Hope's Rescued rats, adoptables and lifers- December Update

[Petunia]

I am so sorry for your loss
sweet sweet Doodle
(((hugs)))

 

[Joanne]

What a wonderful little old lady. I can see why she was so special. She came to you because you need sweetness in amongst all that cranky, hormonal-ness that you deal with. Just a beautiful flower, here for a short while, but her sweet scent remains...

 

[hopefloats]

Well day 13 with the kitties. The beige one, Cookie, hisses often but I dont back down I am unsure how to manage this girl. She hisses at me often, but dont fight thankfully. She is terrified of me, trembles. I keep feeding and petting her but I am not sure I am getting through. You can see in the first one how tense she is but she is calmer in the second.

Part 1
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WR8kA8mI8I&feature=youtu.be[/ame]


Part two
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPxgE9jtqeA&feature=youtu.be[/ame]

Moo is a menace

The biggest brat of a rabbit

The rat is wondering what that is.

we have new rats coming in next weekend. A couple I know hit hard times, really hard and their babies will be here. Not in the market for more rats, but really am i ever? This is a desperate case so I agreed to take them in.

 

[Claireybell2477]

I think you're getting through to Cookie for sure, but it's going to take more time. As an outsider looking in, the first video of her hissing and wide eyed compared to the video you just posted of stroking her head is like two different cats! You are making pretty astounding progress!

 

[Joanne]

You are doing great - keep at it! Slow and steady will win the race.

 

[Petunia]

I think you're getting through to Cookie for sure, but it's going to take more time. As an outsider looking in, the first video of her hissing and wide eyed compared to the video you just posted of stroking her head is like two different cats! You are making pretty astounding progress!

Claireybell is right, you know- you can see how much more her eyes are relaxed

she may be hissing out of habit, I've known of former ferals that will hiss while they snuggle with you, they are just confused and/or used to doing it LOL


have you ever seen Jackson Galaxy's videos on how to do lovey eyes with cats?
I works fantastic, you are at the point there where both girls are almost ready to respond to it
Let me see if I can find his video about it
here it is!!
https://youtu.be/ERJXwaTVPI8

 

[hopefloats]

Claireybell is right, you know- you can see how much more her eyes are relaxed

she may be hissing out of habit, I've known of former ferals that will hiss while they snuggle with you, they are just confused and/or used to doing it LOL


have you ever seen Jackson Galaxy's videos on how to do lovey eyes with cats?
I works fantastic, you are at the point there where both girls are almost ready to respond to it
Let me see if I can find his video about it
here it is!!
https://youtu.be/ERJXwaTVPI8

I watched it so I will give it a whirl. I am afraid tomorrow will be upsetting for them since I have to put them both in carriers So it may set me back but they will both be spayed and happier after It is hard to see one come along so well and the other act like such a little brat LOL but I guess each one is different I shouldnt act like they are the same even though the situation is the same.

 

[hopefloats]

I had the girls spayed and no babies were there. SO they were spared. They were given their shots and treated for bugs


Last nights video, you can see bug the tortie girl look at me like a real cat. She still gets spooked and runs but she looks at me none the less.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYm2AUZDNs&feature=youtu.be[/ame]

cookie is getting braver

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC4jNhbVY1k&feature=youtu.be[/ame]

home from the spays and the idea was to set bug down, and let cookie come out of the carrier but bug went in with cookie instead. I took the door off and left it there for the night. They are a bit sleepy so I am going to skip socializing them today

I have an adopter coming tomorrow for the some girls. so a few more going home that is all i have to report at this time. It is really quiet here which is a good thing. I have been needing some recuperation time for myself.

 

[hopefloats]

We sent home 4 girls today <3

We moved to holding cookie. Bug (lovebug) is adjusting well she will slap my hand when I stop petting here. I found a woman locally who does TNR so that made my day! I am speaking to her about the kittens and making sure I am doing it right with cookie.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeQ3WPPqGkg&feature=youtu.be[/ame]

Spazzy was living with the big group of girls but I moved her to intros with Tiny tim, Butterscotch, Moo and Lillie and they are going amazing. She has a spazzy head, it bobs a lot LOL I cannot explain it but I think she will be better to be in a smaller group so i can watch her better.

She is the cutest little thing. I will get a video so you can see her head bob, it is probably from an ear infection but it was long before she came here. We did treat her but it didnt go anywhere.

and just because buster is so stinky cute

 

[hopefloats]

It is has been quiet here outside of chaos with a group of boys but I found the problem rat and now we have a quiet little group of 10 boys and one lone boy. what is one more loner

We took in 2 7 week old boys, two little black hooded rats so skittish but we are working on it.

Black hooded rats always melt my soul.

I sent these photos to an adopter who was interested in two boys hopefully she will jump on these two. In and out of the rescue is the way to go

I spend about 30 minutes to 45 minutes right before bed with the kittens. I know rat rescue but we all save a lot of things. This has been interesting to say the least. They were spayed on 8/22 so they are now uterus free.

This is our travels with them the last few weeks. We are just over 3 weeks now.

here is 3 days into the force holding of Cookie
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHqah-Ks5Vw[/ame]

here is lovebug buggerboo. Bug for short, i know stupid name but it just stuck
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NpWIgNROy8[/ame]

Monroe is the boy we found outside in horrible shape a few months ago. He is now in better shaped about 7 lbs heavier LOL and just an amazing boy. He doesnt react when cats hiss at him, he just walks away so he is the perfect cat to have around to help the two girls see i am a good thing. He moved out with the kid but I picked him up friday to help me with the girls. He has spent the last two days loose in the room while they were locked up so they could safely get to know each other.

We played this morning.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqSfZjWV4Zg[/ame]

Petunia helped me set up the room, well she instructed me and I moved it all around. I took the playpen out and let the girls go. Monroe is still in there with them.

Bug loves to play, loves to be pet but has her moments of running from me. Petunia helped me figure out what we need to do next. I can see the difference in the girls, they are not the same kittens I set free in that room 3 weeks ago. they are both calmer and more adjusted. Now I must ignore cookie and wait for her to come to me. which is what I am doing. I will play and love on monroe and bug when she lets me, then I will wait for cookie to come to me now.

You can see Cookie wants to play, she is very curious, she is very close to being ready to play. I am ignoring her and waiting for her to decide when she interacts with me. I will be sleeping with them tonight Just to make sure they do ok through the night.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqSfZjWV4Zg[/ame]

We are now free ranging the room. I will be sleeping in there with them tonnight.

http://youtu.be/zecoZbv84to

 

[Sheldon]

Aaaand now a YouTube subscriber to Jackson Galaxy. Cheers kitties!!

 

[Claireybell2477]

Seeing Bug so unfolded and Cookie on your lap makes me want to cry. It's really amazing what a bit of love, patience and kindness can achieve. You've made such a difference. These cats had such a slim chance of not having a decent quality of life or becoming the loving, happy cats they should be. But because of you, they are going to have a completely different life for the next decade. Cookie really wants to let go. She's trying so hard bless her! Monroe is beautiful! He'll be really great for the girls. They are totally different cats now and there's no going back.

 

[hopefloats]

https://youtu.be/oNfxV2IubE8

 

[hopefloats]

It probably wont work right from here. The girls are still hissing and running from me but they almost act like cats now. Monroe has been a great help.

http://youtu.be/oNfxV2IubE8

We had 12 surgeries this week. 10 neuters of angry boys and 2 spays for adoption We had two deaths lately. Cashew and Molly both long time residents. I am losing my mind more so daily but one day it will catch up. All other rats are doing ok so far a few wth health issues but not many. I wll post more when I get some down time.

 

[Joanne]

Those girls are doing great! You are doing such a good job with them.

 

[hopefloats]

I know I don't post much anymore but I am just keeping busy as usual. We have been on a neutering spree we have done around 12 boys in the last two months trying to get peace in the rat rooms.

We are getting some adopters of course not as many as we need but you take what you can get.

We have our first ZGT tumor here and I am quite panicked over it. Elvis who did a number on his tail not once but twice so he is missing half his tail. I am sure I will have to put him to sleep soon but I am so not happy over it.

WE have a few pt boys this time around. I just had to put toby to sleep, along with Benny on thursday. Toby had PT but took a turn for the worse with a very swollen face. Benny had horrible lungs that took him faster than I could save him.


My two feral kittens now turned into 6 feral kittens After I caught the first two my plan was to trap momma. As I started to do this, I seen she was very pregnant. I have spent the last 7 weeks searching for these babies. I caught one pretty fast the other 3 we caught in about a week and half time frame. I believe I caught them all catching the final boy a black one who will not stop hissing at me a few nights ago.

The older two girls are doing very well with me. They will need to stay with me though. They are great when it is just myself with them but if a stranger comes in they hide and hiss. Cookie the beige girl wont let me pet or hold her, but she does come to me for her baby food each night. I have sat with them nightly since they came here. The kittens are getting along with the other two and monroe. 3 of the 4 kittens are coming around so well that black one will need some work.


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqqwufaTW-4[/ame]

my little mean fella
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E69SnpxedEw[/ame]

I have made the decision to adopt two girls out to a school. I spoke to the teacher for a month before I finally could work up to it but I have found peace with the choice for a few reasons. She will not allow the children to take the rats home. They will be her rats but she will take them to school with her. She will keep a single cn at home for them and they will have a smaller cage for them at the school. She wont tolerate any meanness to the rats she will keep them at home if they mess up so that helps.

I have seen so many breeders lately that my soul cannot handle it. People I have helped turned into the worse byb i have seen. This being what is happening is why I went with adopting to a class. These kids are 13 years old. The time that pets are going to be in their life and the want for them to be. I told her that I would not adopt them out unless I could talk to her students. So monday I will spend all day talking to all of her classes about the rats, proper care, how to handle, why they are so important to me, where they came from(pictures included) why it is so important to rescue an animal and not breed them. The teacher really wanted to have them be able to care for something and to learn about rats and about rescuing them so this is ideal for reaching out to a group of kids and hopefully putting a seed in their ear about rescuing and loving pet rats. I carefully selected momma melody and her mink hooded baby. They do well when out. Typically dont startle to easily and they handle stress well. They are also very into people. This choice was not an easy one to make but these adults are crazy and set in their ways we have to get to these kids to make them understand how important it is to save a life.

 

[RatPack]

I was thinking the same thing earlier about the breeders...I don't know what is going on but seems like every other day I am hearing or seeing more baby rats for sale..We just took two boys from a girl who decided to buy a female rat from a breeder and she was pregnant and now she has all these babies (momma had 14!) and not a clue what to do with them so we took 2 though we were only supposed to get one but I made the mistake of sending my husband out alone and she offered him two and he couldn't say no but luckily for him I had a friend bringing a bigger cage for them and our naked boy who just turned 5 weeks old but that's it..We filled our last spare cage with the little girl we picked up out of someones trash can...We are officially full so as much as I hate to and I know the humane society hates it as well but any other further rats at this point I will have to refer to them until either we adopt some out or get more cages...People need to stop breeding!!!But I am glad you little ladies get to go get an education and I am glad kitties are doing good and hopefully the younger ones will follow their lead and warm up to you a little faster.

 

[Joanne]

You are once again working your magic with those feral kittens. Since they seem to be younger than the two girls you got, hopefully this means they will tame up faster. Is there anyone who would be able to sit in the room to help socialize them to more people?
I remember there being gerbils in elementary school, but I don't know what happened to them. We had hammies at home. Gerbils were too hyper. I think that if the teacher is in charge of their care, it should go well. I think it's awesome that you will be there to speak to all the kids. Since they are older, maybe you could show some before and after pics of rescues so they can see what a difference care makes.

 

[hopefloats]

I was thinking the same thing earlier about the breeders...I don't know what is going on but seems like every other day I am hearing or seeing more baby rats for sale..We just took two boys from a girl who decided to buy a female rat from a breeder and she was pregnant and now she has all these babies (momma had 14!) and not a clue what to do with them so we took 2 though we were only supposed to get one but I made the mistake of sending my husband out alone and she offered him two and he couldn't say no but luckily for him I had a friend bringing a bigger cage for them and our naked boy who just turned 5 weeks old but that's it..We filled our last spare cage with the little girl we picked up out of someones trash can...We are officially full so as much as I hate to and I know the humane society hates it as well but any other further rats at this point I will have to refer to them until either we adopt some out or get more cages...People need to stop breeding!!!But I am glad you little ladies get to go get an education and I am glad kitties are doing good and hopefully the younger ones will follow their lead and warm up to you a little faster.

There are so many around here lately it is unreal. We have been watching some pages and it is horrifying to say the least our humane society calls us so we take the rats in that come there so i am the only one in this area who takes them in.

You are once again working your magic with those feral kittens. Since they seem to be younger than the two girls you got, hopefully this means they will tame up faster. Is there anyone who would be able to sit in the room to help socialize them to more people?
I remember there being gerbils in elementary school, but I don't know what happened to them. We had hammies at home. Gerbils were too hyper. I think that if the teacher is in charge of their care, it should go well. I think it's awesome that you will be there to speak to all the kids. Since they are older, maybe you could show some before and after pics of rescues so they can see what a difference care makes.

I did just that. I took pictures of my cage so they could see how serious we are about it. Full shots of the rat room, I took the pictures of the horrible cages that the hoarder girls came from and a few pictures of them when I first had them in my care eating and learning to play in the wheel. I also took a few shots of my outtime with rats showing how they are all on my couch and hanging out destroying my Ipad, hanging off my face. I also took random pictures of momma with her babies showing their new young girl in her baby days. I left those and the cage pictures so they can see and teach other.

I started out explaining who we are, went on with the cages dont's show all the nasty cages that came to me with pictures of urine soaked ramps and levels. I went on to proper cages and care, showed them how to handle the girls, these two girls are great hand rats so they will do well in the class never even got spooked today with 6 different classes of kids making noise. We explained why it is so important to adopt not shop and explain the lack of care rats get at petstores and how overbred they are there. It went well, they asked alot of questions about them and they were so excited they were staying. She told them they will not being taking them home on long breaks that they are hers and will remain there as long as they behave and do not mistreat them. I also explain diet, keeping treats to a minimum, what they can bring from home for them like tp rolls and safe treats, explain what to look for in sick rats, porph, hard breathing. I also took my board with tumor pictures so they could see how bad the rats that come in are, how much we spent last year and how much we spent this year


The kittens I sleep with nightly. I sit down each night with them for an hour or more which is why I am missing on most postings and answering post. It was my internet time but it has turned into cat time now. 3 of 4 are doing amazing, the one black one is a hissing fool LOL Momma cat will hopefully be trapped friday night and TNR"d on saturday. I am working out how to keep her for a few days then set her free again after she healed.

here is how my night goes followed by playing with the toys on a stick

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaWO2Y4ajEc[/ame]

I picked up two girls with their single critter nation. A naked girl and a beige split capped dumbo girl but I took them and their cage to my mom. She has been wanting rats so I will get these two spayed, and there is 3 boys she wants so she will have 5 there It is good one less cage in the house for me to clean and their owner really needed them to come to me. She has a bunch of health issues and is having a lot of surgeries

 

[hopefloats]

I caught momma friday night. She was spayed on Saturday and ear tipped as well.

The vet found a pellet in her. Some lovely neighbor shot her. It is up on her back side.

She is in the house for now to heal and see if she can handle inside life. Not a fan of her being shot outside.