Lidka, Toshia and Dot

Hey, just updating the forums on these girls. They're all getting along pretty well, and are generally friendly. Not problem free though

Lidka is a bit of a bully, but I've recently come to wonder if she's a bit blind (even for a rat) or deaf. I plan to test the theory tonight, but she does a lot of head waving, and always jumps when I touch her. She also bites, not just fingers but the other girls sometimes too. She'll reach out really slow like she's just mouthing, but then increase the pressure till it hurts. She even made my husband's finger bleed a little the other day. We're being much more careful of her now, but she still seems fine when we pick her up, it's only if we're scritching her head or trying to give her treats...

On top of that, she seems to have a chest infection. Pretty bad by the look of it, so she'll be in to the vet tomorrow. The rest of the girls seem fine, so I'm wondering if it's stress related?

Dot is in surprisingly spritely form for an oldie. She's good with people, but really skittish in the ground. I kind of get the impression she's been stepped on before!

Toshia is the best at making friends :} She's very small compared to the others and, at first, I thought she was younger than we were told, but maybe she's just small? Anyway, she's a happy shoulder rat and loves to play in the sofa. Doesn't have a bad bone in her body either.

And as for Shale, she's as sweet as ever. Not as needy as before, but still cuddly.

Glad to hear they're getting on OK

Odd behaviour from Lidka though - I can't think why she'd suddenly go like that she was most affectionate when she was with us, a really sweet licky people loving rat... and I would say not blind or deaf, but I think her sight is poor as is often the case with red eyed varieties. Little concerned about the chest infection, as you say, perhaps stress and time of year (good time for bugs etc with it being warmer weather and damp too) - as again, she was fine when she came to us. Quite concerned about the biting, and I wonder if all of it is down to the stress of being moved around so much?

Toshia is smaller than the others (but I would say Dot at least is overweight, and Lidka not small either) - but she's the right size for a good healthy doe. She's definitely not younger than you were told I don't forget the dates rats were born here - she's Lidka's sister, and they are both 16 months old on the 20th of this month.

Keep us updated on how they're doing though <3 it's lovely to hear about them.

xx

They sound lovely. Sorry to hear about chest infection tho. My Blanche is very sneezy lately and lost a bit of condition. Been holding off on antibiotics but may go down that route myself if it continues. She is also red eyed and I used to think she was blind until Laura told me red eyed rats just dont see as well and that she prob wasn't blind. And I know she can see now. So yours is prob the same.

Yeah, Lidka is very friendly when she's picked up and she's happy to curl up on my lap, it's just fingers she takes issue with :/
I've heard that if otherwise friendly dogs get snappy when you try to pet them on the head it could mean they have a headache. That's all I can think of.

Anyway, I checked the blindness theory, and she can definitely see light, but probably has really bad eyesight. Don't think she's deaf.

Hopefully the vet will be able to shed some light on it and make her feel better

No chest infection according to the vet, and she's much better already. My top theories now are bruised ribs or a panic attack? The first time we noticed her having trouble breathing was after she fell.

On that note, anyone know where I could get decent, easy to clean cage platforms, or some DIY equivalent? Hammoks are great and all, but I feel like we need to cut the cage up a bit, and the platforms we got with it have long been tossed :/

Glad to hear it's not an infection - she perhaps winded herself in a fall?

I would look at Rat Warehouse? They used to sell Ferplast Shelves. There's also this Facebook site which does shelves and bases
https://www.facebook.com/groups/132763710176563/

xx

Two of my girls are going to the vet tomorrow.

Shale needs to get a tumor removed :{ Never had a rat with a tumor before, and Bairbre seemed worried it might be malign...

Lidka, as it turns out, seems to have epilepsy... anyone have experience with that?

Took some quick photos this morning while carting them off to the vets. Not great quality though.


Dot - So squirmy, only got one photo.


Lidka - unhappy with being moved, she likes familiar ground.


Toshia - Think she enjoyed getting her picture taken


Shale - just a bit bemused by the whole ordeal...


And another one of Shale 'cause she was being so cute :}

Ah that's a pity,hope she recovers from the op and the little one with epilepsy gets by OK.Have you noticed any environmental triggers?I've been through the lump problem with quite a few of my original girls,but its relatively common ESP in females unfortunatly.hopefully itl be benign though,the majority of them are.its just one of those things isn't it,that comes with owning pets if you think about all the illnesses people can have,its just magnified in those with naturally shorter lifespans....hope they all do well

Good luck! They're very cute

If any findings with the tumour could be e-mailed to me I'd be most grateful. Hopefully it's just a little benign thing. Epilepsy is not something I've really had any experience of, though I've heard some stuff about it. There could be an environmental trigger... I had one girl have a seizure a long time ago, triggered by the hoover. Stopped using the hoover in the shed, and never had any more problems with any of them - even her.

I think the treatment is phenobarbitone, but will get back to you on that.

xx