Skippity Doo-Dah

Skip is one of the Portsmouth babies. He and his two half-brothers (?) have been kept back from homing as they hadn't been thriving and there is a history of megacolon in the group. They have been doing pretty well and are the loveliest boys in the world, full of mischief and fun! On Sunday I noticed happily that Skip's bottom was unusually clean - he usually has slight diarrhoea and gets a bit messy. I should have occurred to me really that this wasn't necessarily a good thing as constipation is worse than diarrhoea in a rat with megacolon. So Monday at feed time he didn't come running straight out as usual and there he was at the back of his cage looking a bit sorry for himself. His tummy is a bit bloated, he is hunched up and quite quiet for him. Dave - being the utterly fabulous person that he is - went out at 10 oclock last night and bought a load of fruit which he then made into a smoothie! Skip attacked this with considerable enthusiasm and we gave him some antibiotics too to protect against infection. This morning I'm pleased to report that he is looking a lot brighter although he tummy is still swollen. So we are off to the vets this afternoon to get some treatment to help him to poo, bless him!

I am seriously, utterly in love with Skip. I can't begin to describe what a little hero he is. He really ought to be below average activeness but he is undoubtedly the silliest, bounciest, most playful little boy I have ever met. He is just so full of fun, you can't help but smile! So please keep everything crossed for him making a good recovery. He has defied the odds in coming this far, I'd like him to keep doing that for a very long time yet!