An update

Blimey has it really been two weeks already? It is just non stop at the moment. After a week off work I have finally gotten on top of all the cleaning. But it's a bit like painting the forth bridge.

We've taken in even more animals in the last couple of weeks. One of the Portsmouth does, Marissa, gave birth to three babies but rejected them. Sadly two of them died but one, Eva, we managed to foster on to Meredith. This was keeping her alive but she was struggling to get a look in amongst Merediths already generous litter of older babies. So Lois, who was involved in the original rescue, very kindly drove another doe, Mandy, who gave birth around the same time as Marissa, to me and Mandy has luckily taken Eva on. Eva is now doing really well.

We also took in two very timid girls. Usual story - bought from a pet shop, never handled and people wonder why they are scared and bite! They'll be going out on foster with Tanya who adopted two scaredies from me earlier this year so that they can get more attention.

Also next weekend we should have quite a few babies heading out to their new homes. Justine, Maria, Jelena and Amelie, the Wimbledon girls, will also be off to their new home.

Three of the baby boys from the Portsmouth gang are causing me concern. They are very undersized and just not thriving. I've had to separate them from their Mum's now since they're that age but they're still so tiny. As they are largely white there is a chance they may have a genetic condition called megacolon which is fatal :( So for now we're just feeding them up and keeping a close eye on them. They are all lovely boys but one in particular, Skip, has really stolen my heart. He is such a norty little lad and as soon as he sees me he is up demanding attention. I really hope he is ok :(

Loki had her other op on Thursday to remove three more lumps. It all went well so now we are just waiting for the results to make sure they were benign. She had another blood test and her liver enzymes have gone down a lot which is really good news.

Back to work tomorrow. *sigh*

Bonkers

Things are officially bonkers here!

Having taken in 30 rats from the portsmouth rescue (who are all doing fantastically by the way), we got an urgent request for help from one of our previous adopters. A batch of baby rats were handed in to their vets surgery and their future was very uncertain.

So today I took in 11 beautiful baby boys - you can see pics of the rats needing homes page.

The good news is that the group of four girls - Thelma, Louise, Bridgette and Ariel - have gone to another foster home in Somerset where they'll get more time and attention to help them gain confidence.

But despite that, numbers of animals here at the moment are at an all time high - 123 to be precise! I dread to think how that might increase if any of the portsmouth girls do turn out to be pregnant.

Sad news - Chummy the Spiny Mouse passed away last night following a major bust up with Munchkin which left him badly injured and in deep shock. He was my favourite little guy - really sweet and friendly - so I am very saddened by his death. Poor Munchkin isn't looking great either - no injuries but he is very shocked and looking very sorry for himself :(

Pinkie Update

Everyone is doing well :D 12 healthy looking, warm pink wigglers :)

Here's a pic















I also took some pics of the older babies















Aren't they just delicious?

Newbies

Well I ended up taking in 30 rats yesterday. Phew! I hadn't intended it to be that many but there were 5 apparently nursing does and litters and I wanted to keep them together so they could share the feeding and to avoid separating out the wrong doe.

Amongst them was a litter of 13 teeny little pinkies with no obvious Mum. I put them in a cage with some two week olds and three of the Mums but several hours later no-one had shown any interest. So I have had to separate one of the does out into a very very small cage so that she really has no choice but to feed the babies. I feel a bit mean but so far it seems to be working and she is feeding them. Sadly one of the babies has passed away and I'm concerned that we might lose a few more yet but we'll obviously do everything we can for them.

There are some seriously delicious babies amongst the older ones though - watch out for piccies soon!

Breaking News!

Apparently someone does actually read this blog! I have been told off for lack of updates, lol!

Ok so brief round up. Pokemon had some blood results back and her white blood cells were normal. So it looks as though there is some minor liver issue going on - probably benign tumours - but nothing scary like leukaemia. We have to give her some liver supporting supplements and take her back for another test soon. Hopefully that will show some improvement in her liver enzymes in which case we can just monitor and support her liver function. If not we'll have to do more tests.

In the meantime she appears to be missing all the attention and has now pulled one of her claws. So is back on the antibiotics and has a bucket on her head again *rolls eyes*.

I've finally admitted defeat and Kitkat and Shadow bunnies are now official permanent residents. They were so unlikely to find a home and so settled here so it made sense really.

I'm a bit worried about one of the degus, Erika. She has lost weight although she is still her usual norty self. Which makes me worry that she might have dental problems. So she'll be off to the vet this week.

I also have an outbreak of mites amongst the rats which is affecting Sue, Widdle and Poop as well as one of the foster girls, Louise. The usual treatment has failed to have much impact so at the moment they are being treated with a homoepathic remedy I have had success with before in treating parasitic skin conditions. Hopefully that will sort it but otherwise that will be another vet trip!!

I managed to make an enormous muck up with my latest batch of foster rats and mis sex one of the babies! I know, ridiculous!! It means she was in with her brothers at an age where she may possibly have been able to get pregnant. So she would have to stay here until we were sure she wasn't pregnant. But there is also a question mark over whether she might be a hairless rat which can have health issues so I have decided it is best all round if she stays as a permanent resident too. She's utterly delish - very norty and cheeky, just my kinda girl.

As I type I am waiting on the arrival of a load more rats from a big rescue in Portsmouth. I'm not sure exactly what will arrive yet but sounds like lots of pregnant and nursing Mum's and their babies. Pics to follow soon of course :)

Phew, well I think that's everything for now!!

Times is tough

Usual apologies for the delay in updating....

Things are a bit tough here at the moment. Long story short Loki is still having tests and at the moment one of the possible outcomes is Leukaemia. You can imagine how worried we are :(

We've had quite a lot of new arrivals in the form of some particularly delicious dumbo rats and their babies. You can see the super cute pictures on the foster rats page. We also have a single chinchilla boy called Hans who I was quite worried about for a while as he was very thin and not eating much. He is doing great now though - all he needs now is a nice new home with a girlfriend.

The good news is little single mouse boy and single grumpy hamster girl are now cohabiting. It's early days but so far so good.

Anyway, please keep everything crossed for Loki. She is having an ultrasound and more bloods taken tomorrow so we should know a bit more then and hopefully know exactly where we stand by the end of the week.

Pfffffffffffffffff

Dear me, look how long it has been without an update!

Well, Begley's cough seems better although not entirely gone. We'll have to take him back for a checkup.

At the moment we are more concerned about Loki. When we took her to the vet about her chewed leg, she had diarrhoea everywhere. Consequently she had a course of antibiotics.

Then we found a lump by one of her nipples. So, on Friday, she had this and two skin tags removed. Her pre op bloods showed that her liver enzymes were raised so she needs a further course of antibiotics and retesting in two weeks.

Friday night her op site started bleeding so we had to take her back. Saturday morning we found two more lumps - one on her foot and one on her chest. So, once she has recovered and her liver is sorted, she needs to have another operation :(

In happier news, loads of the degus have gone off to their new homes today which is really great. There should be lots of new arrivals on Monday to take their place.