A few weeks ago I took Basil to the vet to find out about getting him neutered. May 20th, I dropped Basil off at the vet around 8:30am. I was able to pick him up at 2:30pm. Poor Buddy is now neutered. They used surgical glue on him and he has to take SMZ-TMP antibiotic for 2 weeks. He also has a recheck visit at the vet on May 27th. He won't take his antibiotic in the oral syringe, so I have to mix his medicine in baby food. When I brought him home Thursday night they had given him pain killers, so he had some Strawberry Ensure and then zonked out in his igloo in the cage. (This is his incision if you're squeamish don't click!)

Total vet damages... $334.00. Ouch... (thank you credit card.) at least recheck visits are free. I called just about every vet in the area and only my vet and another more expensive vet did them, so I really had no choice. And because of his aggressiveness towards his brothers, he had to be neutered. In 4 weeks Basil should be able to move in with the girl ratties!

Basil a few weeks ago eating a necco wafer candy. (Ignore the baby food on his tail, hehe!)

P.S. My awesome new bumper sticker! (The middle sticker)

There is also a new page I created on my blog called: My Pet Rats. You can find it in the top right column.

My Mom & I usually go out for Mother's Day the day before so there are less crowds. This year we took the train downtown Saturday to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to visit the Mutter Museum. I've been there before but my Mom had never been. It is a medical oddity museum.

30th Street Station:

Mutter Museum: (Sorry no pictures allowed inside!)

The train was actually pretty crowded because there must have been a Phillie's Game that day, (dozens of people on the train were wearing Phillie's Jerseys.) it was "train day" at 30th Street Station and there was some regatta on the Schuylkill River.

After the the museum and the train ride back we went to 'On The Border' for Mexican Food. I had beef empanadas and a soft chicken taco. Picture of our yummy sampler appetizer:

We also picked up a box of Cinnabon to take home after 'On The Border'. Mom had never tried a Cinnabon!

Friday afternoon Basil had a trip to the vet. I took him to find out about getting neutered. Basil has been really aggressive with Barley & Fennel. He always wants to attack them, even when I introduce them in a neutral area. A few weeks ago when I had them on the bed trying to introduce them Basil went after Barley and I mistakenly put my hand in the middle. Basil ended up biting me rather badly by accident. (You can click here to read about it.) I won't post a picture on my blog, (there is a picture in that link) but I now have a 1 inch scar on my left palm. Also if you don't wash your hands after handling the little boys, Basil will try to bite you. Basil has never bitten anyone otherwise.

Buttt... since my accident and because he doesn't seem to want to get along with his brothers I took him to find out about getting neutered. If he can't live with his brothers, at least he will be able to live with the girls. I'm hoping he will be able to live with my girls since he will be less territorial and every time I've held Basil in my lap all the girls have come up and sniffed at him and given him love bites. (Never let him play with them though! Not until he's neutered! ). He's my ladies man. He loves to watch the girls run around in the cage! Basil will be getting neutered on May 20th. I took off work for a few vacation days that Thurs, Fri and Monday so I'll be able to be with him after his surgery on the 20th.

Unfortunately.... it's $300.00. I called just about every small animal vet in the area and most did not neuter rats. Only my vet and another more expensive vet did them. But I'm hoping it will help his aggressiveness and that he will be able to live with other rats once it's done and over with! (Though he can't live with the girls until 4 weeks after he's neutered!)

Basil says this to being neutered, lol!

Oh... and I picked up a cute light up Philadelphia key chain while at 30th Street Station on Saturday! Stay tuned to my blog because I'm planning on having another giveaway either in May or June and I'll be giving away the key chain with some other prizes!

My Ginger rat has not been doing so well. She developed a mammary tumor in January under her right front arm. She had also been sneezing a lot and went to the vet 2 weeks ago. She had an upper respiratory infection. The doctor gave her some cipro to take. I've noticed recently she was starting to get 3 more mammary tumors on her lower belly near her back feet. They are tiny right now, but you can feel lumps. On top of everything Sunday afternoon Ginger's neck started to swell. As of right now it's very puffy, and if you feel she has hard lumps. I had to take her to the vet today around 1pm. Ginger has Lymphoma Cancer... and it's just a matter of time before she passes away.

The vet prescribed her Prednisolone for inflammation and swelling to make her more comfortable. He also gave me more cipro since Prednisolone can weaken your immune system. Ginger is 14 months old.

This is the downfall of owning pet rats. Rats are so susceptible to tumors, cancer, abscesses, respiratory infections, etc. They only live 3 years at the most. Sometimes 5 years in rare cases. But when you're a rat owner, you take the good with the bad. They have so much personality, are so smart and have so much love and affection to give, that it makes up for the short time they are with us... any rat owner will tell you that. It's also the reason most rat owners have more than 1 rat. They definitely get into your heart even though they aren't with us for so long.

Moving along... I discovered we have an issue with mites... how did this happen? Well I had the babies in QT for awhile but I never noticed any scratching... needless to say, I'm almost positive they were the ones that brought the mites home- just because my blue hooded "girl" that was still at the pet store was being treated for mites... that's okay though, because I ordered Ivermectin in preparation for treating the pet store "girl". I gave all the girls a dose last night and once a week, I will have to scrub their cages and wash all their bedding in hot water & diluted bleach before giving them another dose. This will make sure the mites won't return, since the Ivermectin doesn't kill the eggs. Hopefully in 3 weeks or so we won't see anymore mites!

Now after the vet this afternoon, I went down to Pet's Plus to check on my "girl".

I can say, I still have A LOT to learn about rats. My blue hooded "girl", well I saw her picked her up, from the top view of the tail- yes looks female, even from the bottom- looks female... oh wait...look closer... male! Oops... my mistake, lol. How about my "girl" is actually a boy!!! lol! Well his bits & pieces (testicles) don't seem very large from the pictures I've seen of mature male rats, lol! (See here!)

I asked about the other rat that was still there, if it was female or male. So we checked... and another male! They were both in aquarium tanks with care fresh, living separately. Soooo since my rattie had already been marked sold and I bought him... lol! I decided to get the other male too, so he would have company. They gave me a discount of $14.99 for the 2nd one. Soooo... I now have 2 gentleman. lol!

And thank god I still have a 2 story spare cage for my gentlemen! I may get them neutered in near future. But for now the gentleman have their own private cage, separate from the girls and everyone will be getting ivermectin once a week to get rid of the mites. And of course separate play times for the girls & boys!

I've never had male rats, so this will be a new experience. Male rats are supposedly calmer than females. (Females are hyper!) and they supposedly like to cuddle more than female rats. They are very LARGE. Which when I looked at them a few weeks ago they were huge then- (which maybe should have rang a clue they weren't female, but I have a lot to learn I see, lol!) I'm not sure how old they are, I would say somewhere around 4-6 months? Maybe a little older? They are also very skittish. They weren't handled so much at the pet store. But they will definitely have a better life with me. :)

Anyway, here are my 2 blue hooded Gentlemen! Basil & Sage!

So concludes... my bad case of GGMR! (Gotta Get More Rats)

Congratulations Patty! You've won the latest giveaway! I used a random number generator to determine the winner!

Please email your address to: tunaymahal8279ATyahooDOTcom and I will get your prizes shipped off to you!

I'm also including an extra prize of L’Occitane's Verbena Shower Gel. It's a brand new 1 fl.oz travel size. I'm currently obsessed with their Verbena scent. I just ordered a few more products, I have to post about! Congrat's on winning!!!
In other news, nearly 3 weeks later I finally got to pick up my car from the body shop tonight! The blizzard of 2010 did $2,000 worth of damage to my car. They had to repaint the hood, roof, buff out the windshield scratches. I had to pay a $500.00 deductible on my insurance plan, but State Farm covered the excess expenses. Very happy to have the car back because it costs me $203 dollars for driving the rental car 8 days. That was mainly because of the $17.99 insurance plan I put on it. Needless to say, my tax refund will be paying for all my car expenses. I just picked up a tarp cover at Walmart tonight for $50 so before this next snowstorm hits Thursday evening my car will be covered & protected from scratches!

I have to post about our latest immigration updates sometime this week. The lawyer went over with me all the next steps we'll be taking. For now our I-130 has been submitted and we should hear back in 3-5 months. I know... so long to wait but it's going to fairly quickly once that part is over!

NOTE: Our lawyers Peter J. Gonzales & Shanna Stanton have changed firms. They are no longer with Kahiga Tiagha. They are now with Green and Spiegel LLC, but still located in Philadelphia. 

In rattie news, Ginger's sneezes were actually a respiratory infection. She started wheezing last weekend and was having trouble breathing. She had a visit to the vet and she's on antibiotics now for 2 weeks. He also took a look at her tumor under her right arm, but it can't be removed until her respiratory infection clears up and it's definitely getting bigger... slowly. On top of that, poor girl somehow sprained her foot in the cage and I've been putting ice on it and giving her a children's pain reliever to reduce the swelling. It's definitely looking a lot better now though!

I also stopped in Pet's Plus on Monday afternoon to see what's going on with the blue hooded rat I purchased back on February 5th. She still has mites... the vet was coming back on Thursday to check on her. They've been treating her orally and topically and it's not clearing up.

I posted my thoughts on the Rat Chatter Forums where I'm a moderator. We think they may not be cleaning her cage properly once they treat her for the mites- because the ivermectin doesn't kill the mites eggs. Which could be why the problem hasn't cleared up. I ordered some ivermectin myself online last night and if I haven't heard back from the pet store, I'm going to go pick up my blue hooded girl next Friday and treat her for the mites myself at home.

I'll have to take some precautions if I do that though. I already have a spare cage which I'll have to keep in a completely different room from my other girls. I'll have to also make sure I shower & change my clothes after handling the new girl before I touch my other girls. And her cage will have to be scrubbed down with diluted bleach & water every week when she gets her ivermectin treatment. Hopefully things will clear up much faster once she's at home with me!

2-19-10 was my 2nd month of being married! Can't believe it! Just last month F.B. & I were at the Manila Hotel celebrating our 1st month... I'm still in the middle of changing my last name everywhere. My credit cards finally started to arrive with my new name. I still have to get a new passport though!

I haven't posted in a few weeks. July 3rd, I was finally able to visit the Mütter Museum after wanting to go for years. I went with my cousins. We took the train down to 30th Street and walked about 3 blocks or so down to 22nd Street where the Museum is located. Definitely better than driving in downtown Philadelphia traffic or looking for parking! I wish I had pictures, but photography is not allowed inside the museum. It is a medical oddities museum. They had Siamese twin skeletons, babies with birth defects in jars from the 1800 & 1900's. A full wall of skulls from people that passed from different diseases. They had animal brains in jars, rats, ferrets, cats, dogs, etc. Any organ you can imagine. The world's tallest man skeleton, a dwarf skeleton. Human leather... some of the stuff makes you go "Ew!" or "Wow!" but it's a really interesting museum. My mom & brother want to go some time so I will definitely be going back!

About 4 more months until I am off to the Philippines. I can't believe it's already July! In September I have to apply for my visitor's visa from the Philippine Consulate in New York. I am still making copies of everything for our immigration process next year. It's slow but I'm getting there!

Sugar's two tumors are growing very large. She has one under her right armpit and another near her right back leg on her tummy. She is still able to get around but I've had to learn to pick her up differently now by supporting her bottom in my hand when holding her instead of picking her up around her waist. A few years ago I bought a carrot shaped calcium chew for the rats but no one would touch it. Then Spice developed a mammary tumor and she would chew and chew on the calcium chew. After Spice passed no one touched it again. Until Sugar developed her tumors... I am thinking with the tumors sucking nutrients from her body she needs the extra calcium and vitamins. I've been buying her calcium chews at the pet store. (Never salt chews! Salt is bad for rats as it can dehydrate them quickly.) She really loves these ice cream shaped ones.

I discovered Pet Discounters through a Yahoo Search. Their prices are unbelievable! I pay $5.99 at Petco for Sugar's calcium chews. For some of my girls other treats I pay $3.99-$4.99 each. I bought 9 items at Pet Discounters and only paid $30 including shipping! I would have spent $50+ for the those same items at the regular pet store. Fast shipping too! Everything arrived this morning and I ordered on Monday!

What else have I been up too? I finally caved and purchased The Sims 3 during my mini vacation from work. (Love The Sims!) Thought it might be a bit much for my 3 year old PC. But it runs really well actually on my 2.0GHz Duel Core Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, 256MB video card PC. (Even with the graphics set to medium & high on some options!) The biggest issue I have with my laptop is space. I only have a 87GB or so hard drive. (Originally 100GB but system hardware & Windows XP take up some of that space.) I have about 23GB left. I uninstalled some other programs, but I do still have The Sims 2 and all it's expansions, plus 2 stuff packs installed. I want to get an external hard drive at some point.

Actually, at some point down the road I want a whole new laptop from Dell. I asked F.B. when we're married if we get a new laptop can I have it and I'll give him this one, haha! He said since he likes older games my laptop would run his games perfectly with my specs so he would love mine. I really want a higher 2.0GHz processor. Probably Core Duo 2. (It's the fastest processor for a laptop.) Windows 7, 4GB of RAM would be nice and a 512MB video card! A bigger hard drive too. Anything from 200 to 500GB. Sigh.... Haha!

The Metro Newspaper started a 'pet of the week' article. I sent in Sugar's picture and it was published in today's newspaper.

Of course I was late to work today because I had to take Sugar to the vet. (How Ironic!) When I got to work everyone was like, "Hey! You're in the newspaper, you're famous!" Hahaha! I scanned the article to share:

Here are the original photos:


Sugar had her appointment at the vet. And we are going to use the same treatment we did last time that helped clear up her abscesses. He gave her a Baytril injection and more Clindrops for 2 weeks. While she was there she somehow managed to get her scab open and was bleeding so he had to take her in the back to cauterize her wounds. Poor Girl. He also said because of her age it could be risky to have her 2 mammary tumors removed and as long as she is eating & getting around she should be okay.

Wednesday starts my mini vacation. I have Thursday off. And Friday is our holiday at work since July 4th falls on a Saturday this year. And I'm also taking Monday off. So at least I won't have to go back to work until July 7th! Yay for vacations from work even if it's only a few days!

Monday I will be going into work late as well. Sugar had a vet appointment at 9:20am to deal with her recurring abscesses in her arm and also this blood blister thing. Poor Girl. Sugar now has 2 tumors. One on her belly near her right back leg which is growing very rapidly. And another under her right front arm. Sugar is too old to get them removed and I don't want to put her through the surgery. (She will be 2 years in October.) I just hope they don't grow anymore. At the moment she can still get around and comes running for treats.

I have a list of places I want to go to this year or next year. If I ever have the time or money to get around to everything. I know when F.B. moves to the USA we will be going to lot's of tourist places, there's definitely not a lack of that in Philadelphia!

Here is my list:

Mutter Museum

Academy of Natural Sciences

Bryn Athyn Cathedral

Glen Cairn Museum (Same grounds at Byrn Athyn)

Ryerss Museum

Philadelphia Zoo

Dorney Park

I would love to be able to go to the Mutter Museum sometime on my vacation. I've been wanting to go there for years. It's just a few blocks from 30th Street Station so I could take the train there and walk. Philadelphia Zoo & Dorney Park are way down on my list because of the admission costs. Though Dorney does have discounted days in September so maybe I will go then.

I've been thinking about getting another white rat for a few weeks, so Wednesday after work I stopped at a few pet stores to see if they had any rats. 2 of the stores I went to only had males and the Petco where I adopted Tansy had 3 white females, so I didn't feel too bad since I was only buying 1 of them.

Please meet Saffron! "Saffy" for short!




She is very tiny and she isn't quite used to being handled by people just yet. When you hold her she cries and squeaks a bit until she settles down. She's very sweet & curious and so small compared to my other girls! The sales associate at the pet store had a heck of a time trying to get her out of the cage. She kept running away from him and she squealed up a storm when he finally caught her! I'm thinking about introducing her to my other girls this weekend so we will see how things go. If all goes well she will be living with Ginger & Nutmeg. Sugar is still very territorial, so she & Cinnamon live in the upper part of the Ferret Nation cage.

Now for some updates on my other 4 girls!


Sugar is around 1 year 7 months old now. She's been suffering from abscesses on her left front paw since January. I took her to a new vet last month and he gave her a shot of baytril & started her on a new antibiotic. She has not had anymore abscesses since then, but she did develop a blood blister in the same spot she had her last abscess and it's healing very slowly. Sugar also seems to be developing a mammary tumor on her belly near her left back leg. Since she is getting older now and has alot of other health issues I'm not going to put her through surgery to have it removed. Right now it is growing very slowly.

Cinnamon is around 1 year 3 months old now and doing just fine. She's my chunky monkey. She is the biggest of all my girls. And she loves to be cuddled. She'll hang out on the bed with me if I'm reading or on the laptop.


Ginger & Nutmeg are both around 5 months old now. Nutmeg never sits still. She loves to run all around my bedroom when I give her free time. She will climb up the curtains just to get into the window to look out.

Ginger started bleeding a few weeks ago and it was very similar to Cinnamon's issue over a year ago. I was very hesitant to have another rat spayed so I started her on antibiotics hoping it was just an infection. After a week on the antibiotics the bleeding went away and hasn't been back. Which makes me wonder if Cinnamon ever really needed to be spayed and if my old vet should have tried her on a different antibiotic.

In other news; I ordered some new books on Amazon.com last week and just started reading them. I ordered: Secrets of the Tudor Court: The Pleasure Palace, Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary - A Photographic Remembrance & Designs of the Heart: The Pattern/The Pledge/The Promise. The last book I read the 1st book- but I wanted to read the 2nd & 3rd so I ordered a volume with all 3 books.

It's been a very busy week and weekend for me. Last weekend I started looking for cats at different shelters in my area. I put in an application for one kitty but my application wasn't approved so I began my search again. Friday night my brother and I stopped at the Petco near my work because I wanted to apply for some shelter cats I had seen online at that location. We looked at all the cats and I really loved the cat named 'Sara'. She was so pretty and 1-2 years old, already spayed & litter trained.

I got the volunteer hours mixed up though. The volunteer hours were 6-8pm and it was 4pm. We wouldn't be able to fill out an application until then, so my brother & I decided to check out some other pet stores to see if they were selling kittens. We went to 3 different places but they only had male kittens. While at Neshaminy mall I got a great deal at American Eagle though. They were having buy one top get the other 50% off! I was able to get two hoodies for $21! Black & Hot Pink. American Eagle is one of my favorite stores and I love their sales & clearance prices.

We got back to the Petco around 7pm. I still didn't see any volunteers so I went to ask one of the cashiers that I was interested in adopting a cat and was there someone that could help me with an application? The cashiers didn't really know and said they would send someone over to help me. While I waited I decided to call the main branch of the shelter to ask if their volunteer was at this location because I didn't see anyone. (The cashiers never did send anyone over to help me.)

After I hung up with the shelter (they said they would check.) I finally saw the shelter's volunteer cleaning one of the cat's cages, so I waved through the glass and she came out to greet us and give us an application. (I also called the shelter back to say there was a volunteer here.) She came out to greet us and I told her the cashiers told me they didn't know where the volunteers were and she's like, "Oh... I can't believe them." She said the way they set the cages up in this store she had a hard time seeing people if she was in the back cleaning.

She was really nice and let me fill out an application and then came to meet with me and talk with me and ask me questions about my rats/pets and what would I do in different situations. I asked her lot's of questions about 'Sara'. She let my brother & I go in the back and meet her. She was very playful and let us pet her and she was loving on us and rubbing against our hands. After we talked some more the lady said she was going to approve me and I could either pick 'Sara' up another night or I could take her home with me that night! I didn't think I would be approved that fast since most shelters had a 7-10 day application process. I was so happy!

Her adoption fee was $50.00. I bought a pet carrier & Hill's science diet food she was eating at the shelter. With the new adoption coupons the total only came to $46.00 even though the food was $13.00 and the carrier was $60.00! After I signed my adoption contract and wrote a check to the shelter we were able to take her! The lady gave us her little mouse toy & ball toy to play with. Then we stopped at walmart to pick up some toys, a brush and a litter pan. I still have to get her a set of bowls, a collar & tag with her name on it.

I've decided to name her Tansy after the flowers. Because she's so sweet and has these big yellow eyes. I think she's a mix between a tortoiseshell and calico. Her belly is all white but her top is a mixture of brown, grey, orange tabby cat all mixed up. The shelter said she was found back in November as a stray in West Philadelphia. Poor girl.

Meet Tansy:
























On her first night home she was so curious running all around and exploring. She didn't want to sit still. She can be very loving, loves to be pet, will rub up against people. But then she has her moments where she's had enough attention and will give you a look and try to swat you. She is still getting used to her surroundings though and I imagine she is just stressed and confused right now and it will takes some more time for her to feel comfortable in her new home and around us.

We discovered though... she tries to chew wires! So in the evening when we go to bed we've been keeping her in the downstairs bathroom which is very large, with her carrier, food & water and litter. (With the toilet closed of course.) In the morning she is allowed in the dining room and living room, but we've been keeping the bathroom/bedroom doors closed until she is used to the house. And she's not allowed in my bedroom because the rat's cage is in there and I don't want her sticking her paw in and getting bit or for her to hurt the rats in any way.

She's such an intelligent girl though... and naughty. Yesterday I was on my laptop in the living room and it got very quiet. I went into the dining room... and Tansy has somehow opened my mom's china cabinet and was inside! Here is what I saw:































She is a really sweet cat & I love her already. I really feel she was meant to be my cat just because the shelter had given her the name 'Sara'. Hehe. I have to make an appointment for her to get a check up at my vet probably the 2nd week of April.

I had to take Sugar to the vet again last Saturday. She's been on her antibiotics and the metacam for nearly 2 weeks now. Her eye infection is completely gone but she started to develop a scab on her swollen paw. Which made me start thinking she's had an abscess this whole time instead of a sprain. So the vet saw her and confirmed what I thought, that it was an abscess. He was able to drain it for her and told me to keep it clean with peroxide twice a day. She's also to stay on the SMZ-TMP antibiotic for 2 more weeks. Another week into the antibiotic and her paw is starting to look like a hand again after almost 2 months! Though, I've noticed two more abscesses appearing. So it seems this whole time Sugar did not have a sprained paw, she had a really bad infection that was spreading due to the abscesses. Blech. Poor girl, at least we know what it is now. And the vet was so happy to see her eye looking better and to figure out that the lumps were not suspected tumors after all!

I mailed F.B.'s late valentines/anniversary package last week. Only thing is... I forgot to include the mix c.d. I made him... it was still in my car's c.d. player after testing it to make sure it was okay! Arrgh! I feel so bad about that. It's so expensive to send express packages to the Philippines. (I don't send it any other way except express because then we can track the package's progress.) He said it arrived on Friday in the Philippines when he checked the tracking number, so he should have his package sometime next week. I also included ring guards for his sister Lady. (She got engaged last month!) and a pretty thank you gift necklace for his mom. Besides some stuff for him. Our 5th Anniversary is coming up next month so I guess I'll send another card and include his mix c.d. in that!

I've started looking for plane tickets back to the Philippines. I am thinking of leaving either the week before or the week after Thanksgiving this year. So far I haven't found a good deal yet or a good flight so I'll keep looking.

My old black & white converse sneakers fell apart. I only had them a little over a year. For some reason the one shoe had a defect and my little black stripe kept trying to fall off. I kept super gluing it down, but one day when I got home I discovered it had torn off in a much larger piece somewhere and I couldn't fix it. So sad... has that ever happened to anyone else that owned Converse sneakers?

Discover card kept sending me emails and letters about using my credit card. "Why haven't you used your card?" "If you don't use it, you can cancel it." So I finally just went ahead and put a new pair of Converse sneakers on my Discover card from Zappos.com. I looked on Ebay first for a good deal but they were all going for over $40, so I just ordered them for $45 on Zappos.com brand new plus free shipping! I just got the same color to replace my old ones.

I try to make sure I use a credit card a month, even for a small purchase so the banks know I'm using my cards. I've been a little behind with that though lately trying to get my big balance from last years trip paid off by spring... I guess Discover card felt forgotten, lol.

I recently ordered and received 'The First Queen of England: The Myth of "Bloody Mary"' By, Linda Porter. I don't really have any historical biographies about Mary Tudor, except for The Children of Henry VIII By, Alison Weir, but that is also about Elizabeth I, Edward VI & the Lady Jane Grey. So far the book is interesting, though I think I still prefer the way Alison Weir writes.

I've also modified my workout routine to 3 days of the week to 20 minutes of running/walking. I have to lose 10 pounds by November and for my wedding in December. I would like to be back at 130 and I am 140 right now. My cousin is getting married in November and I am supposed to be one of her bridesmaids and whatever dress I buy or get made I am most likely going to wear for my own wedding in December. She wants dark purple and she said we could all pick a style that suits us, so that makes me happy.

I was planning on calling the vet to get Sugar's paw looked at again since it was still very swollen from her sprain a month ago. Well Saturday afternoon after I got home from work (overtime) my brother noticed her one eye looked larger than the other. I didn't think too much of it until Sunday when it swelled up. I used a gel ice pack and held it over her eye until the swelling decreased but by Monday evening her eye was actually bulging out. I made an appointment to get her paw & eye checked at the vet.

Tuesday she had her appointment and the vet checked her paw out. He wasn't sure why it was still swollen (mostly around her wrist, she can't bend the joint.) or why her eye was swollen. He said it could possibly be tumors and there wouldn't be anything he could do for that. He prescribed some more metacam for her swollen paw.

I don't really believe the swelling of her eye is being caused by a tumor at all. Just because of the fact the ice pack keeps bringing the swelling under control. If it was a tumor that would be a foreign mass under the skin and I don't think the swelling would have decreased with the ice if it really was a tumor.

Some of you might know I'm a member & moderator at the ratchatter forums. We were discussing Sugar's condition on the forum. We were saying it could be a possible infection or even a condition called edema. Then the fact was brought up that metacam is a immunosuppressive drug. When it is used for long periods of time it can decrease the immune system which makes your pet more susceptible to infections.

Metacam should actually be prescribed with an antibiotic because of this. (And Sugar was already on the metacam for almost 3 weeks a month ago.) I didn't know this beforehand or else I would have mentioned it to my vet. He is a good vet, but sometimes he isn't as knowledgeable about rats as I would like. (Though the way my rats keep visiting the vet- he'll be an expert on them soon enough, lol!)Surprinsgly; I also noticed tonight if you look up metacam here, it even lists edema as a possible side effect.

Well, since I didn't know that metacam should be prescribed with an antibiotic; I went home and by Wednesday night Sugar's eye was worse. Bulging farther out, red, runny, swollen. She couldn't close it, it was awful. I actually shrieked when I saw her. I called the vet and they said to bring her over and they would see me first. This time my vet thought it could definitely be an infection so he put her on the antibiotic SMZ-TMP The nurse was saying since her paw is still bothering her and because she's had alot of porphyrin in the mornings she was probably rubbing her eyes alot and could have gotten an infection that way. That makes sense, especially if her immune system is low.

Wednesday Night:















Of course the vet said if the swelling didn't go down then we could be looking at something more serious like a tumor- but she's been on the metacam & the antibiotic since Wednesday and this morning her eye looked so much better! It wasn't bulging. It still looks slightly puffy and irritated but nothing like the other night. She's also still been getting ice on her eye in the mornings, afternoon & evenings and this morning she didn't need any ice at all! So yay! Looks like she is on the mend! Her paw was actually looking slightly better too, so I'm wondering if it's just fluid buildup from her sprain. Once she's finished all of her med's & her infection clears up- if her paw still looks puffy I'm going to look into taking her to a different vet for another opinion & x-ray.

How her eye looks currently:















Sugar isn't fond of her medicines at all... she loves to drool it out of her mouth! She is getting 0.1ml of metacam once a day & 0.3ml of SMZ-TMP twice a day. I always try to trick her with a yogurt peanut afterwards so most of the medicine gets in her. I've decided to keep up with the ice pack in the evenings unless she looks like she needs it. I've also been rinsing her eye out with saline to keep it clean. Let's hope by next week she will be doing much better!

So as I mentioned the other day my brand new 3 week old Nissan Versa has a few scratches on the hood. It happened last Friday. I was at several stores and in several parking lots that night. Either someone scraped it with a key, walked into it or was sitting on it with the back pocket buttons of their jeans. The only thing I can think of is when I stopped at Walmart there was this sports car parked next to mine and these teenage guys hanging around admiring it. So maybe they leaned or sat on the front hood of my car and accidentally scraped it. Either that or someone scraped it intentionally. Either way it really really sucks! My first payment is due on Saturday.

I took the car up to the dealership today. I had to leave work an hour early to drive up there. When I called the salesman that sold me the car yesterday he said to bring it up and he would look at it and see if they could just buff it out. Well, they tried buffing it out with their strongest stuff and the 2 lighter lines are gone, but the 2 deeper vertical fine lines are still there, they couldn't get it out. Still looks white against the black paint. He said I could take it down to the collision center and get an estimate. He thought it might just need a wet sand. Well the man at the collision center said a wet sand probably won't get it out- it would need to be repainted. So I asked for an estimate and he said $400!!! I tried not to fall over after that price. I said I would have to think about it so he gave me his business card.

That's really too expensive for me. I can't afford that. My Dad said he could try a wet sand but if it needed to be repainted he could do it for much much less. My dad used to do auto body repair before he retired. He said to try a colored wax or touch up paint first though so I'm going to see if I have any luck with them before getting anything drastic done to my new car. First I ordered a Nissan Versa touch up paint pen with my paint color & clear coat. And I'm also going to try Turtle Colored Wax Since I had to order the paint pen online and it will take a week or so to arrive I'm going to see if they have the colored wax at the auto store tomorrow after work.

My manager called when I was on my way home from the dealership and said they would be offering overtime tomorrow from 6am-11:30am so I'll be off to work tomorrow. I really need the money. I have to pay off these credit cards so I can buy a plane ticket to the Philippines sometime this spring.

I also had my taxes prepared last night and my $600 refund will at least put a dent in my $1,800 balance on my credit card. I have to pay that down before I can afford to put $1,500 back on another card. I already got a new 0% APR card from Citibank that I'll be using for my plane ticket when the time comes. I'm thinking of going to the Philippines before or right after Thanksgiving and arriving home mid January 2010. That will give F.B. & I enough time to get our paperwork together before getting married in December.

I still haven't mailed F.B.'s valentines stuff... looks like it will also become his anniversary gift! (Our 5 year anniversary is April 1st.) I ordered his sister some ring guards for her engagement ring. (She got engaged a few weeks ago!) and I ordered F.B. a small something and then I ordered his mom a gift off of Etsy.com. So I have to wait for it to arrive before I mail everything.

I have to call the vet on Monday. The swelling on Sugar's paw has still not gone down completely. It's been about a month and her metacam only lasted 3 weeks. She can walk on it and climb and eat with it. She doesn't cry when you touch it. But she's can't really stand or walk properly on it. It's still so swollen she can't straighten her paw out completely so she walks crooked on it. Also she has alot of porphyrin around her eyes in the morning and rats do not get that unless they are stressed, in pain or ill. I'm hoping when I call the vet on Monday he can just prescribe more metacam since he said last time there was nothing else they could really do for a sprain.

Still Swollen:















It's going to be a very tight paycheck because too many of my bills are falling on the same week. I got my first car payment & first insurance bill and they are due when a few other high bills are due. I called Chase bank to find out about moving the due date for the car to the middle of the month but they said I must make the first payment before they will be able to move the due date. That's another reason I'm hoping she won't have to go in for an office visit, since it's $45 just for the visit and a 2 week metacam prescription was around $26. That's also another reason why I have to go in for overtime tomorrow!

I haven't updated in a few days, I was so busy this past week and yesterday was spent cleaning my entire room and doing laundry. Sugar had her visit at the vet on Tuesday for her sprain. He did an x-ray to make sure it wasn't a broken bone. Pretty weird seeing the inside of your rat on an x-ray! It was just a really bad sprain. He prescribed some metacam an anti-inflammatory for her to take for 2 weeks. She has to get it once a day and she just hates it, she will try to drool it out of her mouth. The swelling is decreasing slowly and it definitely doesn't look as bad as it did. He skin was really dry and peeling on her paw when the swelling started to go down though so I was putting a dab of olive oil on it to help keep it moisturized.

Finally got a quote on insurance for a new car. It would be $119 a month for full coverage from our State Farm Agent. That's not bad at all. I have to call one of the Nissan dealers back on Monday. He called twice during the weekend but I've been busy this weekend so I will get back to him on Monday. There's about 4 dealers in our area. And once I talk to the one dealer my dad & I are going to check out all the dealers maybe this coming weekend or next weekend. So maybe I will have a new car by March or so! I'm still interested in the Versa Sedan. I also found out one of my co-workers recently got the same car from the dealer right near my house. The same dealer I have to call back on Monday.

My own car was having issues with the shocks last week. I actually had to get a ride to work on Tuesday. It had snowed in the morning and when I started driving the car it was shaking and bouncing so badly I thought something was wrong with the tires. My dad ended up dropping me off at work and my co-worker gave me a ride home. Turns out my car has just entered old age. (It is a 93') I now have to let it warm up for 10-15min in extremely cold weather or else my shocks freeze up. I will be so happy if I am able to afford a new car this year!

F.B. & I were talking recently about snow and what he would think of it. He was wondering how he would drive in the snow & ice too and what it would be like to experience 4 seasons when he moves to the USA heehee.

I visited my Nana on Friday night. I haven't seen her since before I went away to the Philippines and I had some gifts for her and she wanted to see my trip pictures. The ratties paid her a visit too. I took the girls last time I visited. She loved my new girls Ginger & Nutmeg and she gave everyone a Hershey kiss. She said, "See if you come to visit Nana- you get candy!" So funny, heehee.

I ordered 'The True Life of Mary Stuart' by John Guy off of Ebay. I just started reading it and it's really good. I've been reading alot of books about Mary Queen of Scots lately.

I have to start working on getting Valentines stuff together for F.B. too. Though I think he may get his package after Valentines. I'm going to get our trip photos printed up and put into albums like I do every year for us. And I've got to get him a card and write a letter. I'm finally getting a paycheck this monday. I always hate coming back to work after being furloughed because it takes 3-4 weeks before you receive your first paycheck again!

This has been a bad start to the new year. Last Friday I started with the office bug that's been going around. I felt like crap on Monday and called out of work. Tuesday we had update training so I had to be at work. And Wednesday I thought I would be okay but during the work day my cough was getting worse, sneezing, nose pouring... all that fun stuff. I stopped at the supermarket on the way home from work and picked up strong med's. Dayquil isn't cutting it. I got Tylenol Severe Congestion. So we'll see how that works.

I also picked up some hot chicken noodle soup... Ohhhh I have a bad obsession with chicken noodle soup. I can eat it for days in a row and not get tired of it. I love it. I eat it for dinner even when I'm not sick. So yesterday after work it was soup & bed for me and today when I woke up at 5am I felt like a truck had hit me. My body aches, my head aches, still coughing... blah. I called out again today and I'm going to bed after I post this and am sleeping ALL DAY. I can't wait until the weekend. It's a 3 day weekend because of the holiday on Monday... I just wish I wasn't sick! I really miss being with F.B. When I was sick in the Philippines he bought me noodle soup and mashed potatoes and listerine to gargle with for my sore throat... plus he always reminded me to take my vitamin c chews!

To top off my bad start to the new year my rat Sugar somehow sprained her front right paw on Sunday evening. I'm not even sure how. But now it's swelled up like a boxing glove almost. I've been giving her children's pain reliever for the pain. I just hope the swelling goes down or else I will have to take her to the vet on Monday or Tuesday so he can prescribe something for the swelling. She can't walk on it, she's just been holding it curled up. Earlier this week she was still eating with it, but as of last night she's not even doing that. And it hurts her terribly when you touch it or examine it, she cries.

I've been having such bad luck with my rats this past year. First was Cinnamon's emergency spay, Sugar getting a tick, Spice's mass removal, Spice passing away, Ginger getting her toes bit up by Sugar and now Sugar getting injured! I went a whole year without having any injuries or sickness and then 2008 & the beginning of this year everything just happened all at once. Rats really aren't as high maintenance as you would think... maybe someone jinxed me. And F.B. always laughs at me when I knock on wood... haha.


P.S. Sugar has a vet visit on Wednesday. The vet isn't in until then. The swelling still hasn't gone down on her paw and not sure if it will before her appointment he might have to prescribe something.

Christmas Eve was a good night. Exchanged some gifts with the family and watched Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase.

I got to talk to F.B. on the phone for about an hour. I'm really missing him, after being together for 2 months 24/7.

And I even got some pictures of the ratties in the Christmas Tree!

















Spice was doing much better. She was running along the back of the sofa last night, climbing & getting into trouble. Today she was not as good. When I woke up Spice seemed okay but around 2pm when I got offline with F.B. I noticed Spice was sitting slumped to the left downstairs in the cage. Just sitting there, not moving. I took her out of the cage and she was having trouble walking she seemed paralyzed almost. She also kept falling over.

I posted over at Ratchatter where I am a moderator. We think she may have had a stroke and she most likely has a pituitary tumor. I took some videos, in case I need to show the vet. And I also posted them at the forum. You can see she has been getting worse as the day goes on:

This Afternoon: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v60/slcreedgirl/?action=view¤t=spice.flv

This Evening: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v60/slcreedgirl/?action=view¤t=MOV03179.flv

Currently: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v60/slcreedgirl/?action=view¤t=MOV03185.flv

Now she can't pick herself up when she falls over. She is laying wrapped up in a baby blanket on me not moving. Her eyes and nose are running alot of porphyrin & I keep wiping it off with a damp washcloth. I'm going to keep her with me tonight, she is not looking good. I've been giving her pedilyte & ensure in an oral syringe because she's stopped eating and drinking. I have to call the vet in the morning and take her over to see what we can do. Spice is around 14-15 months old.

This hasn't been a very good Christmas for me. I've been upset all day and wasn't even able to eat Christmas dinner with the family. I have a horrible headache & stomach ache so I came upstairs to lay down for now.

Yesterday I went out to do all of my Christmas shopping. I was out from 9am-2pm. I guess I should have done my Christmas shopping early before I went to the Philippines for 2 months, then I wouldn't have had to rush around like I did to get it all done at once! Whew! But I'm all finished now.

F.B. sent me Christmas Cards and a 7 page letter. He also sent me our trip journal. Whenever we are together he keeps a journal that summarizes what we did each day. Then he makes a copy to keep for himself and gives me the original. He also sent me a Watson's Lemon Lip Balm! Yay! I lost mine on the plane coming back to the USA. I love Watson's drugstore in the Philippines. I have Christmas gifts to mail him too, though they will be a little late this year. His Christmas gifts to me were a hoodie & t-shirt and sandals that he got me in the Philippines when I was there.

I love the one card he sent me, he said it reminded him of my ratties! Hehe! So Cute!





















After Christmas shopping I had a bake fest. I made Pumpkin Bread, Chocolate Chip Muffins and Pumpkin Muffins! The Pumpkin Muffins were super simple to make. Only 4 ingredients!



Spending Christmas at home with the family. We usually put the tree up on Christmas eve and exchange some gifts. On Christmas we always have a breakfast buffet. I also ordered this yummy chocolate torte from Figi's for dessert this year.

I received a letter from wonk today saying to report to work on January 5th. Just a few more weeks of furlough "vacation" time left!

Spice had her recheck visit at the Vet this evening. She was able to get her stitches out finally! She is also doing much better since the Vet gave her fluids. I've also been giving her pedilyte in an oral syringe whenever I give her the antibiotic. She's not dizzy anymore and she can walk properly again. The antibiotic is still giving her terrible diarrhea, but tonight is her last night to be on it. She also gets to go back with her sisters tonight in the cage! I'm sure she's happy about that! Here's a picture of her from yesterday when she still had the stitches: