jypsyjulia
Active Member
Hey guys,
So, I'm writing this very, very nervous. I was part of a group that rescued 25 rats from a terrible situation. They were kept outside either in breeding bins or in a teeny, tiny chicken-wire cage. I have no idea how many were there originally, but there were 25 left when we got to them.
12 of them stayed with me for about a week and out of the 12, surprisingly, only one was pregnant. And she bit me. I didn't think anything of it because pregnant rats can get aggressive, I just went to the doctor, got a tetanus shot & took amoxicillin. She never had her babies -- we got her an espay immediately.
Fast forward 6 weeks: I gave her and one other to a rescue to take care of because there were five left of the 12 I had and I kept 3. One other adopter wanted the two, but with my other rats (I have 8 boy rats), I was struggling to take care of 5 very sick rats on top of that so a rescue graciously stepped in to help get them back to health (they had giardia) and then I'd pick them up and take them to the new adopter when they were ready.
Well, I got a call from the rescue saying that the girls suddenly got into such a fight that they killed each other. They tore each other up and the rescue said they'd never seen anything like it. Here's my fear...what if they had rabies? Like I said, I don't know who she was housed with before given to me so she may not have been with my 3 rats that I kept (they're not showing rabies, but I don't know if they were exposed to her). They were kept outside, which means that wildlife would have access to them, and could have been bitten by a bat, which would leave small enough puncture wounds that no one would notice.
There was no way I could have observed her prior to this since she wasn't with me and the rescue is up to their ears in rats, so who knows if they could have seen the symptoms, if she showed any.
What should I do? I'm absolutely terrified she had rabies & that's why she became aggressive and she and her cagemate fought to the death. Please help! Totally freaking out!
Thank you!
So, I'm writing this very, very nervous. I was part of a group that rescued 25 rats from a terrible situation. They were kept outside either in breeding bins or in a teeny, tiny chicken-wire cage. I have no idea how many were there originally, but there were 25 left when we got to them.
12 of them stayed with me for about a week and out of the 12, surprisingly, only one was pregnant. And she bit me. I didn't think anything of it because pregnant rats can get aggressive, I just went to the doctor, got a tetanus shot & took amoxicillin. She never had her babies -- we got her an espay immediately.
Fast forward 6 weeks: I gave her and one other to a rescue to take care of because there were five left of the 12 I had and I kept 3. One other adopter wanted the two, but with my other rats (I have 8 boy rats), I was struggling to take care of 5 very sick rats on top of that so a rescue graciously stepped in to help get them back to health (they had giardia) and then I'd pick them up and take them to the new adopter when they were ready.
Well, I got a call from the rescue saying that the girls suddenly got into such a fight that they killed each other. They tore each other up and the rescue said they'd never seen anything like it. Here's my fear...what if they had rabies? Like I said, I don't know who she was housed with before given to me so she may not have been with my 3 rats that I kept (they're not showing rabies, but I don't know if they were exposed to her). They were kept outside, which means that wildlife would have access to them, and could have been bitten by a bat, which would leave small enough puncture wounds that no one would notice.
There was no way I could have observed her prior to this since she wasn't with me and the rescue is up to their ears in rats, so who knows if they could have seen the symptoms, if she showed any.
What should I do? I'm absolutely terrified she had rabies & that's why she became aggressive and she and her cagemate fought to the death. Please help! Totally freaking out!
Thank you!