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Monday, October 22, 2012

Sore Feet, Big Lumps and Flying Rats

Polly hurt her foot a couple of weeks ago. At first I thought it was a sprain like Rocky had but it happened on a Saturday so I couldn't take her to the vet. By the time I got her to the vet on the Tuesday her foot was so badly swollen that I thought it was going to burst. Her toes were all sticking out at funny angles and they looked like little ratty sausages. It was much worse than Rocky's foot had ever been and so I reckoned it was a cut that had got infected. Polly was the perfect angel at the vet's. Even when she had a thermometer stuck up her bum. She was prescribed antibiotics and had to sleep in a separate cage for a few days.

One morning I woke up to find her little cage empty. I suspected she was under the sofa where her and Meka often hang out but she was curled up in a ball under the throw. I think it was her way of telling me she was fed up with her sick bed. She's well mended now but Meka's lump is rapidly growing. Rat's, especially females, are prone to mammary tumors but the vet thought it felt too soft and fatty. But it has grown considerably so now it drags on the ground when she walks. I have already discussed surgery with the vet. She's in good enough spirits and eats as well as she ever did but it's such a shame to see her carrying it around like a burden. The surgery could be dangerous for such a little critter though and I'm guessing the vet probably doesn't perform operations on rats that often.

As for Rocky, well, he's still a little oddball who keeps himself to himself but I've noticed he's slowing down. The other night he was perched on the edge of the little table he likes to sit on and he was lying on his side in a deep sleep, his wee paws and whiskers twitching away. I've never seen him sleep like that outside of his cage and I was kind of worried about him. I kept stroking him to see if he'd rouse but he just slept on. I'm a little neurotic when it comes to my ratties, and though I could see Rocky breathing I was thinking this could be his last hours and if he was dying he was better off in my arms. So I tried to pick him up thinking he'd be all limp and weak but I jolted him out of his sleep and he assumed his normal poised stance. Then I felt guilty and left him alone. Jakers came round later and Rocky was looking all relaxed again and I left him to it. We were in the middle of watching a film when we hear a thud. Rocky must have dozed off again and he'd been perched so close to the edge of the table that he fell off. Luckily he was fine but I'm sure it was a scare for him. After that I put him back in the cage with the girls where he snuggled deep into the saftey of the hammock.

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