Sweetie & The Sugahs...Peecs 11/09

[jorats]

Aww... there they are! Welcome to the world wee ones. I remember for our Daizy and April too, it seemed to take forever for moms to feed them and have milkbands. But in the end they did and did very well.

 

[Vanessa]

Hey, don't blame me, blame the potholes in this city! :bounce2:

 

[LA]

Aw how adorable. I love sweeties 'look what I did' face. Come on milk bellies!!!

 

[lilspaz68]

Sweetie is incredible. When I first was mucking in her cage she had the "I don't know you, stay away" look on her face...then I spoke to her and told her what a brave girl she was and she wanted out and to be held.... :heart: :heart:

Right now it seems she has taken them under the fleece and could be feeding them. Its all quiet except an eeep or 2 :joy: :joy:

Once we have milkbellies I will be able to breathe a bit...hehehe

 

[mamarat]

Aww babies. :heart:

 

[Dahlas]

I know she is getting the best care.....If anyone can make milk bands happen it will be you.
I am sure Sweetie is eating like a Queen.....all you can do know is pray....and I am doing that.

 

[rat.charmer]

Thinking about your girl and her babies

 

[Lindsay]

...looks like there's milk in the bellies to me... am I the only one that sees/thinks that? In the first pic of them with the penny i see some white showing through....

 

[Dahlas]

I thought I saw some in that picture to...but I thought it might have been the lighting

 

[user 78]

The white/light part I think you're seeing is, I believe, their rib cage and the dark spots below those are their organs. Milk bands are bright white bands directly across the stomachs. In the "look at me!" shots, you can't see anything that looks like a milk band.

 

[Dahlas]

:nod: I looked closer and white spots are up high...none in the belly....Hopefully there will be soon

 

[user 78]

This is what a normal milk band looks like

The bright white part is the milk band.

 

[Lindsay]

K. Makes sense. Just at first glance it looked like milk bellies to me.

Any yet?

 

[lilspaz68]

She's with them under the fleece, but I think she's feeding them now. I'll wait until she comes out and see if she'd like a break. Then I'll check the eepers again

 

[meghan]

Awww babies!!

They're adorable!!

 

[SQ]

Adorable babies .... Just like Laurel, 8 babies after going for a car ride

Since mom is with you, Shelagh, I'm sure she is getting lots of good nutrition and the babies will soon have nice milk bands.

 

[Squeak]

Wow! They are such tiny cuties :heart:

 

[Dewi]

A female rat as malnourished, young, and abused as Sweetie is has no business having a litter. I don't care how far along she is. I would gladly spare her this by going ahead with the E-Spay if Dr. Munn was more confident of the outcome. Honestly, if *any* rat mother came through my doors in this sort of condition, I'd have them spayed immediately. There are more than enough rats out there already needing homes, and a rat in this condition has no reason to be going through this.

You can see Sweetie and her brothers' stories here : http://jorats.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=6306

I'm really surprised about this. Do you think it okay to have new born pinkies PTS when they have no obvious health problems? With foetuses that developed the vet would need to give a lethal injection in order euthanase them. Well actually I can't speak for vets, but as far as animal ethic requirements for the sciences (in Australia) go, rat foetuses in the last 15 days of gestation get treated the same as new born pinkies due to their nervous systems being developed enough to feel pain.

ETA: Sorry I just realised that I didn't word this properly. I actually meant to say that from 15 days onwards into gestation I personally wouldn't get a rat speyed due to the foetus being too developed.

 

[Cityratt]

I just wanted to add here that Shelagh was planning, if safe and possible, to have Sweetie e-spayed on Monday. She delivered on Friday soon after ariving with her...

Even if Shelagh was going to go through with the e-spay (and potentially compromise Sweetie's safety) she never would have made it until Monday....

 

[lilspaz68]

I would have e-spayed Sweetie up until my vet said it was okay...because she was so far along (yet another former owner lying :roll I wouldn't chance her life. I didn't want another Ooops litter again, but I took her in knowing this was a chance. All these babies are now going to take away possible homes from other needy rats, whether it be in my own home, or someone else's. That is something I will always feel sad about. :sad-p:

I would probably e-spay up until the last week. The last 15 days is over 2 weeks and only 7 days into the pregnancy. I had Aura e-spayed but lucked out that she was only a little pregnant. I had taken her and her 4 young daughters in when they had been living with males. For them I had to cross my fingers and wish very hard. :lol:

Its sad to think of the loss of the babies, but Sweetie should never have been pregnant at all. She is tiny and young and this is her 2nd litter! :redhot: