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Wednesday, 12 August 2009

Gerbil Declanning

I feared this might happen, given the dominant natures of both Topaz and Honey-Jade...but the family group has split. :(
At first I thought it was Topie being aggressive. Two days ago while cleaning their cage I noticed that Honey Jade had NUMEROUS scabs on her back. Bite wounds...and given their past scuffles it was more than clear that Topie had inflicted them. So I quarantined her in her own cage overnight.
As I discovered, however, she wasn't the only aggressor.
Last night while I was watching TV in the bedroom (my husband and I have different taste in TV shows) my husband called me out to the living room and told me that someone was bleeding all over the girls' tank.
!!
That someone was Amber. The last centimeter of her tail had been degloved (the skin and fur removed with only the bone left--it's a natural defense mechanism) and was bleeding profusely. From the blood marks in various places in the tank it was obvious that she had been chased...and from the copious amounts of blood on Honey's jaw, it was clear who was doing the chasing.
So now it was Honey's turn to be removed. I put her with Topaz, but it was to be a VERY brief reintroduction. Topaz was clearly frightened, her ears folded back and thumping her hind foot. In the FIVE minutes I had them together Honey attacked her mother twice.
So to make an already long story short(er), Honey is in her own cage, and Topie is in her own cage. I left Amber with Citrine, as the two seem to be doing fine together. In fact, it was Citrine that was trying to clean up Amber's wound after the attack (there was a little blood on her fur too).
To a lot of gerbil trauma lately. Thankfully degloving injuries are not serious. They just bleed...a LOT.

Friday, 31 July 2009

E-Vet Redemption!

Just when I thought my complaint to the veterinary center was being ignored, I finally received a response!
One of the veterinary managers apologized profusely for the incident, and has offered that the exotics vet re-examine Fennel and Chamomile for no charge. She also said that this incident would be addressed in a planned meeting with the emergency staff--so it looks like this sort of ridiculousness won't happen again.
I'm not the type of person who usually likes to make waves, but sometimes it does pay to be a pain in the butt. :P
Mama's Boy, Kissies, and the Ice Queen

Three different rats.
Three totally different personalities.
Remington, of course, is my sweet little man. He is truly a mama's boy, and doesn't even like my husband touching him (he will accept treats, however). I've heard talk of "heart rats", ratties that just scritch their way into your heart and are truly loving creatures. Rem-rem is indeed one of those special rats. :)

Fennel has really come out of her shell. What was once a skittish (but curious) rat has now become a full-blown rat adventurer...and a MAJOR kisser. I dunno if my skin is especially salty or what...but rarely a night goes by when she's not giving me little rat kisses.

...case in point. :P
Cammie is not nearly so outgoing as her sister, and in fact would much rather be left alone. (hence the Ice Queen moniker) She's a bit controlling, and will occasionally grab Fennel by the ear to try and drag her back into the cage. With her teeth.

I'm hoping it's just a phase.

Monday, 27 July 2009

A Rat-Phobic Emergency Vet

I know that not all people like rats. There is a sizeable population in the world that, in fact, fears the little squeakybeasts.
I did not, however, expect that a representative of that population would be working as an emergency vet. Least of all one that was recommended to me.
Chamomile and Fennel are still suffering from respiratory issues, and being that I work full time during the week, Saturday is about my only day to be able to take them to the vet. Unfortunately, the vet clinic that I normally go to was booked solid for the day, but they suggested that I take my girls to the attached urgent care/emergency vet clinic.
BIG mistake.
It became painfully clear early on that this was not the best choice. The emergency vet was clearly frightened of my rats. The only time that she touched either one was for about 5 seconds each when she attempted to check their breathing with a stethoscope. Neither she nor the vet tech bothered to check their temperature, or examine their noses for discharge, or even listen to their breath sounds. She was in the room for literally one minute.

I was told that she consulted with one of the exotics vets, which gave me some measure of comfort.

I was given Baytril for the girls, paid, and was sent on my way. It wasn't until I got home that I read over the diagnosis sheets, and what I saw bothered me immensely. She had written that respirations were normal, there was no nasal or ocular discharge, and they weren't sneezing. None of these three statements were true in the least. If she had actually looked at the rats, she would have noticed that Chamomile had porphyrin (that red goo) stains underneath her eyes, that Fennel's breathing was hampered by bubbling mucus, and that both rats were sneezing like crazy. (Fennel sneezed on me twice while she was in the room!)
She also noted that both rats were active. While that may have been true for that particular moment, I know for a fact that they were both agitated. They hadn't been out of their home cage since I brought them home three weeks ago. Almost as soon as I brought them home Chamomile went to sleep...and slept most of the rest of the day AND yesterday. Active, huh...suuuuuure.
So I wrote an e-mail to complain. Hopefully I will hear something back soon...
In the meantime, I have learned a valuable lesson. This veterinarian's phobia clearly hindered her ability to care for Fennel and Chamomile, and rest assured I will never subject my girls to that again. Nor will I subject my wallet to the cost of sub-par care. ($160 for THAT??)
If my normal vet is booked, I'll just high-tail it to Alameda East. (Yep, the same clinic from the show "Emergency Vets". They're about 10 miles from my apartment.)

Wednesday, 15 July 2009

The Two Adoptees

My husband and I picked up our two new girls last week...and I have to say that I am very glad that we were able to take them. They are beautiful little girls.

Meet Chamomile (left) and Fennel (right). Right now their cage is right next to my recliner so they can get used to being around humans. Their previous owner, as I mentioned before, was allergic and rarely interacted with them, so they're a bit on the skittish side. I'm slowly bringing them out of their shells, however.

Right now Fennel is the most comfortable with being outside. She lost her left eye to injury when she was younger, but that certainly hasn't hurt her personality. Already she's giving me little rat kissies. :)

Chamomile (Cammie for short) is still nervous. She is also very much a nipper, something that I'm trying to break her of as soon as possible.
Neither of them like to be picked up so far (again with their lack of human contact), and both appear to have upper respiratory issues. I'm trying them on tetracycline first, and if that doesn't work I'll get them to the vet for some Baytril.