On a recent trip to the RSPCA to pick up two very cuddly boys, Pickle and Tomato, we came across another little rattie looking for a home and couldn't resist.  At the time we were told that Rodney was a young male rat, this being the RSPCA we didn't think twice about what we'd been told.  And because we had two young friendly boys at home, we thought the little guy would fit in well.  Once we got home, however, we realised that Rodney was in fact a girl and that she probably wasn't that young.  On top of that, we also found she had two lumps.  One was under her right arm and the other at the down at the bottom of her tummy.

 

Obviously this was a very upsetting and a big shock for us and we honestly didn't know what to do for the best.  While our first thought was to take her back to the RSPCA, as we hadn't planned on getting a female rat and we had no suitable cage for her, this was easier said than done.  So, we decided to leave it overnight and think about things when we were a little calmer.

 

We renamed our new arrival Petal, which suited her much better than Rodney.  Renaming the new arrival probably wasn't the wisest idea, as we still hadn't decided to keep her.  Not having a spare rat cage that would be suitable for a long term home was just one of our problems.  The fact she was on her own would mean she'd require a lot of attention, at least until we could find her a companion.  On top of that there was the problem of her tumours.  It was a lot for us to deal with, because Petal was a spur of the moment addition to the family.

 

When it came down to it we realised there was no way we could take Petal back to the RSPCA, because she was on her own and because of the care she would need if she had the tumours removed.  We called the RSPCA to let them know of the errors they had made with regard to Petal and they very kindly offered to pay her medical bills.

 

Six days after joining our family Petal was operated on.  We are very pleased to say that despite the scale of her operation Petal came through very well and made an excellent recovery.  She was soon charging around and being playful, much to our surprise.

 

We also set about finding her a new home.  We chose the Ferplast Furet Plus, after reading rat cage reviews on the Fancy Rat website.  It was a little bigger than we had room for in our living room, which is where we wanted Petal to live as she was on her own, but when it comes to rats you can't scrimp on space, so rather than get her a home that was too small, we made room for her large new home.

 

Poor little Petal didn't quite know what to make of all the extra space at first, and even though her wounds from her operation were healing well she was probably still a bit sore.  Not that it took her long to pluck up the courage to explore every inch of her new home, and as her strength and confidence build she is starting to make the most of all the extra space, inside and outside her home.

 

Though the addition of Petal to our family was completely unexpected, she has quickly become a very important member of our family.  Considering everything she has been through in a very short space of time she is a very special little rat and we are looking forward to getting to know her even better. - Who knows maybe we will even be lucky enough to find her some sisters to share that huge cage with, watch this space...

 

July 2008, some very exciting news three rattie new girls joined our family.  They are a little younger than we had planned, but after giving Petal time to get to know them they now all live happily together.  Check out our new site Rattie Rescue, to meet them all and find out how they're getting on.  And you will find there are a few other rescue rat additions to the family too.

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