Bye Bye Rupert

I had to have Rupert PTS on Tuesday. About 3 weeks ago, a week before we went on holiday I noticed he was drooling. I took him to the vet who decided he had a swollen tongue and gave him a steriod jab & some Baytril. After a week he was still drooling slightly but didn’t look any worse, so off we went on holiday, leaving him in the capable hands of the parents-in-law. When we got back last Friday I noticed he had a lump in his cheek. The earliest I could get him in at the vets was Tuesday and by then his mouth was bleeding and he was starting to loose quite a bit of weight and was also dehydrated (I discovered at the vets). I left him with them and they knocked him out to see what the problem was and they discovered a tumour in his jaw bone.

He was such a lovely rat, big & cuddly and so soft. Poor Jools is now on his own, though doesn’t seem as depressed as what I thought he might be. Him and Rupert were always snuggled up together, he looks very lonely on his own.

I do have some happier news, but will put that in a separate post.

Bye bye girls

Northern Lights has had to say goodbye to two of the girlies. Nutmeg was PTS on Friday as she was just not improving and looked so sad and confused.

And I found Saffron dead yesterday. She’d been losing a bit of weight but was still very lively, the first one at the bars and climbing up on my lap at free range time. She came out to say hello to our visitors on Monday night, then she didn’t appear last night when I fed them. I found her curled up in her bed. She never visited the vet in her life and to be honest I wish they could all go like she did, at home in bed with her friends.

So now we only have 4 girlies. Sugar has outlived all of her daughters. I am going to have a cage change around today so I can pack up the Tommy and without wanting to sound really depressing I’m going to have to think about getting a couple more girls so Jemima won’t be left on her own if the worse should happen between now and the new year, which is the earliest it looks like i’ll get my ratties for breeding.

I will dig out photos and do proper obits for my girls later.

Nutmeg :(

Ok, i’m back with bad news again. Nutmeg is very poorly. On Tuesday night I found her all wobbly and un co-ordinated again. So I took her to the vet yesterday and she was given an injection with a mix of steroids and frusemide as the vet said her chest was very raspy and her heart didn’t sound good. Today I took her back as she hasn’t really improved and she was given more steroid, antibiotics and a vit & mineral all in an injection. She doesn’t seem to be improving though. She is trying to eat a bit but is unable to hold her food, her front feet are curled when she stands up and she has no co-ordination or strength. She does seem to be walking better today but will then randomly fall over. She is going back again tomorrow, but I think I may be saying goodbye to her 😦 .

Good news about Nutmeg

After my last slightly depressing post I am pleased to say that Nutmeg seems to be getting better!

She is no longer wobbly, is holding her food whilst eating, using the water bottle correctly and washing herself and getting around as normal. Occassionally her front feet still look strange, her toes splay, but she is definitely a lot better. I don’t know if maybe she had a stroke or something, I’m just pleased she’s ok. 🙂

Bob’s operation date

I have rung up today and booked Bob in for his operation. It’s going to be on Tuesday 13th July. I have to drop him off about 9am. Big crossed fingers for him after what happened to Beau. I will make sure he gets stitched internally and externally along with the inguinal canals being stitched up too. I may put Sugar in with him on Tuesday night so he’s got some company and someone to keep him occupied and doesn’t get bored and chew his stitches as Beau did.

Cancelled Rat Shows

The next SRC show was due to be held on 2nd August. This has now been cancelled due to a particularly nasty, virulent virus going around called SDAV. A large number of rat clubs, including the NFRS have cancelled upcoming shows untill September, as the virus is spread via contact between rats and those handling rats. Because rats can be shedding the virus without,  or before, showing symptoms it is possible to transmit without knowing, so reducing contact between rats is the best way to contain it.

I also found out recently that the June SRC show was also cancelled due to lack of interest. This is such a shame as rat shows are really good fun and a great way to get and chat to other rat owners and fanciers. It seems as if Scotland really needs some more rat enthusiasts, fanciers in particular that will show their rats. Unfortunately I couldn’t make the June show as it was my Hen Party weekend, but I’m really hoping the October show goes ahead and i will definitely be at that one.

Website changes

Just a little post to say I’ve been working on the website a bit. I have changed the Home page to give some more details about my breeding aims, added a litters page to document planned, current & past litters as well as homing information and added pages for Bob, Monty, Marlon & Jemima. I have also re-arranged the my rats page and added a loving memory section for the rats I have lost.

Marlon finished his course of antibiotics on Thursday and though he is still snotty he does seem happier and brighter. He is still painfully thin though so I am currently trying to fatten him up and build up his strength.

I am a little bit worried about Rupert, I think he has a tumour in one of his testicles. I noticed today it was bigger than the other one and felt quite hard when I poked it. So I think I need to get him up the vets. If it is a tumour, presumably castration would solve the problem, which is a scary thought due to my experiences with Beau.

Everyone else is fine however and I am pleased to report that work on my new rat shed should be starting shortly. I can’t wait.

Rupert had an x-ray

Last Friday I noticed Rupert had a limp on his back right foot. When I checked him his ‘ankle’ joint had swollen up and was very hard. I kept an eye on him and gave him a bit of Nurofen Children’s syrup as a painkiller but it didn’t seem to be getting any better or worse, so I took him up to the vets today. The vet said it was most likely an injury and the bones at his joints were fusing together or possibly septic or osteo arthritis, but they could do an x-ray and it would be quite interesting!

So Rupert got left at the vets and they did an x-ray. When I went back to pick him up this evening, they had decided it looked like he’d dislocated that joint and the bones were fusing as they healed as there is no movement of that joint. So I basically have to keep him quiet and keep an eye on him. He should get use of it back eventually and the worst case scenario is if causes chronic pain, then he could have his foot amputated. I don’t think it will come to that though as other than the limp, he seems to be ok, still jumping up the bars and getting about.

I asked if they could send me an email of the x ray but they don’t have the facilities to do that, but I can take a phot of them if I want, so next time I go I’ll have to take the camera, coz I think the x-ray photos are really interesting and they can go up on the website or something.

A registered Rattery

I got confirmation yesterday that my application to the NFRS to become a Novice breeder has been approved. This means that I can now earn points and compete for the Novice Award at NFRS shows and shows that award NFRS stars, though in practice, it’s unlikely I will be getting to any NFRS shows! It also means I can call myself an NFRS registered rattery, and I am on the NFRS breeders list. It all feels very real now and has motivated me to get on with the website, so expect some updates shortly.

I am also pleased to report that Jemima’s abcess has burst and is already healing very nicely, after only having to clean it up once. Fingers crossed for no more! I have noticed the poor girl has scabs on her back again, I’m assuming this is from being picked on my Nutmeg and Fogwatt. She still seems happy though and is certainly not scared of them – yesterday, she stole a chicken bone off of Fogwatt. I do think, though, that when I get my girls for my breeding I will put Jemima in with them. She is a lot younger than my current girls, and she won’t get picked on like she is at the moment.

Cage changes

You probably noticed my last post was another obituary 😦 . I have lost 4 rats within the last month. However, they are all currently looking healthy so hopefully it will be a loooong time before I lose any more.

I have had a cage shift around recently, to reduce the number of cages i’m using and so I could put the girls in a new cage when I re-introduced Jemima to the other girls now her abcess has cleared up. The girls have been moved into the Tommy, which now has all three tiers. There is only 6 of them now so they have plenty of room even though the cage is slightly smaller than the aviary. Jemima seems to be getting on fine with the other girls. Nutmeg is still being a pain in the bum and picking on her occassionally but Jemima is bigger now and very confident so seems to be able to look out for herself!

The aviary has been split into two and the two groups of boys have been put in either half, Charlie and co in the top, and Bob & Marlon in the bottom. I contemplated introducing them but thought it was probably safest not to and they are so settled and happy in their individual groups.

So, I now only have 2 cages to clean out and have a little bit more space in the rat room.

A I said earlier Jemima’s abcess has cleared up, however I think she has another one. She has a pea sized lump on one of her shoulders so I am keeping an eye on it. If it is an abcess I would rather it burst in its own time and it is nowhere near as big and fast growing as the other one. Hopefully it won’t be anywhere near as gross when it does burst!