Questions for other rat owners

[Mary Ann <macloudt@yahoo.co.uk>]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Jennifer Piersol 

> The people 
> at the vet thought I was a little kooky for 
> wanting to spend $30 to put a rat to sleep... but 
> phooey on them!

Do you actually mean the people who worked in the veterinary centre?  
That would be awful :(  And, heck, I've spent far more on my rats...

I had to female rats, Babette and Ambrosia, when I was in my late 
teens.  When Ambrosia was 18 months old I noticed a lump on her side 
between her front and back legs.  It turned out to be a benign 
mammory tumour, which, I was told by the vet, is very common in 
female rats.  So I spent $250 Canadian to have the tumour removed.  
The anasthetic (sp?) alone was $70, which I thought was ludicrous, 
but I couldn't bear to have Ambrosia put to sleep as she was, on the 
whole, very healthy.  In fact after the surgery she lived for another 
2 years.

A year later I noticed a similar lump on Babette, so I knew what I 
was in for.  Another $250 later, Babette was home, groggy and with 
sutchers (sp?) in her side.  Around midnight I was finishing some 
schoolwork when I heard "SQUEAK!!".  I hurried to the cage, only to 
find Babette with a dazed look and an open wound in her side, and 
Ambrosia with Babette's sutchers in her mouth.  With tears in my eyes 
I headed off to the all-night emergency vet centre, which was staffed 
by the biggest pack of gits I've ever encountered.  By the next 
morning Babette's wound was cleaned and restitched, and I'd had to 
borrow another $250 from my brother to pay the bill.

So that's how an $8 rat ended up costing me $500.  And, yes, everyone 
thought I was mad.  But I think Babette was worth it :)  IMO if you 
have a pet you have a responsibility to give it the best possible vet 
care, even if you have to scrounge off siblings to pay for it.

BTW Babette was as sweet as can be, but thick as two planks.  She 
couldn't have found her way through a maze with a map.  I once saw 
her literally walk off the end of the table, which is how I know that 
rats land on all 4 paws with no injuries.

Mary Ann
(who has no rats now because she has 2 cats who are excellent hunters)