The Mollie Girl

Well, I'm going to take a break from talking about the problems of my little boy ratties and share some happy (I think...) news. I've always wondered, why can't I have the type of rats I always see in the videos on Youtube?? With the rubbing and loving and sleeping on their person's lap. My rats have always been SOOO independent! They let me rub them a bit and then their off the destroy someting. :P
Yestereday though, I was up late giving medicine to some of my other rats and Molly (I'll have to post pics later because I'm at work right now...shhh...don't tell.), my girlie cow (hooded black/white rat), comes up on the bed and starts "bomping" away under the covers. Before I know it she's sleeping next to my leg. She's moves around from leg to leg to foot...at one point she was resting next to my face. It was crazy!! In fact, I've started worrying about it!! Like, what is she trying to tell me? Is she sick? She doesn't seem lethargic, she was just at the doctor...there were no tumors or anything. She's eating and drinking... After a long talk with my boss (who's husband is a Vet), we decided that we should just learn to be happy. That Mollie is doing what I've always wanted my ratties to do...so if she's happy, I should be happy.
Alrighty, I'm going to go since I should be working. But tonight I will for sure edit this and add some pic or video or something. I've decided that in addition to telling everyone about the problems I've had with our ratties, I'm going to use this blog like a diary. That way I can always look back and remember these moments more clearly. I just read through my first post about Annie and almost cried. But I tell you what, I'm super happy it was there, because it helped me remember how much I love her and how much I miss her! Sound sad? Not really, it just helps me appreciate the ones I have more. I'm going to go home and love them up until they want to scratch my eyeballs out! lol. :D

The Cows

Well wow...it's been a while since I've posted here...but I thought I better renew my efforts at keeping up my blogs. lol. We'll see how long this lasts. ;)

In the spirit of this blog, I thought I'd update ya'll about my Cows. I've got these three adorable ratties living together and they are all hooded black and white ratties (aka, The Cows). There are two boys, one girl. Max, Petey, and Mollie. I think I've described them briefly in an earlier post. Now I don't know exactly how old they are because all three of them were adopted from various humane type societies, but they've got to be getting up to the 2 year mark...if not surpassing it.

So here's my first update:

Before we moved into our new house (YAY!), we were living with my in-laws in a single bedroom. A very small one at that. By the time were about 6 months into this arrangement and had added 3 more rats to the 5 that I already had (a co-worker needed us to take them), the Cows were none too happy about sharing there space. So they started getting really patchy fur. I figured they were just over grooming because they were stressed. I wish I had taken pics so I could show you what it looks like, but I didn't. Just know that if your ratties start to get patchy, and there has been some change to their environment, it may be more than just stress!! Take them to your vet! It took me a while, but I finally did and it turned out they had developed mites. My vet explained that all animals have the potential for mites, but that as long as they are healthy and have good immune systems they naturally fight them off. But when your rattie gets sick or too stressed to fight, guess what takes over?? The Mites! Ewww! Don't worry, you can't even hardly see them. But they are itchy little buggers and your ratties will itch themselves raw trying to alleviate the irritations. Hence, patchy fur.

What to do?? It's actually a very easy fix. Especially if you create a safer, less stressful environment for your rats in addition to the medication. Which, luckily is what we were able to do. The meds are really easy too. It's just a liquid that you try to get as directly on the skin as possible (below their fur, otherwise they will lick most of it off) twice. Once right when the vet gives it to you and once in three weeks. My vet said sometimes ratties are immune to this method and then she says shots will be needed....but I would bet the first method would work for most rats. It did for mine. There fur has all grown back and they seem happier, so I'm pretty sure they are all better.

So, that's my experience with mites. I feel bad that I let it happen. I can't help but feel like it was my fault. And I don't know why it took me so long to get them into the vet. I just couldn't believe that would happen to my ratties. But, it did. So that's why I wanted to write about it. Maybe this will help someone else someday.

More on The Cows on my next posts. I've got Max's weight issues to discuss and Petey's leg problems. OH! And I almost forgot that I need to tell you all about the major traumas we had when we neutered them! How could I forget!! :( Ahhh, the joys of rat ownership!

Until then....

~ Melissa

P.S - Oh, and here's a Random Rattie Video for evidence that Rats are awesome pets despite the sometimes morbid nature of my posts. I think this one is Lulu attacking her favorite plant. I came home the mess you see in the video practically every day. I used to smell her paws to make sure it was her...they always smelled like dirt. I used to tell her that that is how she was always convicted of her heinous crimes. lol. She was such a cutie pie. :D Lulu passed in September 8th, 2010. She was surely one of the best rats who ever lived. She is greatly missed. XOXOX