Major Suckage

[» Sacrifice]

Life sucks. Horribly. At least, pet wise.

You all know that I recently talked my parents into getting me rats, and I got a blue and hooded blue, sisters. And for a while, everything was great. The blue hooded turned out to be a spaz, and her sister was much calmer then the others. Also the one that went to the E-Vet because she wouldn't stop bleeding from a ripped off nail.

Well, recently, we had to seperate the two. Rune keeps sneezing, and Symbol seemed to have a cold. Well, today, my mom made an observation that is correct. It turns out that Sym hasn't had a cold; she had a stroke. She can't move the left half of her body very well, or drink without assistance. My mom isn't giving up yet, but its only going to be a matter of days.

God. I feel so horrible. There two were suppose to be MY pets, the ones I took care of, and now THIS? Rune seems to be fine, but how long will that last? I fail at pets. Why did even attempt this? This really helps my confidence in keeping animals that are mine alone. I just can't handle this much death. We've lost countless fish this month already, and now, this is going to happen? Why? What have I done wrong? Dx

It just couldn't be something simple, and even if she does pull through, she'll never be the same. I might as well just never try to own pets again. Whats the point, if they are all going to die anyway? I just want to curl up and hide from the world right now, its amazing I have the ability to post this. I'm doing horrible in math, and life just sucks for me.

Forgive any misspellings, I can't see hardly anything that I'm typing right now. I just had to let someone know. I'll probably not be able to get any other rats again though. Sym and Rune are only maybe three months, I've had them for not even a month. I'm just cursed. So very cursed.

[Marrowbone]

Aw, poor Symbol! It's always hard when a pet gets sick! =c
Whatever caused the stroke, chances are, is not your fault. Strokes are usually a genetic thing, or brought on by old age. I had a gerbil die from a stroke, so I know how you feel.
There is still a chance she may recover, but the best thing to do now is make her comfortable. Regulate your room's temperture, give her a good bed, try not to fuss or disturb her too much, and make sure she's in a calm, quiet enviroment. Consult a vet and do a bit of research for anything you can do. I suggest giving Rune a fresh garlic clove as a precaution, so she doesn't get one, but you should look up how that'll affect your particular rats first.

Rodents are great pets, but the problem is that they don't usually live very long, and it can be a mixed bag in terms of their life span. I had a gerbil for four years before he died, and a different one died around two-three years. I'm sorry I couldn't warn you enough about the years of a rodent =c

The point of raising pets is you're changing their lives. While in your care, a mouse isn't being fed to a reptile, and a dog isn't being beaten and abused. All animals make you sad or get you frustrated, but if you get a good memory from your relationship it's definately worth it.

[Jayheart]

I have a few words of wisdom for you.

AWWWWWW! Oo! Look a penny!

[~XxLone*WolfxX~]

)= I know how you feel about losing pets. Before we knew we had Parvo on the grounds we lost two pups. A 3/4 pit bull, I believe but that's what she looked like. She was sweet though. xP Then there was Sammy, who was a Great Pyrenees(sucky spelling). But we've given out other pups shots, so they're good.

Then we've lost a few kittens and before when we lived back in another area we lost a few cats. Then with fish we've been through a lot, er, well, we've had a lot. But they don't live too long anyway.

And yeah, rodents don't live too long. My neighbor does have a gerbil, or hamster can't remember, that's lived for four years. Then my grandma got a lizard that was only supposed to live for like five years and it lived for more like, twenty. XD

But it's always tough losing pets, don't give up though. As Marrow said, a stroke wouldn't be your fault. And while they're with you they're not snake food or anything. So... Yeah... Agreeing with Marrow... Heheh...

[» Sacrifice]

We put her down today. She lost all ability to eat or drink, and was bleeding from everywhere, not to mention she had no control of her bowels. She was seperated from Rune though, so at least it shouldn't be too hard on her.

I know how long rats usually live, its just, I expected more time. I was trying to defy the odds, everyone said it would never work, and so far, they've been right. It turns out though, that it was a genetic problem, not a stroke, and another from the same litter, same color and everything, had the same problem as well. It still horrible though. We are going to pick up another one, the mom of Rune and Sym, and I don't know how that'll go. She is a blue as well, so...

Anyway, I suppose everything will work out in the end, but I still feel horrible, even if it wasn't my fault. ((If it had been, I would have died. I wouldn't have been able to take it.)) I'm going to be giving Rune a lot of TLC for now though, seeing as she is going to be alone in the cage for a while.

Thanks for the support though guys. <33

[Marrowbone]

Aww no, poor Symbol! =c Poor little baby. I hope Rune's okay, it's hard for rodents to lose their denmates.

If it's genetic, be sureto do a bit of research on it and see if there are any preventitive measures for it, for Rune and their Momma.

When you get their Momma, be sure not to introduce them to fast. Usually Mommas remember their babies, like when my sister-in-law bought the mother of her two rats, but you can never be to safe. Closely monitor things to make sure nothing gos awry, and introducing them out of the cage would likely be best. (Just don't have one in one spot, then try to set the other down from above. I made that mistake and got my hand bitten defending the gerbil I was setting down from the other one.)

By any chance, do you have any pictures of your rats? I'd like to see them.

[» Sacrifice]

I do. I'll try to upload them sometime soon.

Anyway, we've had Lela for a week or so now. I'd been letting them get used to each other, so their cages were close, but they weren't togethor, because the first time I thought they'd get along, they started to fight. Well, today, I tried to put them togethor again and, well, it didn't go so well.

Basically, Rune peed on Lela for no reason really. Its really frusterating me right now because I have Lelad in a bird cage, and its starting to smell slightly. Rune is annoying me too, and its just GAH. Not to mention I can't seem to click with Lela too much. I find it much easier just to handle Rune and let the siblings/parental units handle Lela.

Its so frusterating right now for me. =sigh=

[Marrowbone]

Well, urinating on Lela may not nessecarily be a sign of aggression. But if she WAS fighting with her then of course that is an issue. If you leave their cages next to each other for a few weeks, they can see each other and sniff through the bars, that may help. Be careful though that little rat teeth can't get through.

I once intergrated a gerbil puppy with two adults. My family had been at the pet store, and I saw the pup, and I convinced Mom to buy him. I kept their cages close together (Not close enough that the bars were touching) And every few days I switched them in the cages so they could scurry around each others homes. Then I put the puppy in a tiny cage and put it inside the older ones' cage for a few days. Then I introduced them in neutral territory, a box with chinchilla dust in it, and they took to each other like glue. My older gerbils acted like little gerbilly uncles and raised the pup ^.~ Shadow even got upset whenever I tried to catch the pup to clean the cages.

The important thing is to take it slow, and use neutral ground. Putting whichever rat it is that's more aggressive down FIRST is NOT a good idea. Put the less aggressive one in the area first, then set in the more antsy one. Else the aggressive one is likely to launch itself at your hand and attack you. (I learned that the hard way trying to introduce a different pup to my older boys. Had the scars for months.)

Look up other sources online from experts; They may know more about rat behavior.