Albert

[jennifervb]

I have to say that I have never experienced anything like what happened tonight.

To make a long story short; Albert bit me. It was a vicious and pre-meditated act of aggression, on his part, because I actually watched him position himself on my foot before he dug his incisor into my big toe.

He put his full body weight behind the bite.

He can be very happy that I am not one to belt an animal across the room. I did, however, swat him off my foot.

The puncture wound is bad. My big toe, and half of my foot, are swollen but the swelling is not bad. It just hurts.

Albert will be getting neutered next week. I will not tolerate this kind of aggression in any of my boys.

I think I now see what it is that scares Roquefort about Albert. Albert has, not yet, shed any blood on Roquefort but he showed, tonight, that the potential is there.

The poor, little, guy. I have no idea what is going on inside his little head but he is in his cage and looking extremely mournful. :sad3:

Albert and Roquefort's, respective, cages were moved within view of the resident cage last night. This evening, I put Ben and Basil on the floor and let Albert and Roquefort explore the resident cage. Then I put Albert and Roquefort in the bedroom and let Ben and Basil explore their cages.

It was during Albert and Roquefort's bedroom time that I was bitten. Albert started chasing Roquefort when I came into the room (they stay away from each other most of the time) and then finished off his rampage by drawing MY BLOOD! :shock: :scolding:

I have no doubt that Albert is miserable in his fur unit, and I have given him cuddles and scritches since the incident, but I cannot run the risk of this mean streak being directed at any of the other boys. To protect my resident males and Roquefort; Albert's little gonads are going bye-bye.

In the meantime.... pray for my poor foot. I can move the toes and nothing has turned blue. If my foot falls off I will put it in Albert's cage as a daily reminder that it was his doing. :laugh4:

It wouldn't have been so bad if I had not actually watched him prepare for the bite. Pre-meditated toe destruction is a serious charge... I wonder how he would like having his toes bitten... :wink:

 

[jorats]

Ah Albert... you had to go bite the hand...er the foot that feeds you.
A neuter is probably the best thing and the only thing that will help him deal with the stress of his hormones and dominance.
Poor toe... I hope it recovers fast.

 

[mamarat]

Aww poor you, poor Albert. A neuter does wonders for those little out of control guys. Good luck.

 

[Cityratt]

YOUCH!
Well Jen....atleast it wanst one of your other boys that he bit.....

Im sorry that he had to bite anyone really...but proportionatly your big toe is a smaller piece compaired to what most likely would have been bitten on one of your boys...

That and it sounded like the poor guy had a big day..maybe he doesnt adjust to change really well (poor guys seen alot of change lately).

Im glad youve chosen to neuter him. Seems like the best choice for everyone involved...except maybe your toe....hopefully the swelling goes down before you have to wear shoes for any length of time....

 

[jennifervb]

thanks you guys!!!

Today, the foot is much better. It is still a little swollen but it doesn't hurt anymore.

Albert also seems to be feeling better. I took him out of his cage and cuddled him before giving him his share of cantaloupe, and cinnamon crumpet.

He is not a mean little soul, at all, but he definitely has testosterone issues! I guess, between the upset of fighting with Roquefort, he was also overstimulated by the cuddles and scritches he was getting. Obviously his little battery overcharged and my toe reaped the benefits... :roll:

I am hopeful to get him in to Dr. Davis or Dr. Richards for Tuesday. Tuesdays and Thursdays are surgery days and I would rather have him done and recovering as soon as possible. He will not be seeing any intros with anyone until he is healed.

Should I go ahead and continue intros between Ben, Basil and Roquefort or should I wait and intro them when Albert is back up to par? I will, of course, monitor Albert's, post-operative, behavior. I know that it can take up to 8 weeks for the neuter to take effect but I am hopeful that he calms before then.

I don't want any unhappy little outcasts among my boys.

 

[jorats]

I think I'd continue intros with Roquefort and your two and as soon as Albert has a few days of recovery, I'd add him to the intros.
I hope Albert can go in for his neuter sooner rather than later!!

 

[jennifervb]

neuter on for tomorrow morning. I will go visit my little trouper after work.

I will also request that he NOT be placed in an e-collar unless they see him chewing his stitches!!!

My poor, little, rat man. I hate it when they have to go under the knife. :tearful:

 

[jorats]

Will keep him in my thoughts and prayers.
Definitely no e-collar, never once needed it.

 

[lilspaz68]

pain relief if necessary, never an e-collar here. I had to wrap a rat once or twice but that wasn't too bad.

good luck little man!!!

 

[mamarat]

Good luck, sweetie. Life will be so much better for him.

 

[Willow Bean]

:hugs: You poor dear! I'm glad your toe is feeling better and I agree that you are making the best decision by getting him neutered! I'mm keep him in my thoughts for his big day tomorrow!

 

[jennifervb]

Thanks everyone,

I am a virtual basket case. Sometime between noon and 3pm Albert will have his surgery. The tech I spoke with, this morning, could not guarantee that no e-collar would be placed on him.

When I get the call, from the doctor, after surgery; I will ask her to accommodate my request for no e-collar. I do not want my boy to suffer the way Ben did after 2 days in that nasty thing!

I will be going to see him, after work, and, if necessary, I will remove the thing myself. I won't sleep knowing that he is spending his night desperately trying to get the collar off! :sad2:

I had a minor catastrophe on my hands last night...

NEVER underestimate the willpower of a rat man!!! I can tell you!!!

Ben and Basil were on the floor and the ramp, leading up to their cage, was down because I was letting Albert explore their cage.

Somehow, BOTH Ben and Basil managed to hoist their husky, little, bodies, up onto the desk and a fight broke out between Ben and Albert IN ALBERT'S CAGE!!!!!!!! :shock:

I managed to separate them but what I noticed was that there were no aggressive stances between the two; only the standing on their hind legs.

Neither Ben, nor Basil, have EVER managed to get onto the desk without their ramp so I am chalking this up to elevated testosterone levels compounded with curiosity and semi-critical, territorial, little alpha resident attitude problems.

As I suspected, when I heard the squeaks and scuffling, it was Ben fighting and not Basil. Basil is not a fighter despite the fact that he has an intact set of little gonads. :laugh4:

Roquefort was blissfully ignorant of the fight since he was in the bedroom.... scaling between the chest of drawers, and the wall, to gain access to my dresser...

Watch it mister... I don't need you peeing on my modem! :scolding:

 

[mamarat]

Why do they keep him overnight after a neuter? My boys come home the same day.

 

[jorats]

Keeping my fingers crossed for Albert!! My two girls were spayed today and doing great. Sending some of that lucky healing vibe for you and Albert!!

 

[jennifervb]

Sorry for the delay in updating but things have been NUTS over here!

Albert came through his neuter ok but his incision is still healing. I brought him home last Wednesday and, since he didn't want to go back in his cage, I let him out on the bedroom floor.

As luck would have it, Roquefort managed to scale the partition between the bedroom and living room and the two had a face off.

I had just returned from the doctor, myself, because of a swollen bump on my stomach. They had to lance it (yes, it hurt like H3!!) and they put me on antibiotics. Due to my lapse in intelligence.... I made the horrific mistake of trying to put Albert back in his cage while he was still puffed up. :shock: You guessed it... I got hardcore incisors in both hands and the fingers swelled. After doctoring my hands, and cleaning the blood up from the bathroom sink, I went in search of Roquefort. (I did manage to get Albert back in his cage). Roquefort had, in the meantime, found his way back to the main play area where he, Ben and Basil have spent the last 5 days trying to find mutual ground.

Ben and Basil appear to consider Roquefort a nuisance but there is no serious hostility. Just alot of squeaking and sticking butts in faces. Roquefort did once manage to piss off Basil and received a toe bite which is now healing.

Albert continues in solitary confinement, in the bedroom, until his incision is closed. He had a bad reaction to the Baytril and Meloxicam (diarrhea) and had to be taken off of it, this past Saturday. He does not appear to be suffering at all but I am concerned that his stool is still on the soft side. He has been off the meds now for 4 days. Shouldn't his stool be normalizing at this point or is it possible that his stool results from stress? He knows that the others are out there and I wonder if he is upset that he is by himself.

I can't begin intros until Albert has healed... especially with the attitude that he and Roquefort cop when they come face to face! LORD!!! :shock:

As for me... I went back to the doctor, yesterday, because part of my tummy bump wasn't draining properly. That was when I found out that the "infected insect bite" they thought it was is actually a staph infection. I have been placed on different antibiotics which, the doctor said, will kill the staph in a few days. I have no clue how I got a staph infection but the doctor said that I was not in any danger. I was also "blessed" with a tetanus shot because of Albert's little attitude problem.

I showed him my arm, last night, and thanked him for the fact that my arm hurt and that the tetanus shot was a result of his crabbiness! :scolding: He peed and trotted off. :laugh4:

Albert is calming down, in the meantime, and is friendly and playful with me. He is learning that I am not the bad guy, and I am learning to really analyse his body language before going to pick him up!!!

So there you have it, in a nutshell. I have a digital camera on my list but finances are tight right now. Once I have my camera, I will provide pictures of my boys.

Keep your fingers crossed that Albert heals soon so that I can begin his intros... pray also that I get RID of this nasty infection! YUCK!!!!!

 

[jorats]

Woa...it's never a simply thing with you Jen. :gaah: You poor thing you, with all the troubles. Nic too got a staph infection in her hand after a rat bite but it was due to getting it dirty not the actual bite itself.
Give Albert some unsalted saltines, that usually clears up diarrhea and you are right in thinking that it could be due to stress but it's best that he does smell them so to get him ready for when the meeting will happen.

 

[mamarat]

Aww you poor thing!! When it rains, it pours. Hope you feel better soon and little Albert starts kissing instead of biting.

 

[jennifervb]

Woa...it's never a simply thing with you Jen. :gaah: You poor thing you, with all the troubles. Nic too got a staph infection in her hand after a rat bite but it was due to getting it dirty not the actual bite itself.
Give Albert some unsalted saltines, that usually clears up diarrhea and you are right in thinking that it could be due to stress but it's best that he does smell them so to get him ready for when the meeting will happen.

of course it's not a simple thing with me Jo.... my boss likes to keep things "simple" so I make up for it by making my home life complicated... it's a subconscious thing... :laugh4:

Albert is still pooping funny. :sick2: He has a neuter follow up appointment on Saturday. The tech said that it can take some time before the side affects can clear up so I will continue to give him his unsalted saltines (thanks for the tip!!!!)

My fingers are healing nicely and my staph infection also seems to be on the decline.

:hugs:

 

[jennifervb]

Aww you poor thing!! When it rains, it pours. Hope you feel better soon and little Albert starts kissing instead of biting.

Thanks mamarat,

I am on the mend and Albert was grateful that I let him run on the bedroom floor this morning. He actually licked my fingers (after getting lost in my closet and inspecting every, single, pair of shoes in there! :roll

He's going to be ok. I just want his poop to normalize!

:hugs:

 

[lilspaz68]

Awww jen you have been very busy...

I would advise probiotics for Albert's tum just to get him back to normal, you can even use live culture yogurt and eat whatever he doesn't LOL.

I have my fingers crossed that thing work out with Hormonal Boy and that Roque eventually settles into his subordinate ranking. Is he still a total sweetie to you or still frightened?