Debbie Ducummon- does she deserve her title?

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No one is perfect and I'm sure Debbie D. has her fair share of mistakes. If I have doubts after reading something in Debbie's book, I check with other references including this forum. But, when I volunteered at the SPCA many many years ago, her book was a god sent as I knew nothing about the rats at the shelter and I was the only volunteer willing to care for them.
 
I just feel like her book isn't complete. For the food part, she basically says chose foods w/ more soybean stuff than ground corn, and don't feed high fat treats. She doesn't say not to feed iceberg lettuce, avocado etc. or recommend any brands of good food, or provide a list of healthy fruits and veggies.... unless I was really tired when I read it. I'm sure she knows many times as much info as I do.
 
Debbie D refers people to her web site for info about forbidden foods, her home made food, etc. The Health Guide is specifically about how to handle typical problems and diseases.
 
Godmother said:
Debbie D refers people to her web site for info about forbidden foods, her home made food, etc. The Health Guide is specifically about how to handle typical problems and diseases.
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I don't have the health guide, I have the basic care guide which I used to worship. Now that I know more, I feel like the guide slipped up on the basics. I'm interested in the health guide, as my knowledge of health problems is limited.
 
http://ratfanclub.org/books.html

I think one of the best things about the Rat Health Care booklet is that it is cheap enough to buy a 2nd copy for your vet surgery - so that they can keep and hopefully learn from it, and refer to dosage of meds and problems in other rats that other people may take in.
Many of the drugs useful for rats are not actually licensed for rats - so there are no references to the right dose for rats in their veterinary texts.

I've found that this booklet gains a lot more respect from most vets than trying to tell them that you read 'so and so' on the internet, and newly qualified and old fashioned vets alike seem to accept the info in it.
There probably isn't much in it that isn't on the Rat Guide nowadays, but they seem more open to believing the info in this book than they do most things that can be found on the internet.

I used to buy 2 copies every new edition, one for me and one for my local vets. It's a shame it has the home euthanasia article in it nowadays, but other than that I would say it is a very valuable resource for anyone interested in rat health :)
 
NezumiNeko said:
I just feel like her book isn't complete. She doesn't say not to feed iceberg lettuce, avocado etc. or recommend any brands of good food, or provide a list of healthy fruits and veggies.... unless I was really tired when I read it. I'm sure she knows many times as much info as I do.
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Wait! Avocado is bad?!? :shock:
 
<gulp> Have you any idea why? It's not poisonous, is it?!? The boys had a bit of avacado last night, but I didn't pay attention as to what part of the fruit it was from! :sad3:
 
Yes, she deserves her title. You have to remember that even now we don't all agree on everything.
When I found my first 2 rats outside (10 1/2 years ago) I went to the bookstore and got the best book they had on rats - some crappy little thing that didn't even warn me about how quick they do it. So I had 14 rats just after I got the boy neutered.
If I'd found even Debbies oldest book at that time I'd have done better by many than I did.
If anyone picks up a book in a 2nd hand store now I hope it Debbie's and not the crap I got before anyone cared to know anything about them. Her oldest book is better for the kids than what was available when I got ratties.. Those uslelss books were all we had.

No we don't need to deify her as The Rat Lady or expect her to be perfect. But we really should have the respect to realize that a ton of ratties have had way better lives than they would have if their people relied on the books that were available before hers -
neither I or a lot of people had a computer at that time (and a lot of people will get rats and not think to search out care on the net, or will find a site where they get jumped on and never go back - and the kid suffers for it in the long run.).

Thank goodness for this site and Jo's attitude towards people learning.
And thank goodness for Debbie Ducommon and her spreading better knowledge than was out there before.
Today if someone finds a rat in their parking lot and goes to the 2nd hand store for a cage, and the bookstore for a book, I hope they find any version of Debbies rather than what I found.
 
I've called her on one occasion when my rat got blood spots all over the cage. It was really weird because it wasn't the porphryin that she said it was. He had no buildup on his nose but it the bars of the cages were stained, my walls were stained, and their blankets were stained. (He is fine now by the way, this happened a year ago :) )

She was somewhat helpful, but when I told her about my vet, she scolded me over the phone, and I wasn't in the emotional state to deal with her attitude. I called her back about his issue again (it gotten worse) but she didn't answer/call back. I think she needs to understand that people might not be in the mindset to be yelled at over the phone, especially when their animal could be suffering.


Then there's this, which I thought was interesting.

http://www.the-rag.com/Regarding%20Duca ... eview.html

But her health guide has worked wonders for me. I use that and rat guide for everything.
 
MadCatter said:
I've thought this same question. I haven't read her books, but I've read her website. There are some things I don't agree with, however in general her information is helpful. I don't agree with a 'molasses' diet... it's just adding unneeded sugar. .
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Just thought I'd point out that its blackstrap molasses, which is a very nutrient dense food high in calcium and iron. Maybe there are other ways of adding those nutrient, but blackstrap is recommended a lot for humans and other animals as well.
 
After seeing the link that chibi posted, I guess it's time to remind ourselves to separate the personality from the accomplishments. I am very grateful for her Health Guide, even though it sounds like she can be abrasive. I recall that she was once quite impatient with SQ on the phone, even though the advice was helpful and accurate.
 

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