The Compulsive Ramblings Of A Philotherian: Why do rats suffer the most?

Do you all remember when Sally had to go to the vet a few months ago, due to the lump she had on her face? Do you also remember the vet giving her a shady diagnosis about it? At the time, she had a very small mammary tumor on her side, averaging the size of a large marble. Well, since the vet thought the thing on her face was a ZGT, she didn't even think twice about the mammary tumor, due to the ZYT's fatal prognosis.

Whatever Sally does or doesn't have on her face appears to be a reoccurring abscess. There may be a tumor rooted down deeper somewhere that's causing the abscesses, but as of right now we're thinking it's just a nasty reoccurring thing.

In the past several weeks, Sally's tumor has grown an considerable amount. An amount she's not comfortable with anymore, and an amount I'm not comfortable with anymore. So I call Monday and scheduled her an appointment to have it removed. The plan was; LaVaughn and I would drop her off Wed. evening and pick her up Thurs. evening, or today, which is what happened.

I was SO relieved when I called the vet today around noon and found out that she was doing great and had already been up eating. The minutes just seemed to creep by while we were waiting to leave.

We really cut it close to our drop of time yesterday. It didn't help that we had to bring a spare cage for her to stay in. It also didn't help that it was the ratties old cage, which is rather large. At least she was comfortable last night. We also packed her a bowl of dry mix (low protein dog food, granola, cheerios, yoggies) and a bowl of brown rice and peas.

When we arrived at the vet today, we had to pack ALL of that stuff back up and head home.

Poor Sally looks so uncomfortable. The cut is from all the way up under her arm, down to her thigh. I was expecting something similar, but not something quite so big. Luckily, she was sent home with Metcam and some antibiotics. The poor thing also had to live in solitude for 14 days where she can't climb or have contact with her sister rats.

She's doing good now, though. She's ate a little and is resting.

I know this is completely random to throw in here, but LaVaughn and I spotted the coolest thing in the checkout lane at Walmart. It's called a Bomb Speaker and work on things like your phone, MP3 players, and similar things. It's weird too, because I had JUST been talking about how much I wanted a portable speaker. And the little devil works exceptionally well.

One more thing I'd like to add... some lowlife bastard has dumped 3 kittens off on our road. The poor little things have been living under the bridge and in the surrounding woods. They're SO pitiful and SO skinny! LaVaughn and I have been taking them ginormous meals down every night for the past couple days now. I'm hoping they get a little sweeter and I can find them homes.

Alright, that's all folks!

Love & Peace

-Megan