Billy, Louie, Pickle, and Winnifred

Hello again, readers,

We wanted to write a post about a semi-recent intake of 4 beautiful rats - Billy, Louie, Pickle, and Winnifred. This post will contain a fair bit of information and some slightly graphic images. We will ensure this post is divided into clearly labeled sections.

We responded to a request in 'Rat Rescue Network UK': an owner was in need of an experienced home for her aggressive bucks. We've dealt with multiple 'aggressive' rats in our time. As we were local and seemed to be exactly what the owner was looking for, we decided to respond. Whilst conversing with their owner, they also mentioned about an accidental litter they'd previously had. They also had two young does in need of a home. We decided to take all four rats.

Pickle and Winnifred:

Pickle and Winnifred were estimated to be approximately 3-4 months old. They both appeared to be entirely healthy, but as their owner mentioned previous accidental litters, we decided it was appropriate to monitor the does for any potential pregnancies before attempting to introduce them to our pre-existing mischief of does. Luckily, after monitoring them for a typical gestation period, the does were not pregnant.

The introduction process was smooth. Pickle and Winnifred thrived when they had more companions.

Louie:

By the end of this section, it'll be clear why we've chosen to discuss the two bucks in separate parts. When agreeing to rescue the bucks, we were aware they both had an aggressive side towards humans and rats. 

Louie was a gorgeous rex (curled coat) buck who probably had one of the largest egos we've ever seen in a rat - it was rather humorous. We were initially warned that Billy was the most aggressive of the pair. We initially suspected that both rats aggression stemmed from fear and lack of socialization rather than an underlying hormonal abnormality. As time went on, we realised that Louie was the perpetrator and there was also an element of his behavior that could've been attributed to hormones. His aggression towards Billy undoubtedly contributed to Billy's fearful behaviour.

We ran some medical tests to see if there may have been a health reason behind Louie's aggression. Urinalysis revealed that Louie was actually as healthy as can be. We then decided to converse with our vet about neutering him. We were unanimous that it was for the best.

Neuter and passing:

Louie was admitted for surgery and passed all the initial health checks. The surgery itself was successful but there was more bleeding than usual, however, nothing to prompt masses amounts of concern. He went into recovery and was then under the nurses care. Not too long after, the nurses noticed that Louie started to deteriorate. Our vet was called to investigate the developing problem. The capillary blood ooze in the skin and surrounding tissues that would normally cause no damage had catastrophically lead to continuous blood loss that couldn't be stopped because the clotting mechanism had failed to work. Rats can generally only lose about 3ml of blood before their bodies essentially can't take it. The veterinary team worked tirelessly to try and save Louie but he sadly passed away. It remains unclear what exactly caused the clotting mechanism to fail; liver disease, cancers, an unknown hereditary condition? 

Louie passed away on 24/10/18. He is deeply missed.

Billy:

Billy is a hairless male who arrived living with Louie. He was also an aggressive rat, however, his aggression stemmed from a mixture of fear and hormones. Louie wasn't an easy rat to live with but Billy did still mourn him when he sadly passed away.

Once Louie had passed away, our initial plans were to bond him to the other pre-existing mischief of bucks in our care - Rowan, Alfie, and Arthur.

Unfortunately, things weren't meant to be. All of the bucks appeared to have a combination of too much negative history from previously failed introduction attempts and hormonal aggression. We decided it would've been best for Billy to be neutered and hopefully bond with our mischief of does.

Neuter and Finding Companionship:

Billy was successfully neutered and handled the anaesthetic really well. Unfortunately, his healing process was a little less smooth. At first, we suspected Billy had developed a common post-neuter abscess. He was introduced to a brief course of Noroclav: an antibiotic containing Amoxicillin and Clavulanic acid which is particularly useful when fighting skin infections. 

As the 'abscess' healed, it became apparent that Billy actually had a reaction to the surgical sutures. Luckily, this meant it was, in fact, a sterile reaction and would hopefully resolve as the suture dissolved - fortunately, that's exactly what happened.

Once his reaction had fully cleared, it was merely a case of waiting for Billy to become completely infertile before we could introduce him to our mischief of does.

Luckily for Billy, Pickle, and Winnifred, a day came when they could all live together and thrive in each others company.

You can keep up with Billy, Pickle, and Winnifred, on our social media: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter