Rattus norvegicus

We've had an empty nest (empty of human children, anyway) since Friday, when L left for a fifteen day trip with her grandparents.  I've never been apart from her for this length of time before, and it's already very strange.  I've been left in charge of her babies (seven rats and a hamster) and have inherited her other animal-care chores (just some minor duties for the rabbits and guinea pigs) while she's gone.

Trixie, one of the 1-yr old girls rats, recently had a tumor removed at the UW Vet School Clinic. The tumor was benign, but it began growing very aggressively and quickly became enormous (the size of a kiwi fruit), interfering with her mobility and needed to be removed before it started interfering with her elimination. The tumor was in a very bad spot--back between her legs, wrapped through the genitals and organs, so our vet didn't feel comfortable doing the surgery. She was healthy otherwise, so after many vet visits and tests, Dr. Baker at the vet school successfully removed the tumor. Because it was a mammary tumor, it was hormone fed, so Trixie was given an implant--basically a chemical spay--so it doesn't return.

We are planning to get implants in the other four girls as soon as our regular vet receives the implants. These will help prevent similar tumors in the other girls.  We've also discovered that they will be vital for restoring peace to the colony.

Trixie was the dominant "alpha" rat prior to the implant, and she returned much more mellow and uninterested in being in charge. That kind of threw the rest of the girls into chaos. Thursday night, sometime after midnight, L came running down to tell me that Star had been bitten by one of her sisters (the one who seems most interested in being in charge now, and she was also in heat at the time), and it was obvious that she would need stitches. It wasn't actively bleeding, so we were able to get her fixed up and set until morning, when we could get her stitched up. We brought her home Friday afternoon, all stitched up and ready to come home in her cone of shame. She's on clavamox (antibiotic) and metacam (pain drugs) twice a day, and I have to watch for an abscess. So far it looks good. Luce left a couple of hours later.  I get stressed about keeping everything straight with their various drugs, food, treats, play time routines, and now I have the additional stress of poor Star, who is temporarily in a cage by herself (we don't want her siblings to remove the stitches for her) in an e-collar. 

She's lonely and depressed, so I have to spend several extra hours in her room with Star out for socialization and collar-free time. She has to be watched constantly, because we don't want her chewing on/licking her wound.  Yesterday she was obsessed with it, and I was up distracting her about every 2-3 minutes. Today, she didn't bother it at all, which makes me really want to leave the horrible collar off of her. BUT if I did that, and she reopened her wound, L would be very unhappy with me. When I put the collar back on her after her free time, I feel like a horrible, cruel vivisector. She knows what's coming and hates it, and fights it, and has no comprehension of why I'm doing something so seemingly cruel to her. I would so rather L was here being the bad guy. It bothers her less.

Despite the fact that I'm not thrilled about spending a total of 3-4 hours in my daughter's room every day when I should be doing other things, the little guys are so much fun to spend time with! They are smart and funny and very entertaining.  This afternoon, Dej came over to hang with the rats and me, while the guys (Mark, my dad, and Russ) were at the Superman movie.  We played with the rats and worked on selected her classes for UWW next fall.

Flower loves to drink out of cups and wouldn't leave Dej's water alone.  I had to chuckle, because even we, animal freaks extraordinaire, have our limits. Dej had no problem drinking the water after Flower helped herself. When Flower came back for more, she liked it so well, she jumped up on the cup and drank it and got her feet in it. That was the limit. Dej had to get a fresh refill, because she wouldn't drink after the feet. Of course Flower helped herself to the refill as well, but at least she didn't put her feet in it again.

L left me directions (these are just the rat directions; hamster directions are in a different location.) and was very pointed about the treats. Apparently I am not to be trusted (she thinks I'm a pushover with the rats) totally with their treats, as yet again, she has written in all caps, "ONE A DAY."