Made the heartbreaking decision to put Cicero to sleep this evening. He was the first rat to enter our home and hearts as part of Aquarius Mischief after a long hiatus of rat ownership....and the first to leave it.

Since he was a "feeder" rat, I dont know his exact date of birth but based on the size and some other features he had when I got him, I estimated his birth to be sometime in July of 2011. I adopted him 8/22/11, exactly 2 years and 1 day ago. He has had respiratory problems on and off the entire time I have had him. I would treat him and it would go away but it always came back. This most recent flare up was the worse, he was having labored breathing, very lethargic, and got dehydrated pretty badly.The Baytril I had him on did not seem to be working any longer. Attempts to make him comfortable did not seem to be working and I could not see prolonging his suffering any longer. His health appeared to be failing at an alarming rate.

His eyes were very dull and have a strange, stretchy looking film over them which I assume is a result of dehydration. He was laying in his own urine, too weak to move although he is still able to walk (no rear leg paralysis). Ears and paws appeared quite pale. I attempted to rehydrate him with some pediatric electrolyte solution and assist in helping him breathe easier with some infant Vapor Rub on a corner of a blanket I was holding him in. He had a warm meal this evening, but I knew it was time to let him go when he was too weak to move away from it and laid with his head in his porridge.

Close up of the film over his eyes

As for my girls, Kaylyn, the youngest, doesn't really understand anything other than she knew he was sick. Shaylee, who is 7, was more upset leading up to it but prior to his euthanasia, she got to talk to him and pet him. She fell asleep while he was being put under but after he was put to rest, and was carefully in a box with a blanket and pillow, I woke her as I promised and reminded her that he was an angel now, that Jesus got a new pet rat today. She said he looked like he was smiling in his sleep and was she seemed content enough to go back to sleep. Euthanasia was done at home via CO2 as approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), peacefully and quickly. My children were able to say goodbye and while he will be missed greatly, we feel better knowing he won't have to suffer anymore.

Cicero really looks poorly. He continues to have more labored breathing than normal. There is now some wheezy sounds. He is lethargic and has no interest in food that I noticed. I am questioning whether or not he is dehydrated- pinch test resulted in slower than normal return. Coat and eyes have a dull appearance. I gave him some more Baytril but it seems whenever I handle him, he starts breathing heavier so I know whatever I am doing is stressing him out.

Sero's facial bite wound is looking much better. Still some bruising but the wound itself looks pretty good.
Vaux's lump is indeed a abscess.  It now is flat but has a blackish crusty scab over it. In my experience, its almost worse to mess with them at this point so I am leaving it alone but will continue to monitor it.
Cicero's breathing appears to look a bit labored. He isn't making any noise, but his sides move in and out much more than normal. Putting him on Baytril.

My S.A.V.ed boys (get it? Sero, Atticus, and Vaux...SAVed?) all received olive oil baths to cleanse and to moisturize their skin (less traumatic and just as effective as a water bath). They are so sweet! They were bruxing and boggling away at the attention! The scratches appear to be minor, although some look worse than others. I believe they will heal up very nicely.

Sero had a lot of buck grease and multiple scratches. He also has quite a bit of porphyrin coming from his left eye. He is the smallest of the group.

Atticus's right eye appears odd to me for some reason. At first I suspected he might be odd eyed- as that eye looked more ruby and the other looked more black. It appears after further examination that he is just ruby eyed but the abundance of porphryin in that one eye made it look more reddish than the other. His skin is the least scratched up.

Vaux came in with the most scratches. He is the largest of the group.

They were estimated to be about 3-4 months of age.

Weigh Ins:
Vaux     12.1 oz
Sero     8.6 oz
Atticus 11.4oz


Drained some sebum out of Cicero's cyst. It was last drained June 4th. Didn't have too much sebum in it and I was able to extract it easily, which is good- we are keeping on top of it to prevent it from becoming too painfully impacted.

Scarlett's tumor has grown very little in this amount of time, although we are still going to have it surgically removed.

Dosed all rats with ivermectin 1.87%. Notice some of them (Beret, Nymeria, Chelsea, Emerson, and Cicero) had some suspicious scabs around their necks/chins/faces. 

Drained some sebum out of Cicero's cyst. It hasn't been drained since April 22nd. It has remained much smaller since that initial draining, which is good- I am staying on top of it to keep it from becoming too large or too impacted.

Emerson, Cicero, Aniston, Molly, and Scarlett look and sound much better this morning. I have not noticed any sneezing. I am certain their porphyrin staining and sneezing yesterday was due to my cleaning of the ceiling fan.

Noticed some porphyrin around Emerson, Cicero, Aniston, and Molly's nose. Scarlett did not have any porphyrin but I did hear her "snoring"- sounded somewhere in between a whistle and a wheeze. I had dusted the ceiling fan that is in the rat room today so I am certain its just a nasal irritation (it even got me sneezing for a bit). Going to continue to monitor everyone. 

Emerson has a small scratch on his right lip, just below the nose. Most likely from getting into a typical squabble with Pip.

Weigh Ins!

	Last weigh in 3/19	Today’s weigh in 6/1	Difference +/-
Emerson	13.2 oz	13.7 oz	+ 0.5 oz
Pip	1 lb 9.1 oz	1 lb. 9.3 oz	+ 0.2 oz
Cicero	1 lb 1 oz	1 lb. 1.3 oz	+ 0.3 oz
Beret	13.8 oz	13.8 oz	no change
Molly	9.0 oz	9.5 oz	+ 0.5 oz
Nymeria	9.4 oz	9.9 oz	+ 0.5 oz
Aniston	10.1 oz	10.7 oz	+ 0.6 oz
Paisley	11.1 oz	11.1 oz	no change
Scarlett	10.9 oz	11.0 oz	+ 0.1 oz
Chelsea	14.0 oz	13.8 oz	- 0.2 oz

 
Weights look good, little to no change in 14 days. Diet has remained about the same.

Weigh ins!
Emerson: 13.2 oz
Pip: 1 lb 9.1 oz
Cicero: 1 lb 1 oz
Beret: 13.8 oz
Molly: 9.0 oz
Nymeria: 9.4 oz
Aniston: 10.1 oz
Paisley: 11.1 oz
Scarlett: 10.9 oz
Chelsea: 14.0 oz

Cicero: finally was able to drain all the sebum from the cyst on his back. The hard, pea sized lump on his back is now gone, and their is just a small hole which I will be keeping clean and watching for any sign of infection. His noisy breathing is completely gone, however, I am a bit concerned about his breathing in general. You can see his sides move more than my other rats when he breathes. No discharge from eyes or nose, lungs sound clear from what I can tell.

Nymeria: discovered quite a bit of crusty dried blood in her left ear. Discovered a small laceration on the tragus (not sure if that is what it is called in a rat, but that's about the same location as that of a human). Cleaned the site with saline wash.

Scheduled Aniston's mammary tumor removal for May 3rd. 

Discovered a small lump on Cicero's back. Its about the width of my pinky nail, about center of his back, just right of his spine. Will continue to monitor its growth.

Treated all rats, with the exception of Nymeria, with their last dose of ivermectin, even if a few days late. No noisy breathing detected from Cicero lately!

Treated all the lady rats with ivermectin. Last dosage is 12/17.  Gave ratties the RW Immune Booster. Weigh in day!

• Cicero: 505g (17.81 oz)
• Emerson: 391g (13.79oz)
• Pipsqueak: 633g (22.33oz)
• Aniston: 299g (10.55oz)
• Chelsea: 376g (13.26oz)
• Scarlett: 332g (11.71oz)
• Paisley: 287g (10.12oz)
• Beret: 367g (12.95oz) 
• Molly: 220g (7.76oz)

Finally able to put Molly and Beret in with the other girls in the big cage. Due for ivermectin, but decided due to the stress of baths and new roomies in the cage, I would give everyone a break. Will treat tomorrow. Gave everyone the altered rosehip remedy, I am just going to call it Rat Whisperer (RW) Immune Booster. Cicero sounds much better. Going to continue.