Just fed the rats their dinner and accidentally dropped a piece of carrot on Lily. It got stuck to her back and the poor dear was running around trying to get it off, she looked so unhappy!
In other news, Ruby had to have a tumour removed from her "armpit" area. Two days later the wound site became a GIANT squishy ball. A fluid filled lump called a seroma. Part of it was drained, then with daily massage it has finally gone down after about a week. Looking good now, touch wood!
Two posts in one day, that's simply unheard of for me! But I just remembered something.
I'm now the owner of twelve mice! *Shocked face*
It started by taking in three mice from a hoarder who had hundreds, all in together in tiny tanks.
Sadly, one of them was pregnant, even though she's really young. She had nine healthy babies who are all doing really well.
Another girl was also pregnant, even younger, and sadly she disposed of her babies immediately after birth :( I guess she just couldn't cope with it all.
But happily, they've all got a forever home, with lots of enrichment, and are now in same-sex groups so they won't have to worry about going through pregnancies back to back at a young age.
Unfortunately, last night I noticed Lily has a lump around her armpit. 99% sure it is a mammary tumour, so we're off to the vet's first thing tomorrow morning (soonest I could get in) and she'll probably be having surgery.
I'm very nervous because she's going to be 2 years old in 2 weeks time. I don't like surgery on older animals because the risk is higher, but hey, the other option is leaving it. I'm not going to leave it, I'm going to take whatever chance of giving her a long, happy life.
She's an amazing, beautiful girl who loves to hold my fingers and just lick and groom me. She's always gentle, and it would kill me to lose her.
I absolutely have to tell you all about Ruby! She's amazing, absolutely amazing.
She was advertised online as a giveaway, perfect for snake owners, so I leaped at the chance to take her in. She had been kept alone all her life, locked away in someone's garage, with absolutely NO toys or enrichment in her cage :(
Poor thing was very frightened due to lack of handling. But boy, she's made an incredible turnaround. This little ginger munchkin is now constantly demanding attention, treats and cuddles! I'm absolutely in awe of her everyday, at her vivacious personality and the way she's embraced her new life.
It has been a tough few weeks. My princess Giselle was very ill, with an inoperable internal tumour that was affecting her neurologically. She then rapidly grew two mammary tumours but, with the aid of steroids, was coping brilliantly. When she started displaying signs of respiratory distress I knew her time was near.
We went to our wonderful vet, he's a genius and I admire him greatly, and he confirmed my fears. Yes, we could try treating the pneumonia, but she still had so many issues, including an inoperable tumour. Was it really fair?
I didn't think it was fair on her, and the vet agreed, so my darling girl was put to sleep and slipped away quickly and peacefully. I'm devastated, I won't lie, and it'll take a long time to accept that she won't be waiting at the cage door for cuddles and treats anymore. But I know she's running free, happy and healthy, at the Rainbow Bridge, waiting until I can see her once again. I love you Giselle, Mummy's little princess.
Good grief, I have to update this more often. Even if no one reads it, I promised myself I'd have something to look back at!
So I'm currently covered with scratches that are stinging, because I had to give Ebony and Layla a bath... they were not impressed! They've been marinating in pee and smell to the high heavens... Yuck! So I bought some rat shampoo, and now Layla feels like silk. Ebony still feels like a rex, a little scrubbing brush with legs haha.
They don't like being lathered up but golly they love the aftermath... getting rubbed dry with a blanket, having the heater going, a gentle drying-off with the hairdryer (they adore the hairdryer, I think they'd have it in their cage if they could!)
Wow, can't believe I haven't updated in so long. As mentioned in my previous post, I have a girl called Whiskers, who has been with me for months now.
Um, I'm currently eating pizza, and haven't got much else to say... If you have twitter, feel free to follow me; just search KincoraStorm.
Hopefully, if all goes well, I should be getting another rat in the next fortnight. She's a champagne hooded doe, by the name of Whiskers, and belongs to my friend who is moving out and unable to take her along. I'm quite excited, I was playing with her yesterday and she spent about two minutes just sitting and licking all over the palm of my hand and grooming me :) Very sweet.
Today was the first visit to the vet for the ratties. I stuffed the pet carrier with their blankets and tucked in their favourite hammock. They were quite pleased about that, seeing as the hammock has a pocket for them to hide in.
The vet was lovely with them and Lily clearly found a new best friend - she spent most of the visit in the vet's arms, happily being stroked. Layla was quite frightened unfortunately, and as soon as I opened the carrier she dived down my shirt. Bless her.
They're both on a small amount of Baytril due to a very mild possible respiratory infection, but this should hopefully clear them up nicely. They were pleased to go home and were even more thrilled when I returned the walnut that I'd confiscated the previous night (at 4am they started bashing it against the cage door to try and open the shell!)
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