oh, rats! #3

And here is - finally - oh, rats! #3:

Our family is growing...

Sunday we adopted 3 more ratties from Huron Valley Rat Rescue and christened them Jackie Chan, TenTen, and Mulan (we adopted TenTen and Mulan's mother and aunt several weeks ago). In a few days we hope to make introductions and integrate them in with our other ratties.

oh, rats! #2

And here is 'oh, rats' #2!

Animal Testing and Cruelty

Animals feel pain just like we do.
Help stop the animal testing, cruelty, and abuse.
Animals can't speak for themselves so it's up to us to speak up for them. Write letters to companies and let them know you won't buy their products until they stop the cruel and inhuman animal experimentations and report animal cruelty and abuse to the ASPCA, your local law enforcement agencies and animal control...and encourage everyone you know to do the same.
Together we can make a difference.

50 Disasters of Animal Testing
Alternatives to Animal Experimentation
Animal Experimentation Issues
Cosmetic Testing: Background Information
International Association Against Painful Experiments on Animals
European Coalition to End Animal Experiments
Uncaged Campaigns: Against All Animal Experiments
Stop Animal Testing
Pet Store Abuse
Pet-Abuse.com
In Defense of Animals
ASPCA

We do our best not to buy products tested on animals and we strongly encourage others to do the same.
Caring Consumer

oh, rats!

Kita, here! One of my hobbies is drawing, and today I decided to draw a comic featuring two of our rats, Lightning and Ukitake. (Based on Ukitake's love of treats, and Lightning's habit of playing dead.)

This is the first in a series - called 'oh, rats!', obviously - that I'll be doing, as our rats' antics give me ideas. I already have a couple more ideas, which I'll get to when my arm stops aching from doing this one ^_^

You Know You're A Rat Lover When...

You Know You're A Rat Lover When...

The Bad Rat Pledge

I will not graze on the carpet.

It is not considered "cool" to beat up rats smaller than myself.

There is no need to steal treats from others when I am given one of equal size of my own.

I will not leave raisins on the sofa for unsuspecting human butts.

Pots are for growing plants in, not digging up.

I will refrain from climbing down the blouses of female visitors.

When I don't want to go home to the cage yet, I will not wedge myself under immovable furniture.

I will not give my human a heart attack by sleeping soundly with my eyes open.

Human saliva is not a tasty treat.

Chewing on electrical cords is not fun, even if it elicits such an enthusiastic response from my human.

You can view the entire pledge here.

Rat Property Laws

1. If I like it, it's mine.
2. If I've peed on it, it's mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
5. If you've got something larger, it's mine.
6. If I'm chewing something up, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it's in my reach, it's mine.
8. If I saw it first, it's mine.
9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If it's broken or it tastes bad, it's yours.

[From The Dapper Rat]

Rat Care

For basic information and general care the Basic Rat Care Guide at ratsrule.com and the Pet Rat Information Sheet both offer some good basic information.

RattyRat.com and Fancy Rats both have a lot of information on proper care, behavior, health, and feeding. Fancy Rats also has a forum and a cage calculator tool to help you to work out how many rats your cage will comfortably house.

The Goosemoose Rats Rule! forum is a great place for information and advice from rat owners.

The Rat Health Guide is an excellent resource on rat health. The site covers topics on basic care such as behavior and diet and has in-depth articles and case studies on illnesses/injuries such as mycoplasmosis, pneumonia, SDA, ear infections, skin problems, and abscesses.

Rat First Aid and First Aid for Small Furries are good guides for emergency situations including respiratory distress, choking, accidents and injuries.

Rat Fan Club and Fat Rat Central both have good information regarding different skin problems that may occur.

Respiratory and Heart Disease in Rats has information on symptoms and treatment.

Bumblefoot briefly covers causes and treatments of bumblefoot.

Note: The above websites should only be used as a guide to help recognize and understand illnesses in a pet rat. If your rat is showing signs of illness or an injury please seek advice and treatment from a qualified veterinarian who can properly evaluate, diagnose, and treat your rat.

Need help finding a good veterinarian?

Finding a Good Rat Veterinarian offers some good advice for selecting a good, qualified veterinarian for your rat.

The Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians has a directory of all current members of the AEMV.

Rat Vets is a directory for the Midwest and Eastern U.S.

Rat Vets is a directory for the Western U.S. and Other Countries.

PRC has a list of Canadian veterinarians who treat pet rats.

For those of you in the U.K. you can do a search for veterinarians at RVCS.

Animal Friendly Apartments

Moving and need to find an apartment that allows pets? The Humane Society has a list of links to Animal Friendly Apartments here.