Remembering Sabine

When we had to help Socks on his way a while back, and then I lost Beka the following day, I did posts with photos of them as a way to remember them. I wanted to do that when I lost Sabine on Samhain, but wasn't really in a good state of mind to do so. It's a bit late now, but I want to finally do that for her. So here are some photos, not strictly in chronological order, though I've kept the photos of her with Beka versus the younger two girls separate.

Sisters

This was from the day I brought home Sabine and her sister, Beka. Due to photo quality I'm not sure which is which.

I got them from a breeder who I met at a place sort of between our houses. Ok, we met in a gas station parking lot. Fortunately the employees there were familiar with her so they weren't trying to figure out what she was giving me. lol I assumed that she would bring them in a box that she would hand over, but since she didn't I brought them home in a bag. This is a photo I took of them in the bag while mom drove us home.

Sabine on left, Beka on the right

Maybe one of my favorite photos of them, and not just because it showcases my fine crafting skills by showing a fancy hammock I made them.

Piano!

I was playing around getting photos, and decided to introduce Sabine to the piano. You can just see her nose poking out of my sleeve. I'd say she wasn't impressed.

Grooming

 Here Sabine was getting groomed by her sister, Beka.

Munching

How does she look so cute while munching on a treat?

Climbing

Sabine was quite a climber. Here she's climbed my bath robe that's hanging on my wall, and she's pretty much at my eye level. So, five feet up. After snapping the photo I moved her to safety.

She was pretty good at climbing, but did fall on occasion. I'm pretty sure that's how she broke a rib, though I didn't realize she'd hurt herself until I could feel the bump where it had healed up. Once the vet told me what I was feeling under her skin, I finally understood why she'd didn't want me petting her for the previous month or so. Of course she didn't want me touching her much, her rib was broken!

Sisters

A sad photo, this was in the last few months of Beka's life. At this point Beka's mobility was pretty limited, and if I remember correctly Sabine would move food closer to where she was.

Lonely

Another sad photo, or sad to me, since I know it was taken after losing Beka but before getting the two girls I have now. Sabine was really alone. And yeah, she had me, but a human friend isn't the same as a rat companion.

Sabine, Niki, Kora

After I got the two girls I have now, I took all three of them to the vet. I brought Sabine in a different carrier, but she decided to hang out with the younger two once we got to the vet's office. Sabine's hiding in the back of the carrier here, while Kora is being adventurous. 

Sabine and the younger girls

All three of them hanging out together. Based on size I'll say that's Sabine on the right, and based on scruffiness/head shape I'll say that's Kora on the left.

Don't ask me why all four rats look so similar. I really did not plan this. Beka and Sabine were from the same litter, and I'd say it's a good bet that Niki and Kora were from the same litter, and I don't think it's surprising for sisters to look like each other. Then it's just coincidence that the first rats I found at the Human Society to bring home as company for Sabine looked like her.

Just hanging out

The three of them in a hammock. Sabine on the right, and I think that's Niki on the left.

Without going into lots of details here (I wrote other posts about it and don't feel like writing it all out again), I did have to separate Sabine from the younger girls for a while. She and Niki were butting heads since both are naturally dominant, and I worried that a fight would turn bad. Once age forced Sabine to slow down I was able to reunite them and things went well.

I detect bRATtiness...

Sabine spilled coffee on my desk, then started drinking it. So of course I let her while I took photos.

I named Sabine Curlywhiskers after two characters from the Beka Cooper books by Tamora Pierce. One was Sabine, a fierce lady knight who is best not crossed in a fight but also who makes the best of friends, and she can drink anyone under the table. The second Achoo Curlypaws, a scent hound who has the best nose you could ever hope to find. She knows she's a working dog, but she also knows how to relax and enjoy a cool autumn day when the breeze is kicking up fallen leaves.

I miss Sabine, but maybe she's playing with Beka now.

Sabine and Samhain

My emotions have been pretty mixed today.

First of all, Sabine. I managed to get a vet appointment for her today to help me determine if it was time to help her on her way. I'd already begun to resign myself to it last night, but wanted to see what my vet said first. After finding out that her condition was worse than I had realized (for example, a bizarre heartbeat) I decided it was time.

Putting down a rat is different from how a cat is put down. It's easy to find a vein on a cat, but rats are too small. So they put Sabine under with gas, first in a chamber and then fit a mask over her head. Once she was asleep they put an injection straight into her heart. It took a bit for her to fall asleep, but she went really quickly after the injection.

I'll get her ashes in a few weeks.

Despite my morning, the day wasn't all bad. I spent it with my boyfriend, who has a knack for making me feel better. He took me out for beer and pizza, and we cuddled while watching movies together. We also celebrated our three year anniversary, which was really last weekend but we'd decided to combine it with Samhain this year.

As for Samhain, I haven't done much for that so far today. I guess I've been too busy thinking about Sabine. But I have listened to a couple Samhain songs in the last couple days, including this one by Heather Alexander.

Sabine

Sabine is pretty old for a rat, at over three years. She's almost entirely blind due to cataracts in both eyes, is underweight, and has no strength in her hind legs. And yet, she's managed to remain affectionate, energetic (or as energetic as possible since she can't climb), and makes happy noises when I pet her.

I'd said that so long as she's still making happy noises, is affectionate, and energetic, I'll give her more time. But now I wonder, does there come a point where it's best to help a pet on their way even though they don't seem to be telling you it's time?

I worry that I'll make my decision, one way or the other, based on my own emotions rather than on Sabine's needs.

I don't know if I'm thinking about this because it's so painful to always wonder whether Sabine's still alive when I check in on her.

I don't know if I should have helped Sabine on her way before now.

And I really don't want to think about this at Samhain, the day to honor and remember the dead. But I've watched Sabine get even thinner the past few days, and she also didn't make her happy noises one of the times I checked on her today. She even seems weaker. Whatever the day or holiday is, it would be pretty irresponsible of me to not to try to do what's best for her.

I'm not asking for advice, I'm just trying to get my thoughts in order. And I wonder if, when I have to make this decision again someday (I expect to always have pets, so it's inevitable), referring back to this post may help me.

With Beka, Sabine's sister, I came close to making this decision. She was very sick, and I planned to put her down if I became certain that she had no hope of recovery, but she died before I could reach that conclusion. I also made this decision together with my mom for Socks, the cat we helped on his way just the day before I lost Beka. But I've never actually had to face this decision for a pet that I'm solely responsible for before.

Again, I'm not asking for advice. I'm just getting my thoughts together.

Sabine and Beka

Greedy Glutton Sabine

Sabine is one of those rats who loves food. She loves it so much that I have to count my fingers after giving her a treat. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but I have had to lecture her more than once on the topic of "Please take the food, not the hand!"

A couple evenings ago I fed the rats in the evening, as usual. Of course Sabine went straight for the food, stuffing her mouth with more than it should really be able to hold, so she could hide it in some corner of her cage.

While she was doing this I found a snack for myself, which I figured I may as well share with Sabine. When I held it up to the wires of her cage she came running, as usual...but didn't take it from me.

I began to get really worried. It was obvious that she wanted the treat, but wasn't taking it. She's already getting old, her hind legs are really weak, and she's even gone blind in one eye. Considering all this, I thought something might be seriously wrong with her. When an old rat suddenly changes their behavior drastically it's probably for bad reasons, and she's never been the type to turn down any kind of food.

But when I got down on her level, trying to figure out what was wrong, what did I find? She had her mouth stuffed full of her regular food that she'd been hiding, and she wasn't willing to put it down to take the treat.

Greedy glutton.

Greedy glutton who wanted both her usual food and her treat at the same time, and couldn't accept that she could only manage one at a time.

Greedy glutton scaring me like that.

I dropped the treat in her cage, which seemed to be an acceptable solution for her.

Note to self: Don't give Sabine treats immediately after feeding her, that just doesn't work.

Scraps of happiness

In the last year I started filling up a small jar with little scraps of paper. The bits of paper were full of good things that had happened, and I'd intended to read them all on solstice.

Unfortunately I was sick on solstice, so that didn't happen. (Then I got better, only to get sick again. Dangit! This has not been a great last couple of weeks.) Now it's almost New Years Eve, and I'm finally getting around to looking at what good things happened in the last year.

I didn't write everything down, so this is hardly an exhaustive list. Here's most of what I found in the jar.

Duck pond with Murray, visited a farm where I got blackberry honey. -- summer 2013

Discovered that Murray can pick out the perfect pair of sneakers for me. ♡ -- summer 2013

Finished inspecting cells at work. -- summer 2013 [this was a special assignment that I was very happy to finish]

I was hired on to a temp job -- 6/14/2013

Murray and I had Valentine's dinner together at [a favorite restaurant] ♡ -- 2/15/2013

The smell of fresh rain at night -- 8/22/2013

Drank a whole Guinness, realized I'm developing good taste. The one drink made me tipsy. -- 3/16/13

Portland Highland Games -- 7/20/13

Beka is recovering. She's more active, and takes her meds more quickly. :) -- 12/31/2012 [this one is painful to read since she then took a turn for the worst and we lost her]

Birthday date with Murray ♡ -- 3/9/2013

Figured out how to clean the honey jar -- soak the lid in hot water, then wet a paper towel with hot water and wrap it around the rim. -- 1/25/13

Sabine, Kora, and Aniki move in together -- 3/6/2013 [and then were separated...but oh well!]

Temp job got extended -- 6/13

Started my new job -- 6/17/13

Sabine is recovered from her spay and is off her meds :) -- 3/3/2013

Got my first bra fitting -- 3/29/2013 [I know, I know...I can't believe I waited until age twenty-four, and it turns out that a properly fitted bra makes a HUGE difference]

Had my first Guinness. -- 3/16/2013

Drank my first cup of black coffee. -- 4/4/2013

I brought home Kora and Aniki. -- 2/1/2013

Got my birthday presents from The Belly Dancer-- 2/3/2013

I reached 200 blog posts on Dancing With Fey -- 2/11/2013

Learned how to hand wash bras -- spring 2013

Spring has sprung! -- 3/8/2013 [I don't care what the calendar says, when it feels like spring it's spring]

I could make a few comments on the previous year based on what I wrote on those scraps of paper, but I'll leave it at that for now.

Scraps of happiness

...food fight?

I cleaned the rat cages this evening. Things went pretty normally, though with the new fact that I'm not putting Kora and Aniki in with Sabine even briefly. (Let's just say that Sabine isn't playing nice anymore. This is an unpleasant and depressing fact for both her and me.) Nothing out of the ordinary happened until I put the younger girls back in their own cage.

Niki came to greet me when I was bending over to pick up the trash bag I'd been using, so I was more or less on eye level with her. Of course I was mildly distracted by how adorable she is, and failed to notice that she had something in her mouth until she threw it at me. I looked down...and realized it was food.

That rat threw her food at me.

I don't know if she: 1) was thanking me for cleaning her cage, 2) was requesting different food, 3) was trying to initiate a food fight, or 4) all the above.

Whichever it is, I am still extremely perplexed and amazed.

Adorable Niki is adorable

In other news, I have a temp job that starts on the day this post goes up. This is the first work I've had this year, so I'm pretty happy, and just hoping that my unemployment stint is pretty much over.

Adorable rats

Sabine is still separated from the younger rats, but they do get to spend some (supervised) time together. For example, when I'm cleaning the younger girls' cage I'll sometimes put them with Sabine. After all, I'm near enough to hear any disagreements and interfere if necessary. And they need to go somewhere while I'm taking their cage apart.

Usually when the three rats are all crammed into one small cage together they get feisty. They climb the walls (literally) and jump all over each other. Then last night, here's what happened as soon as I finished chores and decided to take them all out for playtime.

Hiding

I didn't even know they would all fit in that tiny igloo. And really, they don't. Which is why I had to get a photo.

Aren't they so cute with their tails sticking out of the igloo, and one of them checking out the entrance to see if it's safe?

Still hiding

Notice that the igloo isn't even sitting on the floor of the cage anymore.

I'm not sure why they were hiding. It couldn't have been because I carried the cage back to my bedroom with all of them in it, could it...? But they're used to me carrying the smaller cages with them inside.

Drooling

Once playtime was over I put Sabine back in her cage before carrying Kora and Aniki to their own bigger cage. When I returned to my bedroom to retrieve Sabine's cage I was met with the above scene: Kokopelle drooling, and Sabine trying to say hi to him.

I'm glad that Sabine is fearless of the cats. So long as cage walls stay between them when they greet each other, all will remain well.

Furry friends

Today's post will come in two parts.

The visiting puppy

It's been said before that, the way Kokopelle torments Saphira, it might be nice for him to get a bit of his own medicine. Well, he hasn't gotten it in the form of another animal body slamming him...but he has met someone who he's very uncertain of.

Zoe is an adorable basset hound who loves everyone, and she definitely loves cats. My boyfriend occasionally brings her on dates, and she's met Kokopelle exactly twice. Both times she's tried to make friends with my kitty.

Kokopelle isn't entirely certain what to make of this.

The only times I've ever seen him hiss, arch his back, or have his fur on end, have been in Zoe's company. And below is photographic evidence of his opinion on dogs. All she wanted to do was play...

However, Kokopelle did eventually go nose to nose with Zoe of his own accord. So he must not have been too traumatized by her presence.

Zoe wanting to play with Kokopelle

Sabine and surgery

Not a fun detail, but if I'm sharing about my furry friends anyways, I'll go ahead write about it.

Two nights ago I noticed that Sabine has a small lump under her skin. Yesterday I called to make an appointment with the vet, and today the vet said that surgery is the best option.

I still have no idea if it's a tumor or a cyst. Either way, it's coming out on Monday.

Sabine doesn't like the vet. She's better about it than she used to be, but after the visit I gave her a little bit of chocolate chip cookie. Definitely not recommended as regular treats for rats, but I thought it might be nice to give her a little extra something nice.

Rats...

Sabine is lonely again. I'm trying to not feel guilty, since it's sort of her own fault this time.

She was getting along with Kora and Aniki for a while. I did notice some signs of over grooming behind Kora's ears, and figured that was Sabine's fault. She did the same to Beka in her last months, and I decided to not worry about it so long as Kora seemed fine. But then I discovered that someone had been biting Niki hard enough to draw blood, and I moved Sabine into a smaller cage.

I guess I couldn't swear to it being Sabine. But I know that she and Niki have disagreements over who's in charge of the cage, and Kora normally just stays out of the way. So I think it's a pretty good bet.

The three of them do still get supervised play time together, and that is still going well. But Sabine is spending most of her time alone again, and I think that makes both of us sad.

Hopefully I'll be able to put them all back together again soon. Hopefully.

In the meantime, here are some photos that I hadn't shared before.

Cute nose

 No idea who this is. But it's a cute nose poking out of a hammock.

Sabine? and ??

 I think that may be Sabine on top, and again I have no idea who the other one is.

Kora, Niki, and Sabine

I think I'm correct about who's who, from left to right. They liked to sleep together, and I managed to get a decent photo of them here.

Sabine

I had been sharing coffee with the younger girls, letting them lick it off my finger. I didn't dare try that with Sabine though, because I know what it would result in: her drinking my blood.

So mom came up with the idea of feeding Sabine coffee with a spoon. So she got a treat, and we kept our fingers in one piece. Everyone was happy.

Niki?

I think this is Niki. Anyways, I thought it was pretty cute.

One of the younger girls

 Maybe Niki? Hard to tell for sure.

Kokopelle saying hi to...who is that anyways?

I want to say that this is Sabine, but it's normally Niki who perches like that. I guess one downside to having three rats who look so alike is that it's sometimes hard to tell who's who in photos.

And yes, that's a Dresden Files book on top of the rat cage. Not sure why I put it there, but the cage was only on the floor temporarily and I figured that it was a good temporary spot for a book.

Sabine

Sabine spilled a wee bit of coffee on my computer desk, then had fun lapping it up. Naughty naughty girl...

I would like it to be noted that my desk is much cleaner now than it was when this occurred.

Introducing the rats

Introducing the rats to each other has been a little nerve wracking. Nothing bad has happened, even though I've had to break up squabbles quite often along the way. One or two of the squabbles even had me wondering how well my hand would survive coming between the rats, but they never did any harm to me or each other. I guess it was always more sound than substance.

My anxiety was probably unwarranted. I figured this out when I noticed that, even though most of the squabbles took place between Niki and Sabine, Niki was always eager to go running back to the older girl. I figured she probably wouldn't do that if she were in any danger, but I was still anxious over any little squeak.

Over the past month I've learned to relax some. I've learned not to automatically jump in when I notice that something's up, and to instead watch and judge first if they can resolve their differences (relatively) peacefully or if I really do need to get involved. After all, some amount of play fighting is to be expecting, in addition to establishing a pecking order.

Possibly the worst bit was putting them all in the big cage together. I was afraid that if that didn't work out well, all was doomed.

Luckily, they took more interest in exploring new place than in bugging each other. Well, it's a new place to Kora and Aniki...Sabine has been in this cage before, but I bleached it to remove her scent and put new hammocks to try to make it as close to neutral territory as possible.

As of the moment I'm writing this, they have been hanging out in the big cage together quite happily for nearly five hours. They're also cuddled up together, probably sleeping. I'm not sure if I should make the move permanent as of right now, or if I should put them in separate cages again for the night. I'll probably make that decision in a couple hours.

Either way, I'm finally convinced that all is well with the three girls. :)

A (bad) photo of the three rats

On pet rats

I've had a few questions about rats where I volunteer. This probably has something to do with the fact that I've been talking some about my new girls, Kora and Aniki. Here are a few of the questions I've gotten.

Sabine, recovering from her spay

What do you keep them in? 
A wire cage. Ok, so I occasionally use a glass cage if I need to keep them from climbing (for example, when Sabine was recovering from her spay), but that doesn't have proper ventilation so it's only ever a temporary thing. Ideal is a giant wire cage.

Some reference to wild rats...
I don't remember what form this comment/question took, but I found myself explaining that domestic rats are not at all the same as wild rats. Domestic rats are sweet and lovable, and very loving. However, I would not want to get up close and personal with a wild rat. Those are pretty much a different breed entirely.

Do they bite?
Sabine does, though she's only drawn blood once. (My mom's nose through the wires of her cage. I'm afraid I wasn't very sympathetic.) It's really only a problem if you stick your fingers through the wires of her cage, or if you stick your nose up against the wires. (Mother...) And the younger girls? They are as sweet as can be, and will gently lick delicious coffee off my finger tips without harming me.

It seems like there were one or two other questions I was asked, but I can't bring them to mind right now.

The big cage

I finally set up the big cage yesterday. You know, the one where I hope that all three rats will one day live in peace with each other. Right now they only get supervised play time in it, and today it ended when I had to break up a squabble. I'll probably write another post all about introductions...which can be a bit nerve wracking, even though nothing bad has happened.

By the way, I have filled the cage with wonderful fun stuff made by Rat Attack Team over at Etsy. I love what I've got here, and I think the rats also approve.

Warning: exreme cuteness

Introductions with the rats going sort of slowly.

The three mostly get along well, but I usually to have to separate them if I give them too much time together. I suspect that Sabine is an overenthusiastic groomer, and she probably needs to to tone it down. Then again, Kora and Aniki may also be guilty of causing one or two of the (minor) disagreements they've had.

And now, without further ado, photos!

I'm not entirely certain which of the younger girls this is. My guess is Kora, since she's more likely than Niki to poke her head out to say hi.

This is their cage set up at the moment. The young girls' cage is on the left, and Sabine's is on the right.

As you can see, Kokopelle is able to drool over Sabine. Just look at the smug look on his face. Luckily Sabine knows he can't touch her, and is fine with this arrangement. :)

I'm pretty sure that this is Niki.

Kora wanted to help me clean her cage. Strange girl.

Kora approved of her newly mended hammock (which they doubtless will chew down again) and of her fresh bedding.

Kora and Aniki, munching on a bit of pop tart. While sitting in a pop tart box. I think it's Niki on top.

They're still getting used to this "treats" idea, by the way.

And now, a photo of the initial introductions. Unfortunately it's a bit dark since I only took photos when they were all hiding in a paper grocery bag together. Still, you can sort of see them.

The three of them, hanging out behind my monitor. Obviously the big one is Sabine, and I think the one in the middle is Niki.

Seeing them back there is pretty adorable, but I always have to clean up pee afterwards. I'm not sure if it's Sabine scaring the younger girls, if it's Sabine marking territory, if it's a side effect of Sabine peeing on the girls (which she does), or if it's for some other reason.

Kora and Niki in their cage. Based on the one in back looking a tad scruffier, and based on the shape of her face, I'm gonna guess that's Kora.

Here they are at the vet's office. I brought them in two separate carriers, but after we got there I let them mingle. Sabine's in the back, and that's Kora in the front. Kora's the adventurous one.

And yep, you read that right. I took them all to the vet today. The younger girls just for a check up, and Sabine for something that I was a bit concerned about.

Sabine is fine, she had just been having some vaginal discharge. Which female rats shouldn't have. She's now on meds, and will be spayed next week. The spaying will take care of her current problems, and will have the bonus of making mammary tumors (which are common in rats) unlikely as she ages. I plan to also spay the other two when they're fully grown.

Kora and Aniki checked out just fine, by the way. No worries there. :)

Sabine

For lack of anything else to talk about (other than the fact that I am now the only healthy person in this household...AAAH!!!) I wanted to share some pics of Sabine.

I'm getting into the habit of sitting at my computer while I've got her out. As such, the following photos are all taken at my desk.

Here she is between my monitor and printer. She's taken to hanging out behind my printer...also, behind my monitor.

And yes, that's a rock I painted up as a mischievous lady bird beetle, and a drawing of a sun that I taped to the side of my monitor.

Sabine may have ran off with part of my pop tart, and I may have let her. Here she's hiding out with it behind the monitor.

I may be slightly spoiling her, since I feel bad about her being all alone at the moment.

Furry friends

I guess I'm dealing with losing two pets in two days this week by focusing on those we've still got.

There's Saphira, but she's my dad's cat, and since I'm not her favorite person I don't see much of her. I definitely hear her though, especialy when she made more of a fuss than usual about dad going out for dinner with mom a couple evenings ago.

And my kitty Kokopelle has been sticking close to me. He doesn't spend every minute with me, but he's there an awful lot. As I type he's sitting my my window, a few feet away from me. Pretending to ignore me, but still here.

The one I'm worried about is Sabine. She's perked up some, but she's spent her whole life with her sister...who's now gone. And even though I'm going to spend as much time as possible with her, Sabine is still spending an awful lot of time in her cage alone.

Being all alone for more than an hour or so is a new experience for her.

In an effort to make Sabine feel better (and to try to make myself feel less guilty) I've moved her back into her giant rat cage. I destroyed an old towel to make lots of hammocks, and I hid lots of treats throughout her cage.

Now I want someone to pamper me with bacon and chocolate. *sigh...*

Rat mansion

ps. Yes, I think it's safe to say that I abandoned my plan to be sharing Pagan music every day this week. Maybe I can actually follow through on it some other time.

And now Beka

Beka gave up sometime yesterday. I'm not sure exactly when it was that she gave up. But she pretty much nibbled at her food in the afternoon, and then had zero interest when I tried feeding her the prescription canned food last night. And that's when I knew.

Even though I didn't entirely expect her to be alive today, it was still painful to confirm it. Especially since I thought I saw her breathing a little, just before I touched her and realized she was cold.

In a way this is harder than Socks' death because I have so many questions. Questions about what I could have done differently for her, since I had still hoped she would recover. Yes, I knew I might have to make the decision to help her on her way, like we did with Socks. But there was still one more medication to try her on before making that decision. And we didn't even get to it.

Presumably it's the ear infection that got Beka in the end. Mom thinks there may have been something else going on, and I saw one or two symptoms that I thought might suggest that. Things I was going to talk to the vet about tomorrow. (Do you know how much fun it is to call the vet and say "Sorry, I have to cancel because Beka is dead"? It isn't very fun.) But I don't know if there was also something else in the picture. All I know is that an ear infection is all it takes with rats.

I took Beka to be cremated today. On the way I kept half expecting her to jump out of the box she was in, fully alive and healthy. I've no idea why. And I have no idea what I'll do with her ashes.

...and in this all I have to figure out what to do about Sabine, my surviving rat. Rats are very social critters, and they really need playmates. The obvious solution is to get another rat, but I'm not really in a position to do that. So I guess I'll have to give Sabine extra attention and hope it's enough.

Beka, eating an acorn she stole off my altar

Update on Beka

You may remember that Beka had a nasty ear infection that resulted in an emergency trip to a pet hospital.

Good news is, she's improving! Not as quickly as I had hoped, but there is definite improvement.

Beka has still got her head tilt, but she is more enthusiastic about taking her meds (or "treats" as she thinks they are) and actually climbed out of her cage today for her meds (um, "treats"). She's also much less disoriented now.

And just because I just have to share a cute pic, here's one I took of Beka and Sabine maybe a week ago.

Beka in box, Sabine outside box.

I put Beka in a box to keep her out of trouble (that is, from trying to climb things and then falling down due to her lack of coordination) while cleaning their cage. I put Sabine in the box also, though with no real expectation of her staying in. And of course, Sabine escaped to go exploring.

Much to my surprise, Beka did manage to escape her box. At first I was irritated by this. Then I realized that it was probably a good sign for her health, and although still annoyed, my displeasure turned to pleasure. But it did mean that I had to keep switching between cleaning and stopping escape attempts.

Poor Beka

Less than two weeks ago I took Sabine to the vet for an injury to her toe. I was concerned, but not seriously afraid for her health.

But now I'm rather worried about Beka.

She started tilting her head Saturday night. I had to wait until Monday to call the vet, and took her in on Tuesday. I was told it was an ear infection, and the vet sent me home with meds for her.

Then last evening Beka's balance went really screwy, and she became disoriented. Thank gods mom thought about the Dove Lewis emergency hospital for pets, because I had never really given the place any thought.

(Also, thank gods mom paid for the visit.)

The emergency care vet who I saw was very up front about not being an expert on rats, but said that she didn't think Beka was in any immediate danger. She sent info from the visit to my regular vet, who I have another appointment with in about four hours.

And as though this weren't enough to upset me...I've got some people in the NW rat group I'm part of telling me that my vet isn't worth anything. After some consideration I have chosen to trust some local vets I've spoken with who tell me that he's good (since not only are they local, they're also vets), but I've got at least one person in the group ticked off at me for who I've been taking my rats to.

...I keep removing then adding back in the paragraph about the rat group people being displeased with me, but it's part of the whole situation so I guess I may as well share it. Also, in case any of them somehow find this blog, I do want to just provide some explanation for why I am returning to my regular vet rather than finding a new one.

Any good vibes for Beka would be appreciated. She's lost weight and acts like she's drunk.

Rattie owies

Both of my rats like to get into trouble. Beka gets into trouble more often than Sabine, but Sabine gets into worse trouble. For example:

1) One broken/cracked rib last winter -- I'm sure it was from climbing and falling

2) One front toe that was injured two months ago

3) Another toe that was injured a couple days ago

I noticed the new injury two nights ago, and I have no idea how it happened. I got mom to call the vet yesterday since I was busy, and she made an appointment for today.

We still don't know how it happened, but her toenail is either mostly gone or completely gone. (Turns out there's a bone that sticks into the toenail...so that's definitely there, it's just a question of whether it's also toenail we're seeing.) The toe is a bit swollen, and it looks painful. She doesn't act like she's in pain, but as I've said before rats are good at hiding it when they're suffering. :(

I want to know how this happened!

But we've got a medication to prevent infection, and Sabine should be fine.

Who knew that one rat could be so accident prone? It's got to be because she has a knack for trouble.

And because just have to share a happy photo...here's one of Beka (I think) in their plastic igloo that they like to turn upside down. Sorry about the poor quality, but I was trying to get it in poor light before she jumped up to greet me. As it is, when I took this pic she was already looking at me instead of sleeping as she'd been when I found her.

Pets

I lost a follower...how did that happen?

Anyways...

Socks

I had mentioned that the cat Socks wasn't doing to well, and wasn't expected to live much longer. Amazingly he's turned around. I think he's still losing weight, but is healthier than he was before. So hopefully he'll hang on for a while longer.

I figured that since I was going to talk about a rat, I may as well share an update about this one.

Rats

You may remember that I have two rats, Beka and Sabine. They're staying with my parents since I couldn't find an apartment to move into where I could bring them, but they're still technically mine.

A few days ago Sabine injured her paw. Specifically, one of her fingers. It's now swollen, red, and one of the bones is dislocated. There was also a bit of bleeding. I took a photo to get advice from other rat lovers, but I'll spare you that. It's not gruesome, but it's not pretty either. Sabine still uses her paw and doesn't look like she's in pain, but it's amazing what these critters can hide.

We took her to see the vet today, and came home with some meds to bring down the swelling and fight off infection. Good news is that the vet expects her to be fine! Whew.

And now the girls seem determined to chew on things. They're also trying to help me type. I guess this is their revenge for the vet visit. Yes they both went, so that Beka could keep Sabine company. Beka is more laid back than Sabine, and I thought her influence might be helpful.