Growing up we had cats and later on a dog. Unfortunately, I developed allergies to both of them over the years. After that I didn’t have pets for a long, long time just because I was too busy and I didn’t think it was fair to have a pet and not spend much time with it. Also, my husband and I have always enjoyed traveling. Recently, my urge to get a pet grew stronger and I looked into small pets. I knew I couldn’t have guinea pigs or rabbits since they need hay and I am allergic to hay. I also found out that I was allergic to ferrets when I volunteered at a ferret shelter. Then I started reading about rats and I was hooked! I also read about mice and gerbils and Chinchillas (which are also incredibly cute) but I had made up my mind! I started reading every website out there and bought every magazine and book about rats. I wanted to make sure they were indeed the right pets for me. Finally, I was ready to adopt rats. There was only one problem: I had to convince my husband. It took about a year to wear him down. Now he loves them too!!

Here they are!

“Hi, fellow rattie friends! We are Pisces and Chailyn and we were born on October 9th 2005 somewhere around Chicago, so we heard. They call us Russian Silver Dumbos. No, we are not dumb, we just have ears that are set lower on our head so our ears look bigger and we are incredibly cute! I, Chailyn, got my name from the Native Indian word for “Waterfall” and Pisces is mom’s zodiac sign”.
Me: That’s right! Every litter has a theme and the theme for this litter was “Water”.

Pisces:” When we came home with our new mom we were only 5 weeks old. Mom kept saying how adorable we are. We resided in this huge Martin’s R-695 cage with tons of toys in them. Awesome! We started exploring everything. We must admit that we were shy in the beginning. Mom kept bringing us really yummy stuff. Soon we figured that she was OK and we allowed her to be part of our twin pack.”
Chailyn:”Not only did we have this awesome cage, we were also allowed to roam around in a playpen. There were PVC and dryer hoses, blankets and even more toys.”
Pisces:”Yeah, and then I learned how to jump over these boards! OMG – this was actually a whole room. Chailyn had a harder time climbing. He, he.”
Chailyn:”Oh shut up! I learned to jump over too, it just took me a little bit longer.”
Me:”I gave in! I thought what the heck. I’ll just make the whole room rattie proof and let them have fun. I bought linking foam mats and laid them out in the whole room. On top of that I put old bed sheets. I leaned the playpen boards against the wall to protect the wall and put bricks on the bottom so the girls won’t be able to move the boards.”

Pisces:”One day, mom and dad carried something really cool into our room. After exploring it for a while we realized it was this awesome climbing post! The top became one of our favorite sleeping and hang-out spots.”
Chailyn:”We also took over this dresser that was standing in our room. Mom had our stuff stored in the drawers and we loved playing and sleeping in there. Soon, mom removed the things she had in there and replaced it with blankets.”
Me:”I had to remove everything because you pee-marked all my stuff!”

Pisces:”We get really yummy food. And all that variety!! Lab blocks, baby food, fresh fruit and veggies and treeeats!”
Chailyn:”Do you always have to think about food? You know you gained weight in the last few months, don’t you? You are getting FAT!”
Pisces:”What? 370g is still an OK weight! At least that’s what the vet said. Besides, you always leave your food everywhere. I just don’t want to waste it.”
Chailyn: “Maybe I want to save it for later. Ever thought about that? It’s MY food dish – MY food! I am 330g – slim and slender. Remember, you are supposed to look like a tube and not a triangle.”
Me:”Oh stop it already! Both of you are great looking girls!”

Chailyn:”When mom comes in with the food we are already waiting at the door. She opens the door and we peak out. Pisces is always on top of me. I hate that!
Pisces:”One day we realized that there is a bigger world outside of the room! There was a corridor and like 3 other rooms and then you could walk down stairs and there was a living room with a couch, office, kitchen… WOW!
Chailyn:”Yes and since we are such good girls and don’t chew things up we were allowed to roam around in the whole house!”

Pisces:”In summer, mom and dad took us out on the patio to eat dinner. Hmm, so many different smells and noises!”
Chailyn:”I stayed in mom’s shirt.”
Pisces:”That’s because you are a chicken. You’ve always been a chicken.”
Chailyn:”??? For some reason I thought I was a rat…”
Me:”Pisces started exploring the patio. I made sure I was right behind her! I am glad she didn’t see the Chipmunk running by to get some peanuts.”

Chailyn:”We love mom and dad! We love running around in their shirts, on their shoulders or on their heads. Mom and dad said we are awesome rodentists! You know, we have to include them in our daily grooming rituals.”
Pisces:”Yeah, all the things you can find in a human mouth! Incredible! Chailyn, you get a little bit carried away sometimes! I have little scabs from you all the time. Do you have to be so rough?”
Chailyn:”It’s just so funny when you squeak. You are a drama queen. I am the ALPHA.”
Pisces: Bla, bla, bla. You might be the alpha but you are a chicken!”
Me:”Both of you get carried away when you groom us! You don’t have to check our tonsils, you know?”

Pisces:”We LOVE popcorn!”
Chailyn:”There she goes again talking about food.”
Pisces:”Well, we played this game where daddy had popcorn in his mouth and we would pry his mouth open and steal it.”
Chailyn:”That was fun! I would watch where Pisces was hiding the popcorn and then I would sneak in, raid her stash and run off with my prize to my hiding place! But don’t tell her.”
Pisces:”I would watch where Chailyn was hiding the popcorn and then I would sneak in, raid her stash and run off with my prize to my hiding place! But don’t tell her.”
Chailyn:”It was so cool because daddy’s mouth would just keep filling up with popcorn. I don’t know how he did it! After an hour we were stuffed!”
Me:”We did have a good laugh!”

Pisces: “I love to sit on the window sill! Especially, when mom opens the window (she has a mosquito screen though so we won’t fall out) we can smell all those great smells out there. I have to hold my nose up really high to get a whiff.”
Chailyn:”Yeah, that rocks!”

September 14th 2006:
Pisces:”What is going on? Everything is black around me and it’s so quiet! I am weak and thirsty. Where is mom??”
Me:”On September 14th 2005 I found Pisces rolled up like a ball in the middle of their room, not responding when I brought in the food. I picked her up and put her on a table to see if she had any injuries. I thought maybe she fell off something and hit her head. As far as I could see there was nothing wrong but if I hadn’t caught her she would have walked right off the table. I gave her food but she had a hard time holding it in her little paws and chewing. I rushed to my vet and she took x-rays. Everything looked fine except she was very dehydrated. The vet gave her an injection to re-hydrate her. Back home I left her in the carrier so she could have her peace and quiet. In the evening I took her out. She walked around but she seemed to be in her own world. That’s when I realized she was deaf and blind. The vet treated her with Prednisone and Baytril. Pisces never regained her vision and hearing but she is my little fighter and she is doing awesome! She was only moving slower during the first two days and she would be really annoyed when her sister would want to groom or play with her (she has always been my little drama queen anyway). Now she acts like nothing ever happened and she knows every inch of the house. I will never know what really happened – if she indeed fell or maybe if she had a stroke.
Pisces:”Mom, I don’t know what happened but I am fine. Look, I got these awesome whiskers and boy do I have a good nose!
Mom told me that while we were driving to the vet I farted (I have proofen before that rats can fart). Mom and Dad had to open all 4 windows of the car. He, he. I just wanted to cheer them up because they were really worried.”
Me:”Silent but deadly….”

Chailyn: “On October 8th, 2006 we celebrated our first birthday!! We got a delicious walnut carrot muffin.”
Pisces:”OMG! That was yummy!”
Me: “The funny thing was that you guys went for the lab blocks first. I got some weird kids!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzyg5UtJFkA

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006:
Pisces:”Mom, I don’t feel good. I am scared. I can hardly walk and my body is twitching. What’s wrong with me? MOM!!”
Me: “The night before, Pisces was lethargic and one time her whole body twitched for a few seconds. She wasn't interested in food much and would just walk or sit around. I petted her and she bruxed and boggled. The next morning I found her in her dryer hose that she and her sister love to sit in. I pulled her out and she was twitching constantly. I wrapped her in a blanket and rushed her to the vet. The vet said that she was in bad shape. She thinks that she might have developed a brain tumor or some neurological condition. That would also explain Pisces becoming deaf and blind. The vet gave her prednisone and pain meds but she doubted that Pisces would survive the next 24 hours. I just didn't want to give up yet so I wanted to try everything I could. I took her back home and I got a horrible migraine. I threw up twice and every time I moved I felt like throwing up again. I took Pisces to bed with me. My hubby came home to comfort me and Pisces.”
Pisces:”I can feel the warmth and love and the kisses. I want to respond but I can’t.”
Me:” We both laid in bed, cuddling with Pisces, talking to her (although we knew she couldn't hear us), giving her kisses and crying. Hours went by and she kept twitching and twitching every 2 seconds. She couldn't move. She was limp. It was heartbreaking to watch her like that. In the afternoon I called the vet and told her that there was no improvement. She suggested putting her to sleep. My husband played a song for her before we left. "Beautiful" by Sarah Brightman. Before she was PTS she would lift her head and sniff, wipe her nose that was full of porphyrin and she even tried to walk but she couldn't. I almost wanted to turn around and walk out with her and just scream "Look! She is moving, she will be OK!" But the vet said she won't get better - she was still twitching and I saw that she wasn't comfortable at all. It would have been selfish to leave her in pain.”
Pisces:”It’s OK mom and dad. Just wanted to tell you that I love you and that I had the best life a rat can possibly have. I am sorry I had to leave you. I feel fine now! No more pain.”
Me:”I bought a little cedar box at the vet and they put her in it. I took her back home to show her sister. Chailyn would sniff all around Pisces and then sniff Pisces, walk around in the room and then go back to Pisces and sniff her again. I took Pisces little body back to the vet where she will be cremated.
The vet gave us a clay paw print of Pisces' little front paws. You can even see the tiny nails, wrinkles and the cute "padding" on her paws. I will hang it into our car. He also gave us a folder with information about where to get help when you lost your pet. There was a poem in it and also explanation of the Rainbow Bridge.

Pisces was so much loved and she had everything a rattie could ever wish for. Even the 6 weeks of being blind and deaf she was doing so well and seemed happy.
Pisces never met her new friends that I still have to keep away due to sneezing issues (for 8 weeks now!).

It's so hard. I still want to prepare 4 food dishes instead of 3...
I found dirt next to the flower pots. It was from Pisces digging through the flower pots. I always had to pull her out to make sure she didn't eat anything bad. Her little nose would be black and her paws would leave black footprints on the hardwood floor. She would look at me with her cute, innocent face trying to convince me that she had nothing to do with it.

I am so glad that my husband was there for me. He said he has never been a pet person growing up but he loves our "little people" as he calls them. He is very sad too and cried with me. But don’t tell any of his friends!

Chailyn:”Mom, why was Pisces so quiet and didn’t move? Why didn’t she want to play with me anymore?”
”I am lonely. I can’t find Pisces anywhere! I don’t want to sleep alone and I am bored. I just feel like sleeping.”
Me:”Her sister Chailyn is very sad. I know she is grieving. She lost her spunk and seems shy. She just wants to hide and isn't up for anything. We cuddled on the couch with her last night for several hours. I hope that I'll be able to introduce her to the new girls very soon. On one hand I don't want her to be lonely; on the other I am worried about the sneezing issues of the other girls. I don't want to jeopardize Chailyn's health. It's so hard!

Play hard at the bridge, beautiful Pisces. You don't know anyone there yet but I know you'll make a lot of friends.
Pisces:”I will, Mom and Dad, I promise!”

Click here to see more pictures of my 4 girls: http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h238/wonderrodent/my%20rats/

In September 2006 I got Lafawnda and Rapunzel from a breeder in the Chicago area. I thought Pisces and Chailyn would like to have more friends:
Lafawnda: “Hi there! I am Lafawnda and I am a fawn Dumbo. I was born on December 19th 2005. Mom gave me that name because I am a fawn and she loves the movie “Napoleon Dynamite”.
Rapunzel: “Hey, was uuuup! I am Rapunzel and I am an agouti Dumbo. My birthday is on February 17th 2006. Mom thought that the name Rapunzel just fits me perfectly. Sometimes she calls me “Pestilence” and I have no idea why.”
Me: “Because you are a Rat with a “B” at the beginning?
She sneaks up on her sister, pesters her and loves nipping at my toes!
I’ve been keeping the new girls away from Pisces and Chailyn for 8 weeks now since Lafawnda and Rapunzel have been having sneezing issues since the day they arrived (they had been quarantined for 3 weeks at the breeder before). Currently, they reside in our second bathroom in a big Midwest cage.
Lafawnda: “I like it here. Tons of toys, lots of room.”
Rapunzel:”Yeah, pretty cool!”
Me:”Lafawnda has bald spots on her head and neck. Poor thing! I think it’s Rapunzel who is doing this to her unless it was other rats they lived with before. She came to me like that.”
Rapunzel:”So that everyone knows, I might be smaller than Lafawnda but I am the alpha.”
Lafawnda:”You are a pest – that’s what you are! Pulling out my fur and humping me every 5 days.”
Rapunzel:”Admit it. You like that! Vibrating all over and leaping like a frog.”

Lafawnda: “I like to jog. We got this awesome wheel I like to run in. The weird thing is, I run and run and then I look outside but I haven’t moved! Still at the same spot!

Lafawnda:”Mom, you can’t fool us any longer! We KNOW there are other rats in the house.”
Rapunzel: “That’s right! Where are they? Don’t you want to introduce them to us?”
Me:”Well, I would if you guys stopped sneezing. I know it’s not your fault. I wish I could figure out what’s wrong with you. You are on your 4th different antibiotic now. I bet Chailyn - now that she is alone - would like to meet you too. She also knows that there are other rats in the house.”

Finally, the combo of Vibramycin and Baytril seemed to work. The sneezing became less but never went away completely. The vet finally gave me permission to introduce Punzy and Fawndy to Chailyn.

On Thanksgiving Day 2006 I introduced them in the bathroom. First Chailyn and Lafawnda, then Punzy and Chailyn and then all 3 together. I did this for about 6 days, one hour each day. There was a lot of puffed up fur, boxing and fighting going on. It looked very scary but people ensured me that this was normal. Especially Punzy was very determined. She would run after Chailyn and hump her all the time. Chailyn would use her best Ninja skills you wouldn’t believe. Jab cross, side kicks and spin kicks.
Chailyn, I didn’t know you had it in you!
Chailyn:”Oh I didn’t want to take any crap from this sewer rat looking chick.”

Here are a few youtube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzzytu4BPqM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woRSKUDmRXg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOeVRlFaWNA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xUkzABWXmA

On day 7 I let them play in Punzy and Lafawnda’s cage. Then I was finally comfortable enough to put them all together into Chailyn’s room.
They get along now, although Punzy is still a pest and humping and pinning the other girls down wherever she can. Lafawnda squeaks but Chailyn definitely shows her when she has enough. I believe Punzy is the alpha.
Unfortunately, Punzy is an obsessive groomer. Lafawnda’s head is bald and she also started grooming Chailyn’s head. Nice hairdos girls – NOT!

January 2007:
Chailyn: “Mooooom! What’s that marble doing on my shoulder? It doesn’t go away!”
Me:”Oh no – could it be a tumor? Dang it! You are only 16 months old.”

I took Chailyn to the vet and my worst fears were confirmed – a mammary tumor! It wasn’t very big yet and thank God it was benign.
On January 25th 2007 Chailyn had her mammary tumor removed. The vet also found cystadenomas between her mammary glands on both sides of her body. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get everything out because it kept slipping further and further away.
Chailyn, my little trooper, did great! She slept in my bed and during the night I would hear her drinking, eating and she would even groom me several times! It was so cute! She bounced right back and next day she acted like nothing has happened. I did keep her away from the other girls because Punzy, the obsessive groomer would open her incision.
Since Chailyn can’t sit still, she developed a seroma under her armpit. I thought it was another tumor but the vet said because rats move so much, they can develop a seroma after surgery. It looks like a little sac filled with fluid. Nothing needed to be done. It went away after a few days!

After the tumor scare I decided to have all three girls spayed. On February 8th 2007 little Chailyn went under the knife again. Like last time, she did great. Even in the evening, she was able to climb ramps. I gave her Baytril for possible infections and Metacam for pain relief.
On Monday February 12th, Punzy and Lafawnda got spayed. They did just fine also. Lafawnda didn’t feel too good the same evening, though. Her fur was puffed up and I could see she was in pain. I left her in the carrier on my bed. Next day, I opened the door and she was alert as always!

Chailyn’s tumor wound opened up a little but the vet said to leave it. I put some ointment on the wound and it healed up very fast.

All three girls are doing great, the fur grew back and you can’t even see the scars anymore. Rapunzel stopped pestering the other two. She no longer humps them. I guess she had a hormone overload…
Unfortunately, she hasn’t stopped barbering Lafawnday and Chailyn. They run around with almost bald heads and fur missing on their neck.

Chailyn developed another bump on the same spot where the tumor was. Two days later, when I was about to make a vet appointment, the lump was gone and I could only see a little scab. I called the vet and she said that she probably had a cyst there that went away. I should just watch it.
Chailyn still has the cystadenomas. I check them everyday. If they grow, she would need surgery again.
I bought Coriolus pills for her. Coriolus is a mushroom that is supposed to stop tumors from growing or even make them get smaller. Somebody recommended it to me. It’s also an immune booster and completely safe.
I just thought I would give it a try. I don’t know if it helps with cystadenomas also.
I think I’ll try it myself – as an immune booster and to reduce fatigue.