Hi all,
I am looking for some advice. My boyfriend and I are first time rat owners. We have two lovely little ladies (Tofu and Ciske) and we love them dearly. Our cage is large (large enough for 6 rats actually) and we have recycled cardboard as bedding together with fleece lining for the balconies and other hard areas. Furthermore there are a lot of hammocks, toys and everything else that is suited for rats in the cage. We feed them water and pellets + some occasional cat food and veggies.
Unfortunately when we got them (in August), a week in, both got a serious inner ear infection. Since that time they have been ill quite often. Tofu had another ear infection and they both got spayed when they were 5 months old. Now Ciske is ill again (just when Tofu has recovered) and we are not sure what she has (we are having her checked by the vet this afternoon). I am thinking it is a UTI as she was checked for ears and lungs last Friday and those were fine.
In the meantime we are spending a lot of time (and less important but still considerable amounts of money) on going to the vet almost twice every month. The money is definitely not an issue (I am willing to pay any amount for them to be happy) but I'm just so sad that they are ill all the time. There seems no rest for them to just have a happy healthy life which is what I wish for them so badly. We take them out of the cage for free roaming 2-3 hours a day and train with them happily. And it is amazing when they are happy and healthy but so far we've only had that for maybe 1 week at a time.
Sorry for the long story my question is basically, is this normal for rats? I am getting afraid to leave them when we go on holiday even just for a weekend, as (even though I trust my friend to pet sit them completely) a pet sitter won't know their slight behaviour differences the way we do. Do you guys have found your rats to be ill so much? We got them from a rattery and not a pet store on purpose. And we are doing all in our power to help them. I've added a photo of my babies.
Thank you so much for any advice or kind words (or tips or unkind words if we are doing things wrong, anything would help)
Nynke
I am looking for some advice. My boyfriend and I are first time rat owners. We have two lovely little ladies (Tofu and Ciske) and we love them dearly. Our cage is large (large enough for 6 rats actually) and we have recycled cardboard as bedding together with fleece lining for the balconies and other hard areas. Furthermore there are a lot of hammocks, toys and everything else that is suited for rats in the cage. We feed them water and pellets + some occasional cat food and veggies.
Unfortunately when we got them (in August), a week in, both got a serious inner ear infection. Since that time they have been ill quite often. Tofu had another ear infection and they both got spayed when they were 5 months old. Now Ciske is ill again (just when Tofu has recovered) and we are not sure what she has (we are having her checked by the vet this afternoon). I am thinking it is a UTI as she was checked for ears and lungs last Friday and those were fine.
In the meantime we are spending a lot of time (and less important but still considerable amounts of money) on going to the vet almost twice every month. The money is definitely not an issue (I am willing to pay any amount for them to be happy) but I'm just so sad that they are ill all the time. There seems no rest for them to just have a happy healthy life which is what I wish for them so badly. We take them out of the cage for free roaming 2-3 hours a day and train with them happily. And it is amazing when they are happy and healthy but so far we've only had that for maybe 1 week at a time.
Sorry for the long story my question is basically, is this normal for rats? I am getting afraid to leave them when we go on holiday even just for a weekend, as (even though I trust my friend to pet sit them completely) a pet sitter won't know their slight behaviour differences the way we do. Do you guys have found your rats to be ill so much? We got them from a rattery and not a pet store on purpose. And we are doing all in our power to help them. I've added a photo of my babies.
Thank you so much for any advice or kind words (or tips or unkind words if we are doing things wrong, anything would help)
Nynke