sometimes i dont want to own rats anymore

[kim]

its just not a good time to own my rats right now.

noodle has the inoperable tumor under her tail...its getting larger. shes still active and eating, but eventually the time will come. just recently shes started to look a little scruffy and i think ive heard a few sneezes. im hoping it hasnt metastasized.

nixon has always been sick, but bless her she made it to two. her eyelid is swollen but responding to treatment -- i think she scratched it. her skin is problematic again. her breathing is crappy again. more meds. i think shes been in meds half her life.

uno is probably in congestive heart failure of some sort. her feet are purple. she weighs probably half what she normally does. shes eating and still moderately active but she makes me hurt to look at her.

echo has a skin condition now and a recurring abscess.

i love my rats but i hate dealing with this.

and i hate having them get old.

questions ---
in noodles case -- how many of you have removed tumors in this area, or have you just left them? i am just probably going to leave it. i cant imagine this turning out well in her case.

in nixons case, its a chronic condition.

in uno's case -- what treatments have you used for congestive heart failure? lasix, enalapril? how long did that give you?

[-Kelly-]

So sorry Kim Sometimes it can get overwhelming, but it's worth it. {Hugs}

[BabyBlue]

I lost my sweet runt baby this morning and thought the same thing...

[sugarfoxx]

I know how you feel believe me I do.

I lost my 3 year old rat the first week of July. A month later (last week) I held my other 3 year old while he died in my arms. They were brothers.  After being up till 5am and mourning all day......that evening my himy twins were gasping for air and off to the ER vet we went. We spent $800 to treat them. They were there in an oxygen filled isolette for three nights.
 A few days later, my two year old PEW had a swollen and purple testicle and yesterday they did an emergency castration on him. He also has myco like the twin himys and I am treating the other cage mate just in case.  We spent $400 and today we had to go back cause he licked the glue off and his incision opened.
On top of it all.....two female rescues had babies a week apart.....first litter had 8, second litter had 15........I had no idea they were pregnant.
All the while I forgot I had two sweet mice in the tank above the rattie cages which I have a female and her litter in two seperate cages.....the four boys in one huge cage.....the other two boys in another cage and two mice that are in a smaller tank so that means all in all I have 6 cages to walk around.....and once I divide up all the babies......boys in one cage and girls in another (gotta buy two big ones first!) Oh but I do have a wonderful person that offered to adopt many of the babies......but I cant stand the thought of parting with them!  The second litter are still squirmy babies with eyes shut yet but the other ones are  2 weeks old and starting to eat and drink from he bottle!
It is hearbreaking. I am still mourning the loss of Patterson.  I miss Furman like crazy and I am worried about Mister Jingles. I see the age in Louies eyes.  I hate the wheezing sounds the twins make.  

........but they love me.......ohhhhhhhhhhh  do they love me.  Charlotte was a rescue rattie and bites......I have come to the conclusion she uses her mouth and teeth to communicate with me.....like for example.....when she is nursing and gets distracted.....she runs out of the igloo with babies still attached and wants me to hold her NOW!  I have to help her collect the babies that are rolling around outside the igloo and put them in the nest. She is so hyper she wont help.....she wants me to pick her up and paces while I put the babies away.....finally she has had enough of waiting so she grabs my arm and bites down. It hurts plenty but she is holding back.......she could do it much harder but she is "telling me" that she wants out and I am not moving fast enough! LOL
I pick her up once the babies are in the igloo and she huffs a few times.....turns around...stands up toward me and wants a kiss.....which I must proceed with caution because she bites my lips too! After the careful kiss......she bruxes endlessly.

its worth it.  they love and adore us. They deserve to be pets.  we need to understanding that this is they way of the rattie life cycle is.  they are not being robbed of life. we are robbed of their lives but I would rather love the rats for the time they are here than not have them at all.

Hang in there.......email me anytime you want to talk.

Sandy

[Adventure Rats]

Tell me about it This has been the roughest few months in a very long time.

For the congestive heart failure, I have 2 right now with fluids in chest, no purple but may be getting there. We are using lasix 2X a day and Flovent to help open the air ways up. The Flovent is an inhaled steroid and administered using a chamber. It's costly but I have seen a little improvement. They haven't gotten worse that's for sure.

Best of luck. I feel your pain and frustration. (((HUGS)))

[LoveMidnight]

I'm sorry Kim, I think a lot of us know what you are feeling It is very hard and I told my self so many times back in January when we had SDA take far to many lives here, that that was it no more new rats, I couldn't handle it , I was making myself sick physically because I the pain and anger I was feeling.

Than the MP rescue came along, we have 5 newer MP rescues, along with quite a few others who have come along in the last month.

We had Dusk pts about a week ago, that was very hard for me. I have several who are aging and nearing 3, it is hard.

But all I can tell myself is that besides the love they give us and we give them, and the joy we bring each other the most important thing was the pain I felt when I lost one. My goodness these rats had someone who loved them so much that they cried and hurt when they were gone. To many rats don't have that, have no one who loved them and remembers them in their passing.

So the greatest I can offer is to love as many ratties as possible thoughtout my life and to cry for and remember every single one of them!

*many hugs* you will make it through it all and love many more in the future.

Sorry I have no advice for your little ones.

Marie

[menagerie]

But all I can tell myself is that besides the love they give us and we give them, and the joy we bring each other the most important thing was the pain I felt when I lost one. My goodness these rats had someone who loved them so much that they cried and hurt when they were gone. To many rats don't have that, have no one who loved them and remembers them in their passing.

So the greatest I can offer is to love as many ratties as possible thoughtout my life and to cry for and remember every single one of them!

Marie, that was beautiful and so true.

[sugarfoxx]

I am crying now just reading this

People that do not like rats will never understand. Soooooo many people that know me say I dont look like someone that owns rats. Oh really what should I have? Three eyes???
I tell them rats mean to me what a dog or cat would mean to someone else. Best friend.....wait for you at the door (their cage door) when they havent seen you all day.....waiting for you to talk to them, play and cuddle with them and all the wonderful things we do for them that they love so much.
I have a bond with my rats that only people like YOU understand.
They are not "just rats" they are our PETS!!!!  

[elegy]

i hear you kim. it sucks sometimes, it really does. i get so frustrated sometimes when i'm trying to fix or have fixed my little guys with all their problems and the information is just not out there on how to treat them. my vet called half a dozen people for me about jon, all of whom she considered "experts", and nobody could offer much advice.

i'm sorry you have so many sick at once  

debbie d claims that enalapril is safe enough to use as a diagnostic tool. i don't know how you or your vet feel about that but maybe it would be worth a try?

[Fidget]

we need to understanding that this is they way of the rattie life cycle is.  they are not being robbed of life. we are robbed of their lives but I would rather love the rats for the time they are here than not have them at all.

Beautifully put Sugarfoxx.
Hang in there Kim.  I decided I'd had enough once after my final one died, and I made it a whole 2 months before I decided anything was worth it to have them in my life.  And I got my precious Nellie, and then Ladybug, and then Will'o'the whisper, and then........

[TopoLM]

sigh...   I learned the hard way not to get a large number of ratties from the same family. 4 boys. Lost three of them like dominoes. The 4th boy, my precious troublemaker Jaws, is fighting the good fight as we speak.

Sandy, do they have Regional Occupational Programs out your way? I highly recommend you take the Vet Tech course if they do! I think a little "professional" knowledge will help with the stress you're under. I just read your post on the RMCA forum and am so sad for you.  Hugs!

As Sandy says, people just don't understand our attachment to this little furry "vermin." When I lost my Nicodemus I was so totally crushed. I buried my favorite rosary with him. I got lucky and leaned on a friend who also happens to be a priest. He said I should embrace my grief and thank Nicodemus for giving it to me. Sounded like odd advice to me, but he continued by saying every time  our hearts break from loss, be it the end of a life or the end of a relationship, the break provides access for growth. Our hearts expand and "next time" we have a greater capacity to love.

[SBContreras]

But all I can tell myself is that besides the love they give us and we give them, and the joy we bring each other the most important thing was the pain I felt when I lost one. My goodness these rats had someone who loved them so much that they cried and hurt when they were gone. To many rats don't have that, have no one who loved them and remembers them in their passing.

So the greatest I can offer is to love as many ratties as possible thoughtout my life and to cry for and remember every single one of them!
Marie

Can I frame this ? (with attribution, of course!)

[flambled]

Posted by Kim "questions ---
in noodles case -- how many of you have removed tumors in this area, or have you just left them? i am just probably going to leave it. i cant imagine this turning out well in her case. "

I just had a tumor removed from Rattilda today.  It was sort of under her tail.  It was more beside her tail though.  Other than her being a little "drunk" after the surgery she has been fine.  The vet said it was a little more bloody than he expected, but the removal went fine.  Rattilda is 2 years 4 months.  She also had a small mammory tumor that the vet removed today.  He never said if he thought the one near the tail was a mammory tumor for sure.  He said it did look a little far back to be one before he did the surgery though.  Good luck with your rattie Noodles.  I'm sure you will make the right decision for her.  (((Hugs!)))

Belinda

[deniseratlover]

Man, I know how you feel.

I jsut had a tumor removed on Cream which was 216. 18. That was right after getting meds for Flash's toe. The Carmel is blind. Cassie and Estella need to be spayed (I'll do almost anything to keep those annoying tumors away), and they're almost 1. Carmel and Cream are both 3 and 3 months and I can see that they're feeling it. The bad part is, I don't really have anything that can earn me money. All I need is a garage sale and then I have really good hope of paying off for that tumor removal and getting a girl spayed.

[Eileen]

in uno's case -- what treatments have you used for congestive heart failure? lasix, enalapril? how long did that give you?

Sigh. I'm sorry Kim, I know how you feel too.
I can't comment on your first two questions, but about a month ago, Agatha went into congestive heart failure. We were able to stabilize her, she is on Lasix twice a day and Enalapril once a day.
Debbie recommended .25mg/lb. Since Agatha was about 420 grams (almost a lb), we just went with .25.
So I get a 2.5mg tablet, & cut it up into 10 pcs, and she gets one little piece every day.
It has helped her **tremendously**.
With the Lasix, you just have to watch that they don't get dehydrated as it is a diuretic. Agatha has never had a problem with this. No polyuria, no dehydration.

She had the problem on June 22ndd, & she's still with me though she's getting older to me.

As far as her color, can you get  her on oxygen at all? The day Agatha crashed, I rushed her in & we put her under a canine anesthesia mask on an anesthesia machine (obviously using only O2).

Enalapril is used as a diagnostic took for CHF - if your rat shows improvement, that it what they have.
I find it to be safe & very effective. I know it saved Agatha.

Also, Agatha lost a lot of weight, & I make this oatmeal concoction with all her meds in it. It's oatmeal & green barley, and it's really put weight on. You can add Nutrical too. I don't put the Enalapril in it just in case she doesn't want to eat, plus I want to be positive she gets it, so I give that PO via syringe.

I hope I helped a bit. I know, it hurts to do the best you can and it still not be enough. I learned why they call it heartache, it really does hurt your heart.

[Heather]

They are not "just rats" they are our PETS!!!!  

No, they're our FAMILY.