[lilspaz68]

I went on Sunday on a long trip to pick up 2 "medium" boys. They were bought along with 8 other small babies 3 weeks ago to be fed to the husband's snakes, but the wife fell in love with the black and white hooded boy, since he was soo friendly and handleable. She named him Contagion. Then she found him a friend and named him Dusty. She was very happy I was not going to feed these 2 rats to another animal and actually came with her husband to drop them off.

Unfortunately Contagion was a girl. A 7-8 week old girl who weighs 142 grams, with the solid feeling belly and little bulges on the side that make rescuers worry. And of course Dusty was a boy. HOW do you not miss the torpedoes??

So teeny Contagion (renamed Sage) and I are off to see my vet on Thursday morning to see if she's well enough (URI on top of it) and big enough to handle an e-spay. Poor little lass.

The boy Dusty is the pretty one, he should be the girl. he's actually the lightest smeeze I have ever seen.

He was very shy, but is settling in well, and actually likes to lie in my arms as I pat him, looking up at me

Contagion now Sage was described as having a neurological issue, like Tourettes...yeah she was sick. : Sneezing, bracing herself, shaking her front paws then grooming her stuffy nose.

I took pics of her with a 3 week old boy so you could see how tiny she really is...you can see the baby fur on both of their heads.

and this morning I got the Belly Pics...sigh. :-\ It's in my vet's hands on Thursday I guess.

Here she is swallowing, after another bout of congested sneezing

Rearing on command

Stealing my coffee

 

[Storyseeker]

(Guh! If I hear that "Congratulations Apple Iphone" sound clip attached to this forum one more time I'm going to have a stroke. That thing always makes me jump in my chair if the sound is up. )


Poor girl. Okay Contagion/Sage, you be strong little bit. Let's get you healthy and espayed. Dusty looks like a himi he's so light esp. since his bum isn't clear. They're both so tiny and dainty.

I get overly philosophical sometimes. It's so easy to pound my head over human indifference until I remember that the self interested indifference is a natural state of all animals, human or otherwise. I don't feel a sense of depression or negativity over the fact. It's the survival of the fittest that animals live by.

What's special to me, and what I cherish, is the capability to care for other creatures, even those not one's own kind, and to work for their betterment at one's own expense on a regular basis. What a light it is.

 

[lilspaz68]

Sage is actually more congested this morning. A sick baby makes me very sad. A sick, pregnant baby makes me sadder. I have a feeling she may not be getting her surgery on Thursday.

I thought Dusty was a himi as well, but his eyes are definitely ruby not pink (himilayan) and he has the faintest butt smudge/shading, which is also not himi. Here in my province...siamese are the new blue. They don't care that they are light, or very lightly marked, as long as they are siamese and the "breeders" can sell them as such...sigh.

 

[Elliriyanna]

Poor thing How could you not so easily sex a rat? If you cant sex them dont get them UGH and it shows how little time was spent with them if they did not notice the genitals were different.

 

[lilspaz68]

Poor thing How could you not so easily sex a rat? If you cant sex them dont get them UGH and it shows how little time was spent with them if they did not notice the genitals were different.

Well they were feeder rats destined as dinner, but because the girlfriend fell in love with them, they were handled and they tried to find a good pet home for them, but the operative word is "handled"...knew Dusty was a boy, but had no clue about Sage...

 

[Elliriyanna]

Sorry it just seems so basic to me but I cant tell you how many people I have had to sex their pets for.

 

[lilspaz68]

Sorry it just seems so basic to me but I cant tell you how many people I have had to sex their pets for.

I know! But I can sex pinkies at 3 days of age, and I find it funny others wait until the testes drop on the baby boy rats LOL

Not so good news...Sage has gained 5 grams since this morning, making it a 12 gram gain in 24 hours...sigh. This appointment might be too late!

 

[Elliriyanna]

How late can they do it?

 

[lilspaz68]

and we have new pics

and I discovered I am DOOMED. Sage is a lip flapper, that just melts my heart. :heart: :heart:

 

[lilspaz68]

How late can they do it?

My vet and I had an awesome, candid talk about how late he was comfortable e-spaying. He will do it up to almost full-term (most will only do it in the first 2 weeks) BUT with little Sage, she is tiny and she's sick, so may not be a candidate for anesthetic/surgery. I am listening to her congested sneezing right now...poor little lass.

 

[Elliriyanna]

aww poor thing Almost seems like letting her have this last litter would be safer than the anesthesia. No matter what I hope she is ok. '

Adorable pics though

 

[lilspaz68]

aww poor thing Almost seems like letting her have this last litter would be safer than the anesthesia. No matter what I hope she is ok. '

Adorable pics though

It's so tricky because the pregnancy, labour and nursing, could end up damaging her health even more...fine line drawn. Vet's call.

 

[Elliriyanna]

aww let us know how it goes

 

[luvboyrats]

I'm sorry to hear about the struggles your new kiddo is going through. They are both beautiful and very sweet looking by the way.

I'm sure you know all the tricks, but when I had a couple of very congested ratties I rescued one time, taking them into a steaming bathroom for a while seemed to at least temporarily help with symptoms and give them some comfort and rest.

I hope she gets well fast enough to safely have the espay and if not I hope she delivers safely.

I understand your frustration. I used to go to this one petstore that would inevitably missex one or two rats and have them in the wrong cage, which means any buyer who took a female was probably getting more than they bargained for. I never understood it. Even if you're not an animal expert, have you ever seen human boy parts? They're pretty identifiable! And compared to other species and their tiny little bodies, their testes are just ginormous! The only way I could ever see someone being unclear on sexing rats is if they've actually only seen girls. The first boy you see is sorta like, "oh I see, so it's obvious!" Now I'm not as good as some are about sexing them in the first few days, I think mainly because I haven't raised as many litters as some, but in this case, with rats that are several weeks old, there is just no excuse!

 

[Vladina]

Arrghh, I am so sorry for Sage...what a sweet, beautiful girl she is. Just a doll. If I can fall in love with her by just seeing photos, (with that adorable little tongue sticking out of her mouth) I can only imagine how much your heart is melting. I hope very much that she will be okay and get through this, whichever way the vet decides to go with her. I hope all will be well. Poor sweetie...and a URI on top of all of this. Sigh. I am glad you have her Lilspaz. Keep us posted. Hang in there Sage!

 

[lilspaz68]

You may fall in love with her just a bit more now..

I got a video of her lipsmacking. Some very special rats do this as a version of bruxxing. They still will do regular bruxxing but this is their favorite thing, rolling their tongue out and smacking their lips together. They are usually very happy beasties when you see this

 

[Vladina]

Augghh! OMG, you are right..I melted, big time. What a sweetie!!
I love when ratties do that! Thanks for getting that on video!!

 

[lilspaz68]

And some good news as well...she's lost weight again, and her congestion is improving YAY!!!

 

[Vladina]

Hurray!!! That is great news! Good Karma for special Sage, I have high hopes for her. :dream:

 

[jamesReid]

She will be fine.. I have spoken with the great rat god.. He says she will be fine!! P.S. the rat god is me.. since I was born in the year of the rat.. so I had a conversation with myself.. and myself said she will be fine!! Thats my way of staying positive!! lol