hitting hard times :(

So I've done the unthinkable: re-homed a few of my pets. The last ferret I took in has gone to stay with my step-sister. He seems happier there. He lived alone before he came to me and I don't think living with Static and Stella was his cup of tea. So now he has free run of the house quite often and it seems to be working out for everyone. Honey and Milkshake now live with a dear friend. I just never got as attached to them as I did Hairy and Minuit. I think it was too soon... I was trying to help Minuit out by getting her a housemate, but then she died leaving the new rat alone so I ended up buying a newer rat to keep the new rat company. If I'd known Minuit was gonna die anyway I wouldn't have bought the first one to begin with. So that was just a thing I did that didn't work out as I'd hoped...

Anyway, I also sent my gliders to live elsewhere. There was some weirdness going on with them that I could just no longer deal with. A rat, a mouse, the last hermit crab, and the hamster have died. The last time I tried to post a memorial PhotoBucket was being a dick and I never came back to it. I guess I have some catching up to do.

I still have more of a houseful than I need, but I have a hard time parting ways with my kids. Speaking of fur kids something is wrong with Scooter and I hope, Hope, HOPE it works itself out SOON because I certainly do not have the money to take him to the vet. He's had diarrhea and been vomiting for like a week and I've done everything I know of to fix him. I haven't switched foods on him, I've given him dewormer (just in case), I've made sure there's nothing un-foody around that he could be getting into. I just don't know what else could be going on. I treated them all for fleas with CHEMICALS! - which I'm normally opposed to doing, but nothing else is working. The fleas are MONSTEROUS this year. 😟 I wonder if that could have jacked him up.

Speaking of diarrhea - Scooter's just been going where ever he goes. For the most part he's done pretty well considering that there's no one home to let him out mid-day anymore, but now that he's sick all bets are off. And he likes to do his business in the big room where the floor is concrete or cement or whatever. Which you know - is porous. It's like trying to mop up wet poo from a sidewalk or something - it just doesn't work. So my house smells like sickly shit right now and it pretty much grosses me out. I actually feel a little nauseated because of it. But I have not found a way to get it completely up - most of what I do seems to just... rub it in. Mayhaps that's something I can work on in a bit. Suggestions?

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared...

So... I've put myself into a situation where I'm going to be doing the whole "single parent" thing again. It was quite intentional (and necessary), but nonetheless I'm a little scared. It's been a while since I've been completely on my own.

I remember when I first moved out by myself (well, with Shadow). I was like, "Whoa, how the fuck do people DO this??" But I did it and I was ok. Now, it's kind of like that - but different. Whereas before I had nothing - now I have a lot to lose if I don't get things right. Mostly what I'm referring to, I suppose, is my house. It's not the greatest thing ever, but it's home. Even if I do stay caught up on my bills I don't have much left over for repairs. And believe me - there are a lot of them stacking up.

In March I quit working 3 jobs. I probably shouldn't have done that, but I wasn't being treated very nicely and it was so hard to juggle it all. With school starting back soon and no babysitter on call three jobs wouldn't be an option for me right now if I wanted it to. I'm feeling pretty grateful for that, though, seeing as how time off is a lot more valuable to me when I have good friends to spend it with.

Also, I have two cars. Neither of them are running at the moment. Both of my parents are working to help me with them and I greatly appreciate it. I just wish I had something reliable to drive. I think I've been stranded, like, 5 times this month. It never lasts long, but it scares the shit out of me. It's not so great.

I've been thinking a lot about trying to get child support. I never tried to pursue that in all of Shadow's 8 years, but the more I think about it the more I want to. The main two things that have stopped me were: 1) I didn't want to be sued for joint custody or visitation or whatever, and 2) I knew Shadow's father wouldn't hold a job and would probably end up in jail. So, it's been pointed out to me that 1) He calls and I let him talk to Shadow regardless / he's a felon on house arrest anyway so it's not likely that he would be able to get custody, and 2) If he'd been in jail all this time he probably wouldn't have so many other kids running around right now. (Btw, I'm not shit-talking him - he's a really nice guy. Just in trouble a lot).

I'm still on the fence on this one. Maybe I'm too nice. Maybe I'm reaching a point in my life where I'm tired of being nice and getting walked on. For what it's worth, though, he's had plenty of time (8 years!) to get his shit together and "help us" like he's promised to do since Shadow was born and all he does is get into more trouble. I think I'm just really losing patience with this whole "one day" mentality that's floating around me.

So I'm preparing for things to be kind of tight around here. It breaks my heart to think of it, but I might have to re-home some of my pets. Probably definitely the ferrets because their food is so much more expensive than anyone else's. I'm not all that attached to my girl ratties (even though they're not much trouble) - after Hairy and Minuit passed it just hasn't been the same. I hate to admit it, but I've just not been able to get close to them. I've got a bunch of cages and stuff that I'll probably post up on Craigslist or something... if I don't get them out of my house I know I'll be tempted to fill them again. No harm in removing them and making a few bucks, right?

You know, I have a really awesome job and it's not like I'm broke as fuck... I think I'm just starting to freak out a little because I won't have anyone to fall back on. Just me to blame if shit doesn't go as planned. While I'm really looking forward to the near future - I'm nervous. I haven't been "on my own" in probably pushing 3 years. I guess it's time to buckle down and see if I'm still as resilient as I used to be. I sure as hell hope so.

Who’s that flapping at my door?

A baby bird.

It's insane. I took my dogs out to the pen, I came back in and was checking on my rats, and I heard something at the door. I opened it and a baby bird flopped in. No shit. So I'm trying not to touch it and get it back outside and when I finally do it hops towards the dog pen. I was just like, "Nooo!" But then I noticed the unfortunate soul who was already in there. Yeah - another baby bird. The dogs were of course harassing it... it's missing some feathers, but it has no open wounds. I don't know if it has any broken bones... Anyway, I snatched it up and caught the other little shit who was hopping all over. He was probably headed off to get eaten by a cat. 😳

So now I have two baby birds. I don't know where the hell they came from. They're big enough that they have feathers, but they're not flying yet. Also I'm still really worried about the one who was with the dogs. The vets can't help me, animal control can't help me, and the museum is closed. (And lucky for me this is a long weekend). /sarcasm I don't know what to do. I have them in a warm, dark, quiet place. I hope some rest will do them good while I figure out what to do. Any suggestions?

Rest in Peace, Minuit

So, yeah. *sigh* Whatever took her set in suddenly, kept her suffering for days, and then was gone, along with her. She seemed to be hurting and despite my best efforts I could not help her. Missing her will certainly be easier than seeing her suffer.

I love you, baby girl. I will miss your secrets and your fuzzy nose kisses.

Nursing

Toad (Shadow's gerbil) hasn't been doing so well. I've been going all "nurse" on his ass. I hand feed him. I give him little things to do to keep him from going insane, but don't let him expend too much energy. I give him dust baths. I medicate his wound. I think he has a scent gland tumor and due to his age surgery probably wouldn't be the best idea. He's doing much better over these last few days so he's earned wheel privileges... if he keeps improving, hopefully I can put him back in with the other gerbils. I know they are not supposed to be alone, but they were chewing at his wound so I couldn't leave him with them. Gerbils can't leave anything alone, unfortunately. 😕

Also, Minuit looks like shit. I'm doing all that I can for her, too. I guess she's getting sort of up-there in ratty years. This damn sucks. She's kind of the last piece of Hairy that I feel I have left. Not that I don't love Minuit for who she is... because I do. I love a lot of things about her - one of the most awesome being that she tells me secrets. 😊 She always has. I hope she will be ok.

Rest in Peace, Hairy

Oh Hairy. You probably have no idea how much your death tears me up. I so was not ready for this, though your health as of the last few months was a clue that you were not doing so well. I tried, baby girl - I really did. I'm sorry - I feel as though I failed you.

I haven't really put it out there, but me and Hairy have made several trips to the vet's office over the last few months... if it's not her eyes, it's her skin. We put ointment in her eyes for months and kept her on Benadryl to stop her from scratching her skin up, but nothing was helping. We finally put her on some oral antibiotics along with the eye ointment and she looked SO much better. Then here is it a month later and almost overnight she's on her last legs.

It really and truly happened fast... I woke up yesterday morning and her eyes were looking bad again. I called the vet and was instructed to start her back on antibiotics so I did. That evening when I came home she looked so much worse. Really skinny and squinty... it was terrible. My friend Jeni bought her some baby food and Gatorade and she ate pretty well. I put a heat lamp over her because she felt cold to the touch. I stayed up pretty late so that she could rest before I woke her up to get her to eat again. When I got up this morning she was barely moving and her breathing was so shallow that you could barely tell she was alive. She felt so cold.

I stayed home until she passed and then I held her and cried for a good hour or so - so much that I made myself pretty sick. I just didn't want to believe it was over - I kept looking for some sign of life, I guess out of desperation. But I knew better.

In a way I guess it should be a relief... I'd briefly considered having her put to sleep, because I just couldn't keep her healthy. I was just so tired of seeing her sick and since she couldn't voice it I never knew how bad or good she felt.

I've pretty much expected that she would not be as healthy as other hairless rats as they're pretty fragile creatures to begin with. On top of that she wasn't bred to be hairless - she was just sort of a mutant (all of her litter mates were furred). Most good breeders can weed out a lot of health problems over time, but Hairy didn't get that benefit. She didn't have the best start, though she seemed healthy up until lately... Gosh, though, these last few months were pretty brutal on her. From what I've read the life expectancy of a furred rat is 2-3 years... for a hairless it's usually 18-24 months. She was just a few months shy of 18 so I guess she was getting pretty up there in rat years anyway.

Anyway, Hairy, you were my first ratty girl. I really and truly loved you to pieces. I won't be getting over you anytime soon. I just hope that you get to rest, finally, and be free of sickness. Again, I'm really sorry that I couldn't save you. I love you.

Tater and Gregory

I'm not supposed to say how I got them... hence this being a preferred post. If you are my friend don't tell on me. Don't mention this to other people. I don't know how big of a deal this is, but I can't afford for it to cost me my job.

At PetSmart we have a room where we keep animals that are not able to be sold... they're "not perfect" and so that means that obviously no one would want them. *rolls eyes* We have a few one-eyed hamsters and such in this room and also the two rats that I brought home were from this room... they were beat up and scarred pretty bad... one was even bleeding, though he was all alone. I'm sure his wounds were itching and he just scratched them.

I guess some of the smaller animals don't always get along with their housemates or probably even some of them just come in with little abnormalities. Anyway... PetSmart has an image to protect just as most businesses do.

When I saw those rats back there all alone and shit I just couldn't leave them. And honestly I don't know what happens to them if they're not adopted by an employee. (PetSmart will pretty much give these animals to employees - but not the public, as far as I know - just to get them off their hands since they can't sell them.) They told me that they didn't get along with other rats which is why they were in solitary and beat up.

Well, I took them both home and gave them all baths (even Daxter - who btw, has seemed really depressed since Jak died) and put them all together. They've been really nice to each other... no squabbles or anything. They even groomed each other and curled up to sleep together. "Doesn't get along with other rats," my ass. I know every rat will not get along with every rat, but that doesn't mean that you have to put them in solitary. That's really bad for a rat. 😟 Honestly on second thought they may have just been so grateful for company that they could now get along with anyone.

Either way they are all doing well socially. Now to heal the wounds. I took Hairy to the vet last week to have her eye checked on again. It's much better, btw. 😀 She has some scratches on her skin (where it looked like she'd scratched herself too much), so the vet gave me a tube of some anti-itch, anti-bacterial cream to put on her. I think I'm going to use it on the new fellas, as well, to see if that helps.

Anyway, I understand why PetSmart wouldn't want the public seeing beat-up, one-eyed little animals (even though shit like that just happens - it's nature), but it sucks that unless an employee takes them home they're just pretty much stuck back there (unless they heal up nicely). Again, please don't go in there asking about pets for adoption because I'm the only one who's adopted a pet in quite a while that I know of so I'm sure they'd realize it was me who said that that happens. If anyone's interested in an unperfect little animal let me know. I plan to find out who all is back there (there's not that many in case I've got you all freaked out), and I'm trying to think of a way to bust them all out. 😁 They deserve loving homes, too. 😊

Rest in Peace, Jak :(

I found little Jak dead this morning. 😭 I didn't have him for long... a few months - tops, but I he was a very sweet boy. I'm honestly not sure what went wrong as he showed no signs of sickness or injury at all. I'm thinking he might have just been old... rats don't have very long life spans, unfortunately, and I have no way of knowing his age seeing as how he was given to me. There's just no telling how old he was when his first owners bought him from the pet store, nor how long they had him.

Anyway, he looked very peaceful which eased my mind. It looked as though he'd curled up and gone to sleep and then just never woke up. I suppose I couldn't think of a better way to go. I will miss you little fatty ratty. Have a good sleep.

Daxter

Rats aren't supposed to live alone, you know. 😁

The other one, btw... his name is Jak. 😍

My name must be Tinkerbell...

because all the lost boys find me.

So yeah, he came here tonight in the crappiest of conditions. He'd been left at a friends house (probably on their porch in this cold ass weather) in a 10 gallon aquarium with a wooden board on top with a t-shirt and half a bucket (for shelter, I guess??) thrown in the tank. And his food and water dishes were the bottoms of 20 ounce soda bottles. My friends then brought him to me seeing as how they have a bunch of cats and couldn't keep him.

So uh... I guess I have myself a new man rat.

Will someone please bring me a space heater??

Seriously, (I'm serious). I'm sick of freezing my ass off. I'm like ice. And I'm angry about it. GRRR!

I just hurt my tongue with butterscotch. 😞

This morning Hairy bit me. It didn't hurt or anything. I think she's become the toll-keeper of her cage. No one shall pass without giving her a treat (that's what I normally do first thing - give her a yummy). 😊 I'm sure it was accidental... she probably thought I had something in my hand for her. I'm not mad.

In other ratty news this morning Minuit accepted food from my hand for the first time. 😁😁😁

Saturday we went by CD Cellar. I found a tick on me in there and promptly freaked out. 😨 Luckily it was not stuck in.

I'm sleepy.

And I love you.

sqeebles

That's the sound my new little ratty makes. She sure is a talkative little lady. I was holding her last night and she pretty much didn't stop talking the whole time - in fact she was doing it before I even picked her up. She didn't sound distressed or anything - just like she might've had something to say. I wonder what it was...

Minuit

So I finally got Hairy a friend. Her name is Minuit which is French for midnight. She's albino, but she has some darker patches of fur that would've been black had she not been albino. She's a pretty lil thing... the only one in the store like her. 😁

When I first put her and Hairy together I don't think they were getting along too well. So they both got a bath and then rubbed with vanilla extract so that they'd smell the same. That made them get along better. Minuit DEFINITELY needed a bath. She was SO dirty (and she smelled terrible, too). But now they both smell quite yummy.

(Btw... Hairy does NOT like getting bathed. She fought me the whole time. But Minuit just sat there after a moment and let me wash her little face and tail and all her fur. She was SO good!)

Anyway, so here's some pictures. 😊

"Hello!"

"I'm Minuit. Who are you??"

Hairy's a camera whore. 😂

*burps*

So I just got home... it's just me and my kiddo for now. It's nice to have him home... he's spent the night away several times this week due to spring break. I've missed him.

On the way home from PetSmart he rode in the front seat with me. Emma had just thrown up in the back so he didn't want to sit back there. We talked a lot. It was nice.

I just ordered pizza because I'm tired of being out and I've got a ton to do here. Nothing pleasant; mostly just cleaning that I've neglected all week. Oh, and the ferrets. I don't really see Friday as a great day to go out or hang out because I'm always exhausted from the week by then so that's my ferret-cleaning day. May as well get it over with so that if I have guests over during the rest of the weekend my house won't smell ferret-tacular. Don't get me wrong; I like ferret musk. But there's six in our house right now and it can be a bit overwhelming if not tended to.

My carpet looks so disgusting. It's needs a good shampooing. But I'm not doing it until the bathroom is fixed so that I can put Scooty back in there during the day. He'd pee on my clean carpet I just know.

I need to hang out with Hairy. I haven't held her in like two days. That's not cool. 😕

Anyway...

Cute pics I took today...

This is the laziest dog fight I've ever seen in my life. 😂

Recent pics of my piggy pigs... they're so fat!

Hairy... being his / her usual adorable self. 😍

Neo, looking pretty.

My New Buddy

We went to Critter's for crickets after work today... and just guess what I came home with. (Hint: Something other than crickets - though we got those, too).

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Ok, you suck at guessing. I got a little ratty friend! He's only about 4 weeks old and was brought in by a lady who thought he had cancer or something, though he's just hairless. (A rat she had for snake food had babies and he was the only hairless in the bunch). I was so happy to meet him (we think he's a boy, but I don't really care). Btw... either way, his / her name is Hairy. 😀 Anyhoo, here's some pics.