The past several days have not been very good... I lost both Teddy and Templeton to pneumonia less than 2 days apart...

It started really suddenly. I take the boys out every day and didn't notice any wheezing, etc. Tuesday evening Templeton's appetite was fine. He was wrestling with Emile on the bed like usual. Wednesday when I came home from work late afternoon Templeton has porphyrin all over his nose, and he had pee all over his belly. He was lethargic too. Teddy also had a bit of porphyrin around his nose, but not as much as Templeton. Thursday morning when I woke up Teddy was having a hard time breathing, he kept gasping. Templeton was also sucking in his sides and having a tough time breathing. I called my vet as soon as they opened.


We actually ended up taking them in a little earlier than their appointment because Templeton had seized up and panicked and his little nose and back feet turned blueish. The vet gave them both Baytril injections and Dexamethsone to help with the inflammation from pneumonia.... how in the world did they come down with pneumonia so fast? He also gave them Cipro antibiotics to take home.

We also picked up a nebulizer machine that my Mom lent us, with some Abuterol to try and ease their breathing. That evening after the vet though Teddy was still gasping a lot. He ended up passing away 5 hours after his vet visit... Templeton was upset. The other boys Emile & Remy lay down next to Teddy with their ears back, after he passed away. I always try to let them say goodbye.


Templeton didn't seem quite as bad. We were doing everything we could think of. He didn't want to eat or drink on his own. But he would lick water or pedilyte, ensure off our fingers. We kept pushing baby food and nutritional paste to see if he would eat it. He would only really take a full drink on his own twice a day...

Thursday night I kept Templeton in a carrier next to the bed. He hated to be in and would start to panic at first. So Friday when I had to go to work, we left him on the bed curled up in my comforter and my husband kept watch over him. Friday evening he cuddled with me on a heating pad and started chattering while I pet him. He drank a long drink of water, and he had some carrot cake icing that he actually got excited about and had two little spoonfuls of.



His breathing was still labored and he was very lethargic... but we were hoping as long as we were getting bits of food/water/meds down him that he would be okay. Late that evening (early Saturday morning) he started having issues with his back legs, they were slipping when he was walking. I was trying to wipe his nose off and he was trying to scoot off when his whole body seized up and went limp. He started gasping for air like Teddy had done... and then my Templeton was gone... my buddy was gone... ♥

You were the only male rat that ever gave me kisses all over my nose, the only rat that would ever use my arm as your pillow when I was reading in bed. The rat who loved to lay on his back a lot when he was younger...I always wanted to name one of my rats Templeton... you were my buddy... you were my heart rat... ♥





More videos of Templeton:

I have some catching up to do! Molly & Willow joined our rat family last Saturday. A birthday gift to myself. They are just little babies. I would guess about 2 months old.

Molly is black capped with a white blaze. We noticed she's missing the tip of her left ear also. Molly is smaller than Willow, but chubbier.

Willow we think is a hooded blue. (I say think, because she's molting a bit growing into her coat and sometimes her coat looks a little cocoa). I think she might just be darker blue, like Daisy was. Willow is... very adventurous, lol. (I think she's going to be feisty like our other new girl Toffee!)


 

The boy rats have kept things interesting here over the past few weeks. (I have 4 boy rats. Templeton, Teddy, Remy & Emile). First Teddy came down with a respiratory infection and had to be treated with antibiotics and separated from the other boys.

When Teddy finally rejoined the other guys, he decided he wanted to torment Emile (as usual), chase him around & fight him. Only this time their fighting got out of hand. The day after they had fought I picked up Emile to notice a scab on his one finger. At first I thought he had just torn off a fingernail fighting. But when I looked closer... he was missing half his finger!

Surprisingly, there was no blood anywhere in the cage, which is crazy. Because when a pet rat just pulls off a nail it bleeds like crazy. There was just a scab. I decided to separate Emile while his finger healed so he wouldn't pull the scab off accidentally. Less than 2 weeks later he is doing just fine, just missing part of his finger... though he doesn't seem to notice.




Then... Saturday. A little after my husband had filled all the rat's food dishes up. We noticed Templeton was heaving/gagging and drooling. He must have choked on something, most likely a lab block. He gave us such a scare because the choking went on for at least 30 minutes. He would heave and gag and drool. It was terrifying. I would pound him light on his back and sides, we tried giving him an oral syringe with water. Eventually he started to regurgitate this food colored... drool... (gross I know, sorry- but may be helpful to another rat owner out there). I kept wiping it away with a tissue. He really gave me a heart attack.

About 40 minutes later he was doing much better, though sleepy. I got this cell phone photo of him napping in our emergency rat towel. I didn't want him to have anymore solid food that day so we gave him baby food sweet potatoes for lunch and dinner. Today he his back to his normal self, thank goodness!


   
Templeton. And Templeton below yawning... check out that crazy tongue!