Gone but not forgotten: Snort and Teeth - AKA Tumor Twins

It's appropriate that Snort (the light one) and Teeth (the dark one) be blogged together. They came to us from the SPCA. I convinced Husband that it would be nice to get rats as I had them many years ago and they were interesting and smart creatures. Telling my husband that they were low maintenance (HAHAHAHAHA) and cute (which they are) and the sweet man he is, we went and took Snort and Teeth home.

Snort was a gentle, sweet soul. We believe that both were abused in some form before we got them. Snort would get frightened quite easily and pee. When she eventually realized that we would not hurt her and only good things came with the "big hand", like cool treats, she turned out to be a sweet soul that liked to just sit on your lap. Snort had some kind of respiratory issue - perhaps the equivalent of allergies/hayfever. The vet said she sounded fine - no problem with her lungs or heart. She also had to have a mammary tumor taken out. One evening we went to the cage and saw her lying in a funny position. It seems that she had a stroke. Thinking she was dying, we held her for a number of hours. Her condition didn't change during that time so we decided to watch her overnight. She didn't improve and was very lethargic and had the polyphorin around her eyes and nose. We took her to the vet where it was decided that she be put to sleep.

Teeth, on the other hand, was quite a fighter. Instead of being a timid scared she was a mean scared. She was a hard biter and didn't like to let go when she did. After seeing web articles about forced socialization, we went and bought a pair of canvas gardening gloves and gave it a go. Slowly but surely she relented and, like Snort, realized that the "big hand" was her friend. She turned out to be the biggest baby and would lay on my shouder/chest area for hours and be petted. Teeth didn't have the respiratory issues that Snort did, but she was quite prone to tumors. We had two taken out and after the second one we determined that we would not put her through a third surgery. It seemed to have aged her and she took quite a bit to recover. Of course, she ended up growing two more tumors and we decided that we would let her go until it was affecting her quality of life. She started growing these tumors before Snort got sick so for Snort's short illness and death we were unprepared and it seemed a little harder to accept at first. Teeth, the fighter as always, lasted quite awhile until we were feeding the tumors more than her. We believe that she was at least 3 years old when she passed, which is quite good for a rat - especially one that had a hard beginning.

Even after all the cost and work, neither of us would have passed on the opportunity to have Snort and Teeth with us. They were great ambassadors to the joy of ratkeeping.

Gone but not forgotten: Sly

This is Sly, who came to us with his brother Scully. He passed away about a month and a half after we got him. He was probably a little ill when we first got him. We were told he was shy which was a bit of an understatement. We watched him lose weight and took him to the vet's many times with numerous medication attempts. In order to get him to eat, I would have to hold and sit with him. He passed away when I was holding him. We are not sure what it was that made him sick, but the vet thinks cancer. Don't believe it when someone tells you that all rats forget their bonds. Scully never was quite the same afterwards and Sly's other cagemates shunned me for a while.

BOGGLE

This is Boggle. She came to us sort of as a rescue. We saw an ad on Craigslist where it said "come and get my rat". Intrigued, we emailed and found that she was dinner that a snake refused. Already at five and really should be at four, we couldn't NOT take her. She also has no tail. She was born this way. She looks like a hybrid hamster, but very sweet to us and a terrible pest to her cagemates, especially Nibble. We were told she was about six months old, but I think she was a little younger due to her brattiness. She also likes to be petted, just like a cat. Even though we had to get a bigger cage to accomodate six rats, we wouldn't have done anything different.

SIGGY

Siggy, short for Seigfried, came to us with her sister Albie. We call her Siggy because she likes to try to put her head in your mouth. She is not as outgoing as her sister, but she is still quite curious and likes to get out and climb. We are overjoyed to have these two with us!

ALBIE

This is Albie, short for Albino. She is a very curious and friendly young lady. She was brought home with her sister Siggy. She loves to climb and is quite the adventurer. Her and Siggy like to play "bait and switch". One will distract us and the other will try to climb onto the top of the cage.

Houdini

Houdini came to us with her sister Nibble. She is aptly named as when in her youth she lived to escape from the cage. Because of those escapes she has been a little skittish, but is getting better in her old age and while is not happy about being out of the cage will be one of the first to be at the cage door to see what YOU are doing. She has bonded with Scully and they are inseparable.

Nibble

Nibble came to us with her sister Houdini as babies from a local petstore. We believe she is a little blind as she weaves her head side to side to try to see us a little better. Nibble loves to hoard all the food at the bottom of the cage and is quite the chirper when playing with her cagemates.

Scully

Scully came to us with his brother Sly about a year ago from a rescue. He was quite friendly, but became a lot more shy after his brother passed away. He is currently residing with five females. He may look a little different because he is hairless, but we adore him anyways!

WELCOME

Welcome to the site where rats rock. I am currently owned by one beautiful female cat and six gorgeous rats - five females and one poor neutered male.

We will start with the cat: Miss Kitty Cat.

She was found at the SPCA. She was a stray, so they weren't sure of her age, but they estimated her to about a year old. That would make her, in 2006, to be about 14 years old. She has been through many changes with me and I can't imagine a more special animal to have undergone those changes with.