[SamsterAndRocky]

um.....hi, this is rocky... i'm a BIG brudder, my brudder's named spazzy rufus, he was my 'cuzin' whatever that means, but now he is my brudder cuz the ones who gave mum me, gave her him yes terday...... mum is sad for now cuz JellyBean has a "bad absess" (jelly bean is mum's human peepol frends's rat and she has 4 babies that were born almost 2 weeeks ago) i heared that they don't have 'munee' to take her to the 'vets' and that theres no vets around here that'll treat rats, and also that there 'car' is broked....... so i wanna try to cheer mum up, but i doesn't no hows to....she isnt tasting like food right now even if i try to give her some of mine, help me find what to do pweeese.- rocky

 

[gems2022]

I'm not quite sure I understood a word of that. Are you talking about a rat not eating because of an abcess?

 

[SamsterAndRocky]

my rat rocky got on the computer while i wasnt looking.

 

[SamsterAndRocky]

ok heres a translation for those of you who cant read rat typing:

my rat rocky is now a big brother.... the people who gave me rocky (our neighbors who are now living with us) just gave me thier other male rat spazzy rufus. im sad because JellyBean (thier mama rat who has 4 two week old babies) has a huge abscess, and nobody has money to take her to a vet...and even if there was money, no vets around here treat rats, and the car is broken....my rat (rocky) wanted to try to cheer me up....i hadnt eaten yet so i didnt have any yummy food in my teeth, and he kept trying to get me to eat his food......and he wanted ideas on how to cheer me up.

 

[gems2022]

Grooming is always nice or kisses.

 

[Poppyseed]

There is a home treatment for abscesses, if it is an abscess and not a tumor, stickied on this section. Also check: http://ratguide.com.

I'm really poor, have no car, need my wisdom teeth out, etc but I STILL find the money to take care of my animals first. Finding a rat vet wasn't easy but I found one and if I had lived where I had lived an hour an a half away and couldn't find any vets there I would of taken the bus to here to take my rat to the vet. Greyhound works, bikes work, asking for a rat train to help take to the vet would work too. They can't just shoot down their options because it will make things a little harder :/ They can also try care credit which gives a credit card to use for people in need of a vet. There are also other agencies who aid in the cost of the vet bill, vets that take payment plans, etc. Being broke is not an excuse anymore if you look hard enough! And I would be really surprised if they couldn't find a rat vet in a 4-5 hour radius....

Sorry, but there are other options. No reason to not go out of your way for an animal you took in. I know it's not YOUR animal but perhaps you could run these options by. They may of not even of considered it.

But regardless: Check out that abscess sticky and this:
http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/abscess.php

If it is indeed an abscess and not a tumor they can probably treat it at home. Good luck, I hope the rat gets the care she deserves.

 

[SamsterAndRocky]

im tryin to take care of her as best i can for now, i'll have to check out those options about vets and such and see what i can do.....they are leaving the care of all their rats up to me for the most part, (except for occasonally filling up her food dish with food and putting a little cap of water in for the babies). i mean they'll play with the babies and check on them, but the care is mostly up to me..... if i research though and find something do-able i'll tell them about it.

 

[Poppyseed]

That's a hard case for people to dump their unwanted animals on you when they need help ): How old are you by the way? Anyway parents or family members can help out?

I wish I was rich so I could put together an exotic pet help foundation. I wonder if such a thing can be accomplished with donations... I think it would be a lot of work to do and a lot of time and money would have to go into it. Something I want to research though.

 

[SamsterAndRocky]

im almost 23....my mum already sent us some money to help with the bills (cuz im bad at bank accounts apperently and i had some major over drafeted acounts, cuz all the fees kept piling up) and it seems that everyone these days is strapped for cash or barly scraping by......my father and my grandparents wouldnt even give me money when i needed it or my bank account would be closed.... and they dont think that rats are people too....... due to the fact that we had to scrape up money for my bank accounts, and the fact that its been a couple tough months in a row, we need all the money to pay the bills in full (none have been paid in a while)....our friends (the ones staying with us) have been having a tough time too (which is y they moved in with us).... the sad thing is that today the chick told me that they plan on getting another preggo rat from the pet store when they can.......and that she talked to the guy and asked when he's getting more rats in and he told her that he never gets more rats, they just stay there for years and breed and die.......ive already decided that im not getting petstore rats again if i can help it.....unless one just connects in that special way...but NEVER from that pet store..... i try to tell them that they shouldnt buy from pet stores and that there r rat rescues not too far away from here when the car gets fixed, and i try to tell them about responsable ownership and stuff and they dont listen..... ive gotta try harder to get it through thier heads, or show them some sites or something.....*sigh* i know she's gonna die, cuz i keep trying to get it through peoples heads (even my b/f) that she NEEDS to go to the vets, and that there ARE options and ways that we can get the money if we have to....but the car has no air conditioning and the nearest vet that has good experience with rats and is willing to work out payment arangements is at least 2 1/2 hrs away....and its been in the upper 90's here and its not supposed to get cooler anytime soon

 

[reachthestars]

Maybe you should lay down the law with these 'friends'. If they bring home any more animals that they can't afford vet care for they're out of your house.

If you can't afford vet care DON'T get the animal. Simple solution.

 

[SamsterAndRocky]

i know, we r gonna tell them that they cant bring any more into this apartment, specially since they cant even try to call around and see about vets for THEIR sick rat who has 4 two week old babies..... the guy is alright, he's all for taking care of your animals right, he just cant really handle them cuz he has a blood infection thingy (its called MERSA or something, its worse than staph)....but yeah we're laying down the law with them.