Not how I wanted to spend Cinco de Mayo...

Normally today I would be celebrating the 5th of May like any other person. Instead of fun filled festivities, LaVaughn and I had to take our rat, Sally, to the vet.

She has a mammary tumor, which she's had for a while now. We were advised against getting it removed -- as long as it wasn't causing her any problems or it was too large -- due to her age. She's a month shy of being a 1 1/2, so were cautious with everything anymore.

It wasn't until a little lump below her right ear popped up that we decided to make an appointment. We figured it was an abscess, and was even told that it was probably a tooth abscess of some type by the vet tech. Still, we've been very hesitant.

Unfortunately, we didn't get the good news we were hoping for and didn't get the alleged abscess lanced or drained. The vet said that all signs are pointing to a Zymbal's Gland Tumor. Which, if you're a rat owner, you know the outcome. I'm praying that it's just an abscess in an inconvenient place, but I'm preparing myself for the worst. She's on a 2 week course of antibiotics in hopes of the lump going away, but only time will tell.

I love our vet to death, but she aggravated me today with something she said. When talking about rats and their health issues, she said, "Unfortunately, that's what we bred them for, to cure disease." This shouldn't have bothered me, considering she said she used to have rats of her own, but it still does.

Who gave people the right to capture, breed, and torture rats? It pisses me off SO bad that someone decided it was okay to experiment on a innocent and defenseless creature. Who made you their God? They should find WILLING participants, human participants. I could go on for hours and hours about the countless months and years of torture that poor rats have to endure. It makes me sick.

So please, keep sally in your thoughts and prayers. We could use any and everything right now...

Love & Peace

-Megan

Sally in her pet taxi:

She's so sweet.

Our new OP sandals:

LaVaughn has the zebra OP sandals.

And these are my cheetah OP sandals.

Of course, more duckling photos: