Hi guys,
Random Ghostboy update for you all. The six boys are doing well, with a few bumps in the road, pun intended.
Just one week after my last update with the Corn Cob Night pics, I noticed a lump on Tucker about the size of a grape. My poor big man. For anyone who doesn't know, Tucker is my laid back Marlon Brando alpha boy, and he and his brother Jeffrey (Indiana Jones) are the original two of all of my current rats.
So, I took him into the vet this last Thursday and had it removed. The vet said it was loose and unconnected like a benign tumor, but was hard and dense like he's seen with fibrous malignancies. However, the cell structure under the microscope didn't look cancerous. I've had him send the tumor off to be biopsied to see what the heck it is.
He is bouncing back quickly from the surgery. Here he is the day of surgery sporting his new hair cut and pirate scar and a bit stoned from the morphine still. We joked that he was ticked at us for discovering his sub-dermal spy implant and taking it out. He just thought he was being sneaky in his plans for world domination.
Woaaah. Steady now. No falling over. Must find that delicious piece of egg I saw earlier on the table.
Nom nom nom. Victory is mine! Eggy Goodness mmmmm.
Now, five days later, here's another couple of views of his surgery.
Is that hair growing back in spotty patches?
Skinner, half of my neutered hairless duo has become a domestic queen. Long gone are the days when he used to be terrified of King Tucker. He's been taking such good care of him this week.
Skinner's been very, VERY, busy.
Meanwhile, Black Pete, younger half brother to Tucker and Jeffrey has been sticking close to his favorite big brother buddy, hero, and friend Jeffrey. Scruffy Jeffrey is showing the kid the ropes.
And lest he be forgotten, here's a shot of my mellow man Melon, the other half of my hairless duo, enjoying top spot in the newest hammock this morning. Mmmm. Snugglygoodness.
I don't have any pics of number six boy Zmei, but he's had a busy week. He spent the evening at the library while I worked there last Thursday. He met lots of friends, and hung out in my neck donut sling-his favorite place-coming out for some occasional luvin. A child fed him his first dumdum sucker during the visit. You don't know funny until you've seen a rat try to secure a sticky ball of high fructose corn syrup and flavoring on a stick.
He tried grasping the ball, but his fingers kept sticking. He tried biting the ball, but his teeth kept sticking. He tried licking the ball, but it kept rolling away. He tried grasping the ball, but his fingers kept sticking. He tried biting the ball, but...you get the idea. Rinse and repeat as often as necessary.
Random Ghostboy update for you all. The six boys are doing well, with a few bumps in the road, pun intended.
Just one week after my last update with the Corn Cob Night pics, I noticed a lump on Tucker about the size of a grape. My poor big man. For anyone who doesn't know, Tucker is my laid back Marlon Brando alpha boy, and he and his brother Jeffrey (Indiana Jones) are the original two of all of my current rats.
So, I took him into the vet this last Thursday and had it removed. The vet said it was loose and unconnected like a benign tumor, but was hard and dense like he's seen with fibrous malignancies. However, the cell structure under the microscope didn't look cancerous. I've had him send the tumor off to be biopsied to see what the heck it is.
He is bouncing back quickly from the surgery. Here he is the day of surgery sporting his new hair cut and pirate scar and a bit stoned from the morphine still. We joked that he was ticked at us for discovering his sub-dermal spy implant and taking it out. He just thought he was being sneaky in his plans for world domination.
Woaaah. Steady now. No falling over. Must find that delicious piece of egg I saw earlier on the table.
Nom nom nom. Victory is mine! Eggy Goodness mmmmm.
Now, five days later, here's another couple of views of his surgery.
Is that hair growing back in spotty patches?
Skinner, half of my neutered hairless duo has become a domestic queen. Long gone are the days when he used to be terrified of King Tucker. He's been taking such good care of him this week.
Skinner's been very, VERY, busy.
Meanwhile, Black Pete, younger half brother to Tucker and Jeffrey has been sticking close to his favorite big brother buddy, hero, and friend Jeffrey. Scruffy Jeffrey is showing the kid the ropes.
And lest he be forgotten, here's a shot of my mellow man Melon, the other half of my hairless duo, enjoying top spot in the newest hammock this morning. Mmmm. Snugglygoodness.
I don't have any pics of number six boy Zmei, but he's had a busy week. He spent the evening at the library while I worked there last Thursday. He met lots of friends, and hung out in my neck donut sling-his favorite place-coming out for some occasional luvin. A child fed him his first dumdum sucker during the visit. You don't know funny until you've seen a rat try to secure a sticky ball of high fructose corn syrup and flavoring on a stick.
He tried grasping the ball, but his fingers kept sticking. He tried biting the ball, but his teeth kept sticking. He tried licking the ball, but it kept rolling away. He tried grasping the ball, but his fingers kept sticking. He tried biting the ball, but...you get the idea. Rinse and repeat as often as necessary.