRR is currently organizing the rat train. I know the South Dakota to Michigan trip will be very soon. Then transport is being planned through Ohio to Philadelphia. Please click here to get all the information. There are still tons of ratties that need forever homes! My potential girls are: 16K,16N,18C. (Clover,Honey & Hazelnut!) SRR also still needs donations (especially food.) to care for all these rats until they are able to find forever homes.

I had a scare with Basil last week, when he fell off my bed onto the wooden floor rather hard. I checked him all over for bumps and bruises and noticed he had 2 lumps below his "bits". Since he was neutered, I didn't think it could be a tumor. But I was afraid it might be an abscess or hernia. Basil went to the vet last Thursday and the vet looked him over. Turns out those lumps... they are a part of his body, lol! They are called Preputial Glands. I said to my vet, I've had so many girls with tumors, that when I feel a little lump I tend to panic! He didn't charge me for the visit!

Today was a really hard day. I had to take Ginger & Saffy to the vet to be put to sleep. My Ginger's body was giving out before her will to live. She always had bright eyes, was always looking for a treat. But she had very large multiple mammary tumors. She couldn't get around very well anymore, she was getting frail, losing her eyesight and she started getting scabs on one of her tumors. It was her time...

Saffron also had a tumor in a bad area near her urethra. For awhile she was doing pretty good, then it seemed overnight her tumor got very large. She was unable to go to the bathroom. When I came home from work Thursday night she was huddled up, her fur puffed her eyes clouded in pain, her tummy was bloated. She was still in a lot of pain this morning when we went to the vet. Saffy went very quickly... Ginger held on a little bit longer.... I will miss you my girls...