Well, I’m now ready to briefly talk about Mr Gumby-man. Poor little Gumby was PTS on 1st April. I didn’t post it at the time because we were really upset by his death. We still are, so I’m trying not to go into it too much. He didn’t have a traumatic end, I’m glad to say - he simply got weaker and skinnier and in the end we realised that he didn’t have much time left. As he was right at the brink of ’starting to really suffer’ we knew that it was time to let him go. I know that it was the right thing to do - he was 2 years and seven months exactly (to the day!), but he was still giving his best. His eyes still sparkled, he was still happy. I’ve seen this type of decline often enough to know that he had a day or two before he crashed and we couldn’t let that cheekiness turn into despair.
Gumby was one of the greatest rats we’ve ever had. His personality shone. Even when he got really old he still acted the same way as he did when he was an eeper. He was a bit grumpier and, after a while, a lot sleepier, but that sparkle NEVER died. He is legen - wait for it - dary. In terms of the top four rats I’ve ever had, he’s right up there with RiffRaff, Hobbes and Pocket (and believe me, I do not like to list in order of preference, but with these 4 you can’t help it. I always say I have a top 5 - these four and an ‘alternate’. How can I possibly choose between Cobway, Riff, Toga, Piggy, Mumble, Stitch, Smurf, Derfel etc.) Gumby wasn’t a cuddler. He put up with cuddles for about a minute, but that was it. He had too much playing to do. He loved me and Si - there was no doubt about that - he adored us and was very affectionate, just not a cuddler.
We will always miss him so much. His loss has hit us hard.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts for the vermin realm over the past few days. It’s very strange not having Piggy around, very sad too. We took Ptolomy with us to the vets, to keep Piggy company, and Ptolomy was the one who needed soothing the most. Whilst Piglet was very calm and chilled, sleeping through most of the journey and the wait for our appointment, Ptolomy was flipping out and needed many cuddles of reassurance. The saddest thing was that when it was time to go, Ptolomy started getting very worked up and looking around/trying to open the door to the carry case. It was very clear that he was trying to tell me that we had forgotten Piggy, and he was more worked up when we left without him than when we first arrived 
I was with Pig at the end, something which is so hard to watch. Piggy went into the little gas tank and I talked to him the whole time. He didn’t panic, didn’t struggle, just let the whole thing happen whilst watching me through the plastic. I know he knew I was there. It was just so hard to watch him sway from side to side, then drop onto his little legs and put his head to the side. It was very dignified. Just as his eyes closed, I fled the room in tears. It was so hard to see.
The rats aren’t speaking to me - Ptolomy must have told them that I’d left Piggy at the vets DESPITE him trying to remind me. Gumby is still himself, but McClane is very depressed. It’s sad. Whenever one of them dies, it always hits him hardest - he was like that with Pocket too. Very down, very sad, missing his buddy. They all grew up with Piglet, so I know it’s affected them very much.
So, on to a more cheerful subject. Poo. One thing I’ve always wanted to write about here is my boy’s bathroom habits. I’m very proud of my boys. About a year ago - probably longer - we introduced the litter tray for the first time. In the past, I have had no success with litter training them, but Ptolomy and McClane seemed naturally ‘tidy’ in that respect so, when they moved into the Big Boy’s cage we thought we’d see if they could pass on their wisdom to the others. What you should do, when introducing a litter tray, is train them - put a few pieces in and hope that they catch on, essentially. We didn’t bother with that, far too busy. We just plonked the tray there and said “Use it.” And you know what - they did! Right from day one. OK, they don’t use it 100% of the time and Mumble and Ptolomy - actually, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen them use it, and there’s always some poop in the cage which probably comes mostly from them, but all of the others use it. OK, so there have been the odd confused moments
I has a comfy bed!!!
with both McClane and Piggy sleeping in it. Piggy also used to hide his food in it (bleurgh!!). Mostly, however, it’s used for it’s actual purpose. Smart lads!
Piggy, Gumby and McClane use it quite fastiduously, as did Pocky. We frequently see Gumby bound down the stairs to use it and, if they’re free ranging, they are very good at letting me know when they need to go ‘potty’. For Pig, it was a special achievement as he was so badly trained elsewhere. He could barely hold it in when free-ranging and, as I mentioned in my previous post, he used to hang from the bars of the cage and poop at a great height on Toga, who he didn’t really get on with It was a regular ‘game’ of his and he always went out of his way to do this whenever possibly (Ironically, Gumby and Piggy had a similar type of relationship, and a few weeks ago Gumby was on the top shelf, waiting for Piggy to be in the correct position at the bottom of the cage, then lowered his rump off the side of the shelf and peed on him - and it was so obviously deliberate!). But you could always tell when Piggy was going to the toilet as opposed to just being still, as his face took on a very peculiar expression of concentration. 
Yesterday, the most adorable thing! Si called me into the front room because Mr Pig had fallen asleep on the top shelf and Gumby was looking after him! He kept bounding down to the bottom, grabbing a mouthful of newspaper-strips and then carrying them back up the stairs to where Piggy was (we have 5 shelves that form a spiral around the cage, and Gumby bounced around the cage like a little topaz whirlwind). He then carefully piled the newspaper on top of Piggy and went back down for more. He did this quite a lot. How sweet, that he was making sure Piglet was warm!
This is Pig after he woke up, a little confused as to why he was now covered in newspaper. I heart rats!
Toga used to do something similar. He would spend 10 minutes building the perfect nest, and would usher the aging Mallow into it once it was complete. Unfortunately, Dobby soon cottoned on to this and began waiting for the moment Toga went to fetch Mallow, before stealing the deluxe nest!
Well, Mumble is back in with his crew now, and is very happy about it. He hated being on his own, but I think (choke) it taught him the true meaning of friendship. Being neutered has definitely helped him. He was still quite angry to start with, and still started a few fights, but the change now is quite dramatic. For example, as I said in my last post I’ve been working on turning Pocket into a squish, which has been working tremendously well. He has really become a different rat as a result of our nightly one-on-one cuddles. He now comes running up to me when I call him, he’s not nervous any more and he is growing in confidence. Here he is, enjoying some special time:
As you can see, he’s getting to be enormous!
Anyway, I thought I’d given it a try with Mumble. Mumble has never been a cuddly rat. He’s very very nervous and jumpy, and a daddy’s boy. So now he’s becoming calmer lazier and happier in himself I’ve been taking him out for cuddles one-on-one in the bedroom, and already I’m seeing results. He licked my hand today - so out of character. He’s not quite as lazily content as Pocky, but he’s getting there! He’ll nap on my lap for a few minutes and will start to relax. It’s really lovely.
A while ago I mentioned a video I’d taken of all of my boys which I really wanted to show you but it was too big to upload. Well, I managed to get a video-editing package and have reduced the size of the file, so now I can post it here. It’s got Cobway, Toga, Riff, Mumble, Pocket, Piggy and Dobby and is really quite bittersweet - but it sums up their collective characters perfectly!
I had a strange unexpected childish sulk over the weekend when I fell in love with a little champagne boy and a silver fawn boy in Harrods but couldn’t have him. I knew I couldn’t have him, there are a million reasons why I can’t take on any new rats at the moment (and, when I do, I won’t be getting them from pet shops, no matter how fancy the pet shop might be). However, something about these little champagne and silver fawn boys went straight for the heart-bone and I was overwhelmed with an ‘I want them!’ I knew I couldn’t and shouldn’t, and the ever-patient Si was very gentle in his reminders why I couldn’t buy more rats. And I knew he was right. But there it was - a desire for these little babies so strong that I was almost in tears at the fact I couldn’t have them.
Which is weird, really. I’m not a lunatic, nor am I a spoiled child (although I do have occasional flashes where others might disagree.) But not being able to have the rats when I wanted them, even though the reasoning was largely down to practicality and self-imposed restrictions… Well, I think it’s partly because I hate to be told no all the time and that I’m fed up of never being able to do the things I want to do (through no-ones fault). But I think there were three other reasons that came into play. Firstly, I have just put up Merlin’s and Snaggle’s photo pages on the site, who were Champagne and Silver Fawn respectively. It can be painful, and sometimes you want to recreate a beloved rat, however misguided that may be. Secondly, Champagnes and Silver Fawns are my two favourite varieties and they are definitely my weak points. And thirdly, every now and then you get an exceptional rat. The rat who adores you above all else, who dotes on you and is happiest snuggling up to you and licking you. So far I have had 4 of these rats - RiffRaff, Hobbes, Cobway and Toga. And it’s difficult when you don’t have one. Now I adore all of my boys, I love their personalities and quirks, but none of them are quite in that category. Piggy is exceptionally friendly and quite affectionate but is far too…adhd to like long cuddles. Mumble is not a cuddly rat. He loves chats, but any physical contact has to be on his terms only. Pocket is nervy and noisy, but can be cuddly for short periods. He comes the closest, definitely. He does adore me. McClane doesn’t do cuddles either but is very affectionate - he just doesn’t have time for cuddles. He’s too busy, cuddles slow him down. And Ptolomy - again, a very friendly andaffectionate chap but cuddles have to be short and sweet - he gets nervous and restless and will start head-butting you out the way if it goes on for too long. So you do miss having a really snuggly squishy rat, especially when you lost two of them too young, in a 24 hour period.
Well, we didn’t get any new rats because for now it would be the wrong thing to do. But I did go home and decide to make that extra effort with my own boys. I took Pocket out for a cuddle - an extended cuddle (they do always get love, cuddles and playtime every day anyway). Pocket wasn’t so sure - being a pink-eyed he doesn’t really like coming out of his cage, although he does enjoy it once he’s out. I took him into the bedroom (a special priviledge) and sat him on my lap while we watched Frasier, and he was a little restless at first, until he got very very cosy, flumped out on my lap (peed four or five times) and started bruxing, boggling and squeaking to his heart’s content. Before long his little pink eyes were closing and he was well and truly snuggled up to me, waking up occasionally when his bruxing was so intense that his head actually bounced off my legs. Now, whenever I pass the cage he rockets towards me - he was always rather cautious before. Of course, I made sure everyone got a nice long cuddle in the bedroom, some one-on-one time, and they all returned to their cages smugly convinced that they had been singled out because they were now the favoured sons. But how did I so underestimate Pocket’s potential as one of the great squishy cuddle-rats of all time?
OK, so all rat lovers must know that this film comes out soon. I the UK, I think it comes out in about 3 weeks. I’m HUGELY excited! The main rat, Remy, looks so much like Toga it’s untrue. Because of this, and because there are so few rat merchandisey things you can buy (with the exception of buying the ‘more appealing’ mouse items and kidding yourself they could be rats) I went to the Disney Store today and spent my money! I bought a mid-sized Remy plush toy, a desk-tidy, some pens and a notebook. Next month I intend to buy the towel, mug, pencil case and, if I can successfully cut off all my toes so that they’ll fit kiddies’ size, I will also buy the slippers 
Well, I have made a complaint against that pet shop, though much good may it do me! Well actually, I don’t care what good it does me - I only care about what good it does the bubs!
I’ve been thinking a lot, about the future. About how the rat keeping situation will go. We won’t be getting any more until we are down to one rat, unless one cage goes down to one rat and that one rat, for whatever reason, cannot then be placed with the others. If you get me. But when we do, we’ll probably try and keep to maybe 4-5. It’s a nice number to have. It’s been 3 years since we’ve had this few - the only problem is that our current 5 are split over 2 cages, and the big-boy cage seems awfully small with just Mumble, Piggy and Pocket in it. But anyway, I won’t ever be getting from pet shops again. I’m still very bitter about the cack-handed way we were dealt with over the whole SDA thing. Obviously they were covering their backs, couldn’t get rid of me quick enough. But I’m bitter none the less. So many wake-up calls and lessons learnt from that incident! I’m thinking how nice it would be to rescue some rats. They wouldn’t have to be babies, although it’s nice having babies, but maybe one or two ‘boring’ looking older boys who need a home of comfort to see out their twilight years. Maybe mix them up with some slightly younger rats so that we wouldn’t lose our whole colony every few months. I don’t know. Just thinking really. Maybe it would be nice to have does again. Or to foster litters. What I would really like to do is be a respite foster mummy, who would just be on standby for those times when someone gets 8 rescue does and then discovers they’re all pregnant and then has to spread them across the country to be raised. I could totally do that. Making the mummy yummy grub to keep her strength up. Waiting on her like the princess she is and making sure she feels so totally happy and content. Taking time to love her and find her bubs loving homes where they need never be afraid. I don’t know. Just random thoughts.
I’ve never gone into great detail about the effects of SDA in our house. Even now, so many months on, I still get messages of love completely out of the blue, from old friends and strangers alike who have only just heard what happened and want Si and I to know they’re thinking of us. I find it very hard to reply to those messages straight away. Not that I don’t appreciate them. God, I appreciate them. But because what happened is still so raw. At the time it was merely a question of logging on here and keeping you updated. I don’t think I ever went into detail. I feel I want to now, if you’ll forgive me the long post. Yesterday I watched a short video of the boys just a few weeks before the virus came, all fighting over a piece of cake. Dobby and Toga were just ripping into it, Riff was standing up in the cage looking ENORMOUS and rather concerned that something was going on that he didn’t know about and Cobway was attempting to lift the cake out of the bowl and drag it into the cage without me noticing. That vid cracks me up - all 7 boys being so typically themselves. Yet just a few weeks later 3 of them - gone. I can’t seem to upload that video to YouTube or Photobucket. It’s a little to big and I don’t know how to reduce the size. I don’t have a video editor. Any suggestions?
Well, up until the point that Cobway died I was giving enought detail for me to not have to go back over that particular time. By this point, I think, Toga was recovering well and we fully expected him to make it, and Dobby was still very poorly but not AS poorly. Riff, sadly, had already left us and gone looking for Merlin. Cobway, however, was in a very bad way - not eating or drinking, and impossible to medicate. We had to take him back to the vets a few times to be injected with medicine. He was just constantly lying on his belly, soaking in his own wee and his skin was turning very red. From being a hyperactive, cheeky little bugger he was limp, lethargic and with no spark in his eyes. He hated to be touched and could barely move. The only way we could get him to drink was by mixing honey with water (to give him an energy boost and to make the water more appealing) and spoon feed him. He would take maybe 2 mouthfuls every hour. On the night he died I was very concerned about how saw his skin was, from being wet all the time, so I decided to sponge him down. I took him to the bathroom, held him up carefully and started wiping him down. He didn’t like it and struggled, then stopped and I thought he’d just decided to get into it. Then he sank his little teeth into my finger and would not let go. It was the only time I’d ever been bitten. Blood was literally spurting everywhere, running down my arm and dripping onto the floor. It was really painful too - right on the bone, as I later discovered. Yet despite the pain I didn’t move my hand or raise my voice becuase I was scared of hurting him and scaring him, although I was crying. Si came and took him from me after Cobway eventually let go (about 2 minutes the bite lasted) and put him back in the cage. Then he tended to my cut, which was very deep. I went back to Cobway after I’d calmed down to tell him I wasn’t impressed but that I’d forgiven him, but he was dead. He was just sitting on his front as though he was dozing, but he was obviously gone. Two of the rats were trying to nudge his body awake but I just screamed and hyperventilated. We’d tried so hard, but both Si and I were tortured (and still are) by the thought that Cobway died thinking we didn’t love him any more.
And Toga - well, he was better. He should have made it. But the next day his eye was virtually hanging out of its socket. As we took Cobway’s body to the vets, we took Toga and a tumour was diagnosed. We knew it wasn’t an abcess, or the medicine he had been on would have treated it - they were all on an aggressive course. I don’t know if the SDA sped up the growth of the tumour, but he was put to sleep. It was all so sudden, and I feel so cheated being without them.
And of course, it wasn’t just the grief of losing our favourite three rats that took its toll on us. From the moment it started to a week after Toga died and we knew they had the all-clear we ate, slept and breathed SDA. Only Ptolomy and McClane would take their medicines, and even then that took half an hour. They, thankfully, never really got ill. Cobway, Dobby and Toga all had to be spood fed babyfood and honied water every hour we were at home. It took them 10 minutes each to eat or drink any thing, then we moved onto the next rat. And remember, this was hourly - before and after work and twice in the night. Then they had to have 2 different meds, twice a day (before and after work) - Pocket, Piggy and Mumble would take theirs with no problems but it would take us maybe half an hour for Toga, Cobway and Dobby (each). We were at the vets every other night. And this was on top of normal rat care duties - the healthy ones still needed their playtime, although when Piggy started to get poorly and needed a little spoon-feeding, so playtime was dropped for a few days. It’s no wonder we were nervous, exhausted wrecks by the end of it. This lasted for about 11 days. It was heartbreaking.
Thank you so much everyone for your words of support during this truly horrible time at the Vermin Realm. It has been the worst time of our lives, rodent-wise, and it’s not an experience I ever want to appreciate. Your support has meant so much to me, more than I could possibly articulate. And I need to say a big thanks to Si, for being the bestest, most brilliant rat-daddy in the world. He came through for us all, again and again. And he was my rock. He still is my rock. I love you Si xxx
So, what now? Well, I’ve kinda been throwing myself into my artwork, which is not very ratty - although ratty pics do sneak in from time to time. If you want to look at these, then I guess you should check out my rodent rebels page. I’ve also been working on lots of cartoons starring Smurt, Snitch and Dervel, so it’s worth keeping your eye on this page. In terms of this site - not just the blog, but the site as a whole - I will definitely be reworking it at some point. There’s a lot to be done. McClane and Ptolomy need their own photo pages. I need to update the graveyard. Ideally I want to revamp the whole site because I’m not too sure with the way it looks at the moment. I like the blog. The blog works for me.Both blogs. But the main pages, the guestbook, the links - the structure of the main page - I’d like to work on that. So I will. But there’s no hurry. This site will not be going any where. I want it to evolve and evolve. For now, I suppose I’m just working on the links page, updating the lolrats page, occasionally doing my blog. I admit, most of my work is going towards the rodentrebels site. I’ll probably want that finished before really setting down to work on this one. But do keep checking out the links pages - I think I will pare this down to one page for simplicity’s sake.
And do keep an eye on Riff’s site. There will be things posted from time to time. But if you want to join a new club, McClane is setting up his own gang. I’ll post the URL here when it’s all sorted.
And thanks once more for your patience. Being without Riff, Cobway and Toga is a very real pain. I miss my 3 special boys so much. They were my three favourites, and Cobway and Toga were particularly dear. But I’ll try to look to the future. I’ll try to forget how they were so cruelly snatched from me far before their time. I still have 6 boys who rock my world - and that’s NOT including Simon and Pedlar mouse.
And Toga passed last night.
I’m sorry these are all so quick and I’m not responding to people’s kind coments/emails individually, but the only chance I’m getting to post at the moment is at work, as the whole ‘caring for the rats’ thingie is taking up our every waking moment at home
Dobby is still doing really well - he’s off red alert for now. Toga, however, had a relapse last night and couldn’t breathe - his mouth was hanging open, it was terrible. We were given a special powdered medicine by the vet which is supposed to open their airways. In desperation we rubbed some onto his tongue, and within 5 minutes he was a lot better. Pretty normal, actually, although weak. We can only use it once every 24 hours though, but it still hadn’t worn off by this morning.
Cobway is still in a sorry state. He’s knackered and lethargic, and his breathing is terrible but he is rallying around a little. He’ll drink more now and even had a nibble of bread this morning. He seems more alert and awake than he was before and has been rushing to the bars a few times when we’ve walked past the cage, and even had a little run-around last night. And, just for a giggle, he did his ‘game’ - jumping off the sofa and waiting for us to catch him. I hope he pulls through - I love him so much!
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