Spice was was not doing well today. She was very lethargic, had alot of porphyrin around her eyes and she was not walking well. She was so weak she was trying to drag herself. She was also not eating or drinking.

I took her to the vet around 5pm tonight. They think she might be dehydrated from the antibiotic. The antibiotic has been giving Spice alot of diarrhea. They gave her some fluids. They said I can also give her baby food or water in an oral syringe. (I also picked up some pedilyte to keep her hydrated.)

Also she's lost weight. Before her surgery she was 401 grams. And now she is 351 grams. The vet still wants to keep her on the antibiotic though. He said to continue with it, and said to call if anything changes. She still has a recheck appointment on Tuesday for her stitches.

She also has a strange scab on her back that the vet looked at and said to keep clean. After some research and help from my friends on Ratchatter it seems it's most likely Baytril Burn. She had a Baytril injection before her mass removal almost 2 weeks ago.

12-17-08: My brother was playing with Sugar in a cardboard box and she wasn't having it. She chewed herself right out of that box!



In other news; Spice had her checkup tonight. The vet said the stitches are looking good and she's a good rattie for not chewing them. She has another checkup next Tuesday as the stitches aren't ready to come out just yet.

F.B. & I will be getting married December 2009. I was checking out wedding bands today online at Gordon's Jewelers and found wedding bands I love!













They are simple wedding bands made of titanium. (Just what I want!) I'm surprised they are so affordable. I thought titanium would be very expensive, but I suppose it depends on the design. I like the polished metal look. And I've always wanted silver or titanium wedding bands. Nothing too fancy. I think F.B. will agree with me, that simple is best.

Now I have to get F.B. to go to a jeweler to get an accurate ring size for him. I know I am a size 6. Then maybe we can order the rings early next year and we'll be all set for December! I'm so Excited!

Update on Spice: She is doing much better. She has a check up at the Vet on Tuesday. The stitches and incision are looking better. She's bad when it comes to taking her antibiotic though. She will try to drool it out her mouth (I give it to her in a oral syringe) Or if I hold her she won't swallow and then when I let her down she will wipe her mouth all over her blanket. Bad rattie! Oh well. I think most is getting in her.

Spice had a vet visit Friday December 5th, the day after I got back from the Philippines. She was beginning to get a mammary tumor under her right armpit. (Spice is 1 year 2 months now.) She was scheduled today for her mass removal.

I dropped her off around 8:30am this morning and was able to pick her up at 5pm. She looks pretty bad right now. It was a much larger incision than Cinnamon's spay. The stitches even go down her arm a bit. They shaved alot of her fur and here is also alot of dried blood around the incision and also on her belly. I took a picture but it looks a bit graphic so I won't post it on here. I'll wait a few days until it looks better before I post a picture.

The surgery cost $284. Not really an expense I needed right now, but what can you do. Pets are like children. She has a check up next Tuesday and the Vet has her on the antibiotic SMZ-TMP

She seems alert, but uncomfortable and in a little pain. The Vet did give her Banamine after her surgery so that should help with the pain. She keeps trying to clean her fur off though. I'm going to try to clean her fur off (not near the metal stitches) tomorrow with some saline and gauze.

I've got everyone separated in the Ferret Nation again. I locked the levels so Spice has the entire top level for her hospital cage. I also removed the other level so she is on a completely flat surface. Cinnamon & Sugar will be in the downstairs part of the cage for now until Spice can live with her sisters again.
















P.S. When I was in the Philippines I bought 'Mary Queen of Scots' by Antonia Fraser. The only other history book I had on Mary Queen of Scots was the one by Alison Weir. But that mostly covers her husbands death. I'm really enjoying this book, it is keeping me interested just like Alison Weir's history books.

Updated 12-11-08: Spice is doing better. She is still pretty uncomfortable from her surgery but doesn't seem to be in any pain. She sometimes gets jumpy and wants to climb and other times she'll sleep for hours. She has a little bit of trouble holding her food because of the stitches on her right arm. So she's been eating alot of soft foods, peas, mixed veggies, spinach, scrambled eggs.

Here is an updated picture from her surgery. The stitches are definitely looking alot better than they did her first night home. (Pretty big incision.)

Well, I am back in the US after a crazy day of travel yesterday. F.B. and I stayed up the whole night on Wednesday so I could sleep better on my 15 hour flight. We left for the Manila airport around 3:30am and arrived around 4:30am. My first flight with Cathay Pacific was around 6:30am. My luggage weighed too much and they gave me a cardboard box and told me I needed to repack some of my luggage.

When I got to Hong Kong around 9am and checked in with United Airlines, they said my flight to Chicago was delayed until 2pm because of snow in Chicago. Also my flight to Philadelphia had to be rescheduled since I would miss the flight I was supposed to be on. Then they had to find my luggage on the plane and retag it with the new flight number on my bags. I was stuck in Hong Kong for 5 hours and had to go exchange US money for Hong Kong dollars so I could buy some water.

Finally left for Chicago on my 15 hour flight around 2pm in Hong Kong. I was completely exhausted by then since I had been up since Wednesday at 8am and it was not Thursday at 2pm. I didn't even have dinner on the plane, I just went right to sleep and slept 10 hours. When I woke up we only had 3 hours left on the plane. It turned out to be a 13 hour flight.

When I got to Chicago and went through US customs, I had an issue with customs. They wrote something on my customs card and after I claimed my luggage they sent me into a completely different line to get questioned. One of the customs officials was asking me what I was doing in the Philippines, where my fiance worked, where I worked, what was in my cardboard box. Finally he let me go. It's getting frustrating. Last time customs was questioning me at the desk, but this time they made me go a different line for questioning instead of letting me go. I now have a ton of Philippine stamps and a visa in my passport and I think that is the reason I keep having custom issues. Blah.

My flight to Philadelphia was also delayed about an hour because the plane was late getting there. Originally before all the delays I was supposed to arrive in Philadelphia around 5pm. I didn't land in Philadelphia until 10pm though because of the delays and flight changes. I was so happy my luggage was there when I arrived though. Not like back in January!

I was exhausted when I got home. It's weird though, it's winter here now and I didn't know how to dress today. I was so used to wearing t-shirts and sandals! I really miss F.B. though. I called him last night when I got home and we talked for awhile and tomorrow it will be back to our "dates" online.

Bad news though, when I got home Mom said she didn't want to tell me over the phone, but Spice my rat started growing a mammary tumor under her right armpit just before Thanksgiving. Female rats are very prone to developing tumors though they are rarely cancerous. I had to take Spice to the vet this afternoon and she will be getting her tumor removed Tuesday. It's going to cost about $300 though.

I still have to unpack. I have so much to put away I feel like it will take me a year!

On my last day in the Philippines F.B. & I spent the day at Mall of Asia. We got to watch another 3D IMAX movie about dinosaurs. Also had Wendy's for lunch and Yellow Cab Pizza for dinner, and of course... Starbucks, haha. (Java Chip Frappucino is my new favorite!) Here's some pictures from our last day:












P.S. When I got home, my Mom had a surprise for me. Turns out she made a plate of Thanksgiving dinner for me and froze it. So I get to have a real Thanksgiving meal after all!

P.P.S. Friday I came down with a head cold from my lovely day of traveling. I always seem to pick up a cold when traveling on planes. I feel so crappy my unpacking isn't getting done until next week.

Updated 12-8-08: All of my trip pictures & videos are now uploaded to Photobucket! Click below to view!

Photos

Videos

I am home from work today because of a family emergency. I will most likely be off work tomorrow also because of things. Very stressful & emotional time at home right now. My mom was in the hospital last night. It's not something I want to go into on my blog though. Personal family issues. Please just keep me & my family in your thoughts & prayers. Thanks. I did get to talk to F.B. on the phone this morning for about 40 minutes which was nice. I really needed him.

In other news: My treadmill arrived Friday. My brother helped me assemble it. It took from 7pm-9pm. Mostly because we had to take apart my old broken treadmill to even get it out of my room. I was just able to use it tonight. Only for 15 minutes. But wow... that thing can fly! I got the: Weslo Cadence C44 Treadmill from Walmart.com












I believe the motor in my old treadmill was going. Sometimes during the middle of a workout while changing speeds it would blow a fuse and I would have to turn it on again and lose my distance/time/calories burned. Also it never seemed like run was "run". The new one has a slight incline already on it and you can adjust the incline a bit more too. So now I have to get used to the speeds of this new one. jog on this new treadmill is like run! I was out of breath. It looks like I'll be getting even more of a workout with the new treadmill and that incline definitely works the muscles in my legs! After 15 minutes I was sweating up a storm and I already had 2 fans on!

I do miss a few things about my old treadmill that the new one doesn't have. The old treadmill had a red display for the numbers- easier to read than black numbers on a gray background. I don't have any rubber grip on my handles and there's not much space on the tray to hold stuff except water bottles. My ipod video does not fit. My old display could hold everything I needed. Water bottle, chap stick, glasses, elastic bands, ipod. Oh well. At least it will give me a good workout!

I am excited though, because the plus reading is definitely more accurate than my old treadmill. The old one would say my heart rate was 70 after running. The new one said 160. That sounds more normal. And the calorie burning seems more accurate too. Now to workout all this week, even if it's just 15 minutes! I have to get used to the new speeds!

My ratties have been keeping it interesting. I had them outside one day a few weeks ago in the enclosed flower bed for less than 10 minutes. Sugar ended up getting a tick on her. It was such a pain to get out of her because it had gotten under her skin near her one ear. Then I had her on the antibiotic Cipro (Had half a bottle left from Cinnamon's spay.) for a week just to make sure she didn't get an infection or lyme disease. Now I've been spraying them down with small animal flea/tick spray if I do decide to take them outside.

Sugar hated the Cipro though. I had to give it to her in an oral syringe and this is what she had to say about it:

Then the day before the 4th of July Cinnamon ended up getting something in her eye. I'm not sure what it was. It looked like a small piece of gray cardboard or a paint chip to me. I tried flushing her eye out with saline, water. I even tried to get it out with my finger or by massaging her eye. After about an hour of messing with her eye I decided to call the vet. They saw her 30 minutes later and took her in the back to flush her eye out. The vet said he even had a hard time getting it out it was sticking in there really good! He did get it out though thank goodness! I think Cinnamon must have 9 lives or something. She's been to the vet 5 times & my other two have never been! (*crosses fingers*)

Spice hasn't gotten into any trouble lately. *knocks on wood* She's just been chillin' this summer:

Cinnamon went back for her 2nd check up tonight. And they removed the metal sutures! They also said I could stop the antibiotic. So my girl is all better! She hasn't had any bleeding since she got spayed. And she's getting chunky again. Her surgery area is turning into a scar and she's growing her fur back on her belly already. I undid the latch in the cage that separates the two levels so that she can live with her sisters Sugar & Spice again. I was worried they might fight or have dominance issues, since they were separated for 2 weeks, but they've been quiet all evening. I'm sure all of them are happy to have free range of the entire cage again!

In other news F.B. & I have been communicating better than we have these past few weeks. We still haven't talked seriously about things yet, but we are both doing much better since my venting post. Long distance relationships are so difficult & the distance between us is just crazy! It's so difficult when you're both from different countries. It's just so frustrating & such a struggle sometimes. Talking about or planning our future is also full of complications and struggles. Thank you everyone for your comments, thoughts & advice. I really appreciate it.

Cinnamon had her check up at the Vet Thursday night. Her metal sutures won't be removed until next week, they want the surgery site to heal up a little more. They did say everything looks good though! She's also still on her antibiotic until it's all gone. She has another Vet appointment next week on Thursday at 5:45pm. I'm glad they didn't charge me for the check up, we were in & out of there in about 15 minutes! When we got home I noticed it looked like they tightened a few of the wire sutures that were coming undone from her moving around and stuff. She's also starting to grow fur back on her belly! It will be so nice when she gets the sutures removed. She is still separated from her sisters right now, though they have supervised playtime together. The cage I have for my ratties is a Ferret Nation, it has a locking ramp which splits off the two levels if you need to separate them. Cinnamon's been given a bunch of new nicknames since her surgery; Stitch, Metal Belly, Robo-Rat, Franken-Rat. Hehe. I'm so glad she's doing better, she is back to her old self again & no more bleeding!

I dropped Cinnamon off at the vet this morning around 9am. Around 12pm they called and said her spay was over and the doctor didn't find anything abnormal inside- which means he didn't have to run blood tests on her. He thinks the bleeding was somehow related to her going into heat, but bleeding is not normally associated with rats going into heat so something was wrong and that's why she needed to be spayed.

Mom & I picked Cinnamon up around 5:30 from the vet. She looks so well! She's my hyper active baby again! I wasn't expecting that. They made a tiny incision for the spay and had to use metal sutures since rats can try to chew on them. They only shaved her belly a bit. And it doesn't look so bad.

She has an appointment at 6pm next Thursday so they can check the sutures and see if they need to be removed yet or not. They also didn't charge me for antibiotics because she has the full bottle of Cirpro at home still. I'm supposed to give that to her twice daily still. I also have to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't chew her sutures. She looks so much happier today and not as lethargic. And no bleeding! It also didn't cost as much as they were estimating since they didn't need to run blood tests or give me more antibiotics. It was $239.00. I was so relieved about that! I know some people wouldn't pay that much for a "rat" but she's my pet and I love her and I didn't want her to suffer.

I held Sugar and Spice up to Cinnamon to say hello when she got home. Sugar just sniffed Cinnamon, but Spice nuzzled Cinnamon's face almost like a kiss. It was so sweet! They were happy to see their sister, they both seemed anxious today. Of course they will be separated for awhile, but I'll let them say hello like that at least once a day.

Here's some pictures taken a few minutes ago, now she's settled down for a nap. You can see her metal sutures... I've nicknamed her "Franken-Rat". heehee.

Here's some pictures from day 2 at home after her spay. No more bleeding! And she is much more active now and doesn't seem to be in any pain. She has an appointment on Thursday for a check up to see if the sutures can be removed yet.

It's been a stressful past few days. My youngest rat Cinnamon was abnormally bleeding from her female area yesterday evening... it really concerned me because female rats do not get periods even when they go into heat. I called the vet yesterday evening and they told me to bring her over. The vet checked her out they were also concerned she was bleeding from that area. They said it could be a urinary tract infection so they put her on the oral anti-biotic: Ciprofloxacin. They said they would see her in 2 weeks, unless the bleeding got worse.

When I woke up in the morning, the bleeding was actually heavier. I really didn't want to leave her, but I had to go to work. I called the vet around 9am this morning. They called me back and told me she would need an emergency spay. She could either have Pyometra (disease of the uterus) or crystals or stones from a urinary tract infection. But if she's bleeding that's a bad sign. So I have to drop her off at the vet tomorrow to get spayed. All together it's going to cost around $300.00. That's quite alot of money. $200.00 for the spay and the rest is for anesthesia & antibiotics, etc. It's major surgery and they have to put her to sleep for it.

My manager at work thought I was crazy when I told her I had get my pet rat spayed. She said, "You really want to spend that much money? It's a rodent." But a pet is a pet to me. Rats are NOT disposable pets! A rat has as much a right to live as a cat or dog, etc. I know some people do not typically think of rats being a type of pet. But rats are incredibly social, lovable and clean animals. And they have a right to be healthy too! It would be cruel to put her to sleep or let her bleed to death! She's only 3 1/2 months old!

Female & Male rats can be spayed & neutered. Usually females are only spayed in worse case scenarios. I have heard females can tend to have issues with their reproductive system or tumors.

I'm really nervous for tomorrow. When I got home from work the blanket she had with her in the cage had large spots of blood on it. The bleeding has been on & off tonight. She's also been kind of lethargic and usually she is my hyperactive baby. She didn't even come when I called her name, usually she jumps up from wherever she is to run over to me as fast as she can. The vet said she did not need to fast before the surgery so I gave her some cooked spinach and scrambled eggs tonight (iron & protein) since she's lost so much blood.

I am waking up at 8am tomorrow and taking Cinnamon over to the vet around 9am. They said they will call when I have to pick her up sometime in the afternoon or evening. I am going to ask them to call me when the surgery is over also. I actually was able to take off work so I'll be available to pick her up at anytime. My manager wasn't mean about letting me take off, she just couldn't understand why I'd spend so much money on a "rodent". A few other people at work thought I was crazy too... but you get those kinds of reactions when you own rats as pets.

I wasn't expecting such a large expense... so I may have to dig a little into my savings to pay for the surgery. And thank god we've been having overtime at work on Saturdays. I'm also doing some eBay sales this week so the money from that will probably go towards the vet bill also. What can I say... pets are like children sometimes.... I need to get some sleep. I'm so glad I have off work for Memorial Day. I'll be off work Monday-Thursday next week. Everyone please keep me & Cinnamon in your prayers & thoughts for tomorrow. I also want to say thank you to my friends at the Rat Chatter Forums. They are the best!