Scarlett's mammary tumor was removed today. She did great! Dr Don is truly a wonderful rat vet! I did not have a chance to speak with him prior to the operation so I was not able to request to have her spayed (I was hoping that since the tumor was on her abdomen that he would be able to spay her while she was under and since he was already operating in that area). Her tumor was smaller than Aniston's however I think the lack of hair made it appear larger than it really was. Her post-op instructions are like that of Aniston's- no exercise for a week so she will be staying in a single cage by herself for a bit to ensure that she takes it easy while she heals.

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.

Welcomed home three new additions! Sero, Atticus, and Vaux- three hairless males adopted from an overcrowding situation in PA in which the original owner was going to just release all the rats into the wild. There was about 20+ rats, including pregnant females, that were removed and transported to various parts of the US via volunteer transporters. All three boys arrived very scratched up and had excessive porphryin coming from their eyes, but their noses and breathing appear clear. They are being quarantined where they will be kept for 3 weeks before I attempt to introduce them into my mischief with my current males. Tonight is mainly about letting them settle in and get used to having space (there were 10 of them crammed into a 10 gallon aquarium!). They all appear friendly- not biters- but are shy as they probably haven't been held except for affections they received by those who rescued and transported them to me.

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

Aniston's surgical site has closed up and is looking much better this morning. I do not feel a returning vet visit is needed. She did a fine job cleaning it up herself!

Aniston's surgical site opened up- not sure if she pulled a stitch or if a cage mate did... Anyhow, she is confined to the post op cage I set up, alone, until it gets better. It's not dripping blood and it doesn't seem to bother her- she is still eating and active, although she does lick it from time to time. Used liquid bandage and pressure to hold it close and to stop further bleeding.

Discovered a lump on Scarlett's belly, just above her right hind leg. Classic location for a mammary tumor. Making plans to have it removed and see if Dr Don can perform a spay while he is in removing the lump. For now, we are going to keep an eye on it.

Aniston's surgery went very very well! Dr Don is amazing! No exercise for a week post op. I will be keeping her in separate cage to avoid any cage mates from grooming her stitches out. They are to dissolve on their own. Dr Don said she wouldn't need any pain medication or antibiotics as he gave her some already. That concerns me, as I am so used to dogs and cats requiring SOMETHING after surgery, but he is the expert and a very much respected and highly recommended rat vet!

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. 

Took Aniston to Dr Don's office and it was determined that the marble/small grape sized lump under her right armpit is indeed a mammary tumor. Scheduling surgery for removal.

I have taken in 9 rats to care for temporarily for a friend from Facebook. All rats appear to be in perfect health- all very friendly, alert, and active. Eyes/noses and breathing all clear. They will be with me until the first week or so in May. These rats will not be interacting with my rats but are sharing the same room (rat room).

All rats, with the exception of Scarlett, received baths.

Aniston's lump is slow growing, but nevertheless is in fact growing. An appointment has been made for 4/20/13. It will be a consultation appointment, to have the vet determine whether or not surgery is required.

Found a vet that I am going to go with for Aniston's surgery. It was advised that I watch it for about two weeks, to determine its growth rate and to see if it might just be an abscess or cyst (both which I am quite certain it is not). So now we just wait and see what happens.

Discovered a small pea-sized lump under Aniston's right armpit, more on the leg than the body itself. It moves around under the skin and is squishy in texture, like that of fat. Calling around for a vet to have it removed. I suspect a mammary tumor based on the location and nature of the lump.