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She's about a year and a half old and she's always been pretty dumb and clumsy. edit: I worry that it might have gotten worse. Vet visit it is. Rats 
Invalid Octopus fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Feb 24, 2012 |
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Feb 24, 2012 18:04
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I think I'm going to have to take Snake to the vet soon. She's being a lot more sneezy than usual and seems kind of sluggish. She even squeaks a little during her sneezing fits, so that's probably not a good sign. However, her nose is dry, so there's that. I cleaned their cage a few days ago but didn't add or take away anything in their environment, just cleaned it. I'm wondering if maybe it's because of the unusually high temperatures lately (my room is probably the worst insulted in the house, and it has been brutally hot for this time of year). Anyways, will be taking her to the vet either Sunday or Wednesday due to weird scheduling issues, sooner if she gets worse. I've looked over her a few times though and don't feel anything weird and she doesn't seem in pain, just sneezes a lot (when she's being active it's almost constant). On the bright side, the other three are totally fine, and they're all sooo much better about being handled.
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Feb 24, 2012 22:12
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All kinds of ill rats recently in this topic  My hairless boy Bandit has a small fungal infection/mild ringworm on his left thigh from who knows what. At first I thought it was a sore, but it never changed it state so it had to be fungal related. Looks identical to this.  It doesn't bother him at all, so I am hoping the anti-fungal cream will kick its teeth in.
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Feb 25, 2012 01:10
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To add to all the sick rat posts, it looks like my Trudy broke off the one tooth she has on the bottom, so we're giving her an omnivore diet supplement and will take her to the vet Monday. I guess because she only had the one tooth on the bottom it got to overused and just broke off.
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Feb 25, 2012 01:33
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 Kit with Stan. Kit is the sweetest kitty. He loves Stan and Oliver. Stan is not a big fan though. Whenever he's near Kit he jumps onto me. Oliver just loves to snuggle the cat though.       Not pictured: heavy purring.
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Feb 25, 2012 21:25
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Does Oliver groom the cat? One of my boys was in love with our cat and would groom his fur, even though the cat wanted nothing to do with it.
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Feb 26, 2012 04:29
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I completely scoured the rat cages yesterday and did a full redesign complete with crocheted and used bra hammocks! I always give them extra treats when I change everything around, so they got hidden food blocks, mixed spring greens, and apples, and were so distracted by smelling everything they didn't even start snatching the food for an hour. Talbot's first order of duty? Faceplant -> suck dick. It was so inappropriate.
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Feb 26, 2012 18:26
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Bah, its never innappropriate.
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Feb 27, 2012 09:50
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Well, my George (from http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3320057&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=47#post400430221 and http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3320057&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=47#post400424650) finally went today. She'd developed some nine tumours in all, and had two rapidly growing ones on her groin that were forcing her legs apart. We fed her full of bread and jam in the vet's waiting room, and I know she was cuddled right up to the end. Still hurts
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Feb 27, 2012 21:02
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I'm sorry Even when you have a great vet and can say goodbye peacefully, its still really hard I know.
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Feb 27, 2012 23:04
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Rathen posted:Well, my George (from http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3320057&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=47#post400430221 and http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3320057&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=47#post400424650) finally went today. She'd developed some nine tumours in all, and had two rapidly growing ones on her groin that were forcing her legs apart. Sorry to hear that. I'm sure she was very happy though.. with a belly full of treats and a good snuggle, how could she not have been?
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Feb 28, 2012 00:06
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My girlfriend and I are getting two rats for the first time!   This is the picture provided by the rattier, who named them Romeo and Tybalt. We're naming them Smith and Wesson, however.  I'm really looking forward to them! We're picking them up in two weeks. e: thumbnailed image
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Feb 28, 2012 03:00
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Backyard Blacksmith posted:My girlfriend and I are getting two rats for the first time! SO cute. I love the grey one's little white nose and white socks. 
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Feb 28, 2012 03:15
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Oh my god, so cute! Little balls of fluff.
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Feb 28, 2012 05:25
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Vet is sick and so cancelled our appointment this morning. Ugh.
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Feb 28, 2012 23:03
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By some coincidence, Oliver got fatter than Stan. Now their names are really fitting! Oliver is the one with the soft brown hood. You can't see it in the pictures, but if you hold him you can feel how heavy he is. Stan is the dominant one in the cage though. He's usually grooming Oliver and Oliver just sits there and takes it... so I don't think Oliver is hoarding food. Maybe he's just lazy? Maybe he has a glandular issue? I've always had girl rats. These are my first boys. So far they smell nicer than all my other rats and they are not at all aggressive... so those stereotypes don't fit my boys! They even share snacks, which is mindblowing and cute. One of their favorite treats is frozen cucumber slices. It's like ICE CREAM to them!    See how they share their treat, taking turns having nibbles on a single slice of cucumber.      
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Feb 29, 2012 01:16
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How adorable. My boys still try to steal each others' food, unless its something they can't carry like a corn cob or an apple - then they make do with chewing an end each. I am a huge fan of boy rats. Most of the people I've seen say "I hear male rats stink" have heard it from someone who never had male rats. Mine use their litterbox, and while they do pee in their bedding sometimes, they never smell if I pick them up and sniff them. Are you sure Stan is dominant? My beta boy grooms the alpha a lot (and hes an obvious alpha), I always thought he was sucking up to him. Then again, I'm sure the biggest isn't always the most dominant. Big Bug Hug fucked around with this message at 10:16 on Feb 29, 2012 |
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Feb 29, 2012 10:07
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I am sure they see each other as equals (which again, seems unlikely, but these rats defy expectations.) I have only witnessed Stan pinning down Oliver and giving him gentle grooming and not the other way around. Who knows? Oliver is a real fatass compared to Stan, but he is gentle and timid. He prefers the cage more than the adventurous Stan, who actually found his way out of the top hatch once. It might just be a lack of exercise. 
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Mar 1, 2012 04:30
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Welp, found Bright Eyes inexplicably dead yesterday. He was only a year old but was really really inbred beyond belief out of really random rats so I'm not really surprised, but he never had any visible health problems so it wasn't expected.     His half brother, Brumby, is really freaked out and there's not much I can do for him because he's never been very social and preferred rats to people. Bright Eyes was always the social one. I'm getting him a buddy shortly, maybe 2 since there's likely to be an age difference. I'm actually pretty upset, which is a surprise to me because I've had so many rats I usually don't get too attached anymore. It was just really sudden and without warning. Blah. RIP lil buddy.
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Mar 1, 2012 16:15
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Oh Super, that sucks. He was very, very cute. I know you care deeply for your animals so I'm sure he had a great life.
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Mar 2, 2012 00:17
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Is it normal for rats to poo poo up their cage instantly after playtime? I try to pick up their poops daily so they don't get all gross in the cage, but as soon as I put them back in there they poo poo like thirty times. They don't seem to poop much around my room or my house. Maybe they're just pooping out of frustration that playtime is over? I'm just worried I might be over-feeding them. It's hard to tell because they hoard and bury their food a lot. One of them has also gone completely nest-crazy lately, which I assume is probably normal. It's just sort of funny that her sudden interest in tearing up paper and pulling it into her box sort of came out of nowhere. I got them some tissue paper and some nesting fluff from the pet store and shoved it between the wall and their cage, and she's been having a blast tearing it through the bars and stuffing it in her shoebox house. Their behavior kind of makes me feel like I have puppies again. I never expected these little critters to have so much personality!
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Mar 2, 2012 17:11
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Toyotadon posted:Is it normal for rats to poo poo up their cage instantly after playtime? I try to pick up their poops daily so they don't get all gross in the cage, but as soon as I put them back in there they poo poo like thirty times. They don't seem to poop much around my room or my house. Maybe they're just pooping out of frustration that playtime is over? I'm just worried I might be over-feeding them. It's hard to tell because they hoard and bury their food a lot. Is there a reason you haven't bothered litter box training them? It's easier than picking up all their poop by hand...
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Mar 2, 2012 18:05
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Maybe he/she didn't know they could be litter trained Get them a corner litter box with some recycled paper litter, and when you pick up the poops, put them all in the box. They should catch on pretty quickly.
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Mar 2, 2012 23:49
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Beluga Smoothie posted:Oh Super, that sucks. Thanks. Gonna go poke around in pet stores this weekend and see if I can scoop someone nice out of a feeder bin as a friend for Brumby. He didn't eat at all yesterday, finally got him to take a chocolate chip and some yogurt today but he's mostly still sleeping and moping. Grieving rats are the saddest rats.
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Mar 3, 2012 05:21
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I'm sorry, thats so sad
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Mar 3, 2012 08:41
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Backyard Blacksmith posted:My girlfriend and I are getting two rats for the first time! That is explosively cute, though Romeo and Tybalt were perfectly good names for two of my previous boys...
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Mar 3, 2012 14:48
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Superconsndar posted:Thanks. Gonna go poke around in pet stores this weekend and see if I can scoop someone nice out of a feeder bin as a friend for Brumby. He didn't eat at all yesterday, finally got him to take a chocolate chip and some yogurt today but he's mostly still sleeping and moping. Grieving rats are the saddest rats. Poor little boy. I was worried about that happening with Emily but she just seems to.. not care? She's acting just about the same as before. I wonder what makes some rats grieve and others not?
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Mar 3, 2012 16:04
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Cross-posting from Random Nonsense.  Vet doesn't know what's wrong with Patti. She stumbles and falls and has horrible coordination, as well as a bit of a limp. We had a vet appointment for last Monday, but he cancelled so we rescheduled with a new guy at a different hospital. He's the one who says he doesn't really know – just that it's probably not a pituitary tumor, and it might be a problem with her eyesight. The limp is probably from one of her (many) falls. So now she's on 4 or 5 meds and has another appointment with the regular vet on Monday. I just wish I knew what was wrong
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Mar 3, 2012 19:17
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Thank you all for the kind words earlier about Kaylee and Coraline They are both still alive and the tumor seem to be staying the same size and neither seems uncomfortable. Another good thing is that I just had first introductions between them and the new juvenile rats and it went beyond well. No signs of aggression from any rat, lots of grooming each other but not aggressively. If it all keeps going well than I hope to have all 4 in the same cage by the end of this week The new babies  Battle shot! 
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Mar 4, 2012 19:33
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I just got The Sickest Rat  I went in and was just gonna grab the least terrified/bitey young-ish male they had and when I told the employee that was going to get one for me that it would be a pet and not reptile food, she got super excited and was like "OMG PLEASE TAKE THIS ONE." Apparently they'd had this one in the back for a little over a week. He'd arrived too sick to put on the floor but the manager doesn't allow them to take feeder animals to the vet because they aren't worth the cost, so he was pretty much just stuck back there until he either got better on his own or died- the manager wouldn't even let them give him the lovely over the counter antibiotics they keep on hand for sick rodents because he didn't want them to waste it on a $3 feeder. The employees all liked him because he was super friendly so they'd all been taking turns feeding and playing with him, but he's had absolutely no treatment at all and wasn't getting better. Apparently he's had severe diarrhea for over a week now. He's bony and weak and def dehydrated, and has both mites AND lice. He isn't wheezing but when he does occasionally sneeze it doesn't sound good, and it sounds like he's badly congested. They said they couldn't get him to eat anything, but he inhaled most of a french fry, and then willingly took amoxicillin + benadryl + ivomec mixed in some ice cream, so he probably just didn't have enough of an appetite to be tempted by blocks if that was all they offered him. Vets closed today so I'm making him an appointment in the morning, though since I've already got antibiotics and parasite meds they probably won't do much.  I obviously can't introduce him to Brumby until he's better, so I'm getting ready to set up a little hospital tank for him for now. I'm doing the amoxicillin and benadryl every 4 hours, and the ivomec he's already taken should nuke all the bugs he's got. Heading out to get pedialyte, kmr, ensure, baby cereal, and some probiotics. The vet may want to go with a different antibiotic but unless he uncovers something weird that will probably be all he needs. As much of an appetite as he has, and as curious and alert as he is, I don't see him dying unless he just takes a really bad turn for the worse. He badly needs a bath but as bad as his lungs sound, I don't want to make him panic and risk respiratory distress so he's just going to have to be stinky for now.     He's about 7-8 weeks old, he looks bigger in the pictures because he's all hunched and puffed up. I am naming him Bagheera. 
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Mar 4, 2012 19:39
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Superconsndar posted:I just got The Sickest Rat That's awesome of the pet store employees, even if he is "just" a $3 rat to the managers. Good choice of names, madam. I approve. 
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Mar 5, 2012 04:11
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You are awesome for taking in a sick rat, and he's really gorgeous too. If he's hung in there this long maybe he has a good chance of recovery now that he's eating and you have meds for him.Invalid Octopus posted:Cross-posting from Random Nonsense. Balance problems can be ear infections (can be nasty and need medication immediately), pituitary tumors - these happen mostly with older rats I think? And I have also heard of rats being born with a vestibular condition much like the one that affects cats. If Patti is a geriatric ratty it could be regular old hind limb weakness. Though I'm curious what makes your vet say its not a tumor? Can you set her up in a single story cage at all? Poor girl edit: Sorry, you told us how old she is before - about 1.5 years? Has she always had this problem? Big Bug Hug fucked around with this message at 04:55 on Mar 5, 2012 |
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Mar 5, 2012 04:49
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Big Bug Hug posted:You are awesome for taking in a sick rat, and he's really gorgeous too. If he's hung in there this long maybe he has a good chance of recovery now that he's eating and you have meds for him. Yeah, I don't totally buy the bad eyesight = stumbling all over thing. He said he thought it wasn't a tumor because the symptoms were intermittent in her gait and there wasn't porphyrin in her ear. I wasn't there for the vet visit, this is all second-hand from my SO. This is not our usual vet, by the way, and we have an appointment with usual vet tomorrow. I don't know how experienced New Vet is with rats, but he was recommended to us by the hospital we usually go to. Old Vet cancelled our initial appointment due to sickness and we wanted to get her looked at ASAP. I don't have a single story cage to set her up in, but I've rearranged the current cage a bit. Personally, I still think it's a pituitary tumor, with the slight leg favoring because of the falling. Old Vet is great with rats, and will hopefully be more helpful than New Vet. And, yeah, 1.5 years.
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Mar 5, 2012 05:07
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Well, fingers crossed for you and Patti. Let us know what they say. I admit a tumor is probably the most likely candidate, but that sucks Anyway since I mentioned it, here are some rats with suspected vestibular balance disorder. They were born in the same litter and are perfectly healthy otherwise. I never heard of a rat with this until I read about these guys (on an Aussie forum) http://youtu.be/Kmi0O-56pnc There's a pretty big difference between this and being slightly off balance though!
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Mar 5, 2012 08:01
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Big Bug Hug posted:Well, fingers crossed for you and Patti. Let us know what they say. I admit a tumor is probably the most likely candidate, but that sucks Thanks . Yeah, it's definitely a progressive thing – though not nearly as bad as the video. I'm eager to find out what the vet has to say. Even bad news is better than no news at all.
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Mar 5, 2012 08:16
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Invalid Octopus posted:Is there a reason you haven't bothered litter box training them? It's easier than picking up all their poop by hand... I got them both at about 9 months of age, so I thought they might be too old at this point. I'm new to rat-care so there are still a lot of things I need to learn I guess. Big Bug Hug posted:Get them a corner litter box with some recycled paper litter, and when you pick up the poops, put them all in the box. They should catch on pretty quickly. I will definitely be trying this though. Thanks!
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Mar 5, 2012 16:29
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Old Vet says it's definitely a tumor, and that we're good rat owners to catch it so early. So now she's on some ludicrously expensive medication and we'll see how long that takes her. Vet didn't want to give an estimate, but when SO asked if she'd make 6 months, he said she probably would. So that's that.
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Mar 5, 2012 16:46
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Big Bug Hug posted:Well, fingers crossed for you and Patti. Let us know what they say. I admit a tumor is probably the most likely candidate, but that sucks Wobbly Rat Syndrome  Although it does make me cringe when they full-on ram their nose into things.
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Mar 5, 2012 17:40
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Random question; is there any significant difference from your standard feeders and fancy rats other than size? Like how friendly they are, if they have any significant health differences etc etc. I'm just curious.
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Mar 5, 2012 18:20
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Bear Rape posted:Random question; is there any significant difference from your standard feeders and fancy rats other than size? Like how friendly they are, if they have any significant health differences etc etc. I'm just curious. There's not even a size difference. The difference between a "feeder" rat and a "fancy" rat is the label on the tank they're in. The PEW or black hooded in the feeder tank could easily be a littermate of the ~blue rex dumbo~ in the "fancy" rat tank.
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Mar 5, 2012 19:11
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