On Saturday morning, we had two rats.

By lunchtime, we only had one.

Hobble had twice had incidents where she had choked on food over the past couple of weeks. Both times, she'd had a sneezing fit which dislodged it.

Saturday morning she started choking again. This time, she didn't sneeze. We tried putting a little ground pepper in front of her nose, but to no avail.

We managed to get a little of the obstruction out of her mouth, using a round-tipped hair slide, but couldn't do any more than that for fear of hurting her.

We called for an emergency appointment at the vet, and got a taxi up there. By this point she was going into spasms.

The vet said that, as rats get elderly, they tend to get this condition wherein their throats sort of collapse, leading to this choking. We didn't have any choice but to get the vet to put her to sleep.

I'm devastated.
But she had a very happy life with us, and was one of the most cheerful pets we've ever had.

Return of the Jedi Photos

Well, I did promise photos of the house...

These were taken whilst sitting on our green sofa, which is in a middling position along the back wall of the living room, so they make the room look about half as big as it is. And kinda squinty. I'll get better shots soon.




The hall, pointing towards the front door at the far end. The door on the right is into our bedroom, the one on the left is our kitchen.

The ladder is behind the front door when it's open.
Oh, and the hatch leads into the attic where Alfie the Cockney Murderer lives (when we first opened the hatch, a scalpel fell out, narrowly missing my face. Hence Alfie).

And this is pointing the other way. The door on the right is the kitchen, the doors on the left are our bedroom and the living room, the door at the end is a cupboard, and the hall turns right at the end to lead to the bathroom and spare room / library.

I was trying to take a photo of Hobble to show how fluffy she is, and how well she's recovered, since she'd been taken to the vet and got medication. She wasn't compliant, so you'll just have to make do with a shot of her looking even more mental than normal.

I went shopping today. I actually buy clothes very rarely. I find it difficult when different shops mean I fit different sizes, and I loathe changing rooms, what with their fluorescent lights and overheated tiny cubicles. However, I needed work clothes, so I managed to track these down. I went for the "they look like they'd fit me. I'll just buy them and try them on at home in comfort, then bring them back if they don't fit." routine.

I tried them on together, however, and not only do they fit, they also look great, especially with my high-heeled knee boots. I doubt I'm turning into a fashionista, but it's nice to feel stylish once in a while.

The top is a slightly tunic-y fitted top with sort of art deco detail around the bust, and a scoop neck.

And the skirt is faux-seude, slightly less blue-ish than this photo suggests, swingy, and just mid-calf.

Lastly, and traditionally... some graffiti. All found on the National Museum of Scotland.

Pets on film.

Pretty much just what the title said.
Whit dancing, Hastings being curious about things, Hobble being squint, and finally RATSTRAVAGANZA with enforced grooming of Hob by Hastings.

(Sorry, Acci, you may not be able to see much of this post.)
The videos are a bit dark, I warn you now.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

1) Matt's taken to the fruit bars (marketed at babies) that we buy for the rats. On Friday he took one into work as his snack. We buy two different types - one some sort of weird organic sort, and one the Cow & Gate sort. I'm totally on his side - I've tried a bit of them, and they're really nice.
He said he was embarrassed because the one he took into work has a picture of a baby on the wrapper, and has '+12 months' written on it. I just figured that at least he was getting vitamins. He just figured that, if anyone asked, he could say they were made of babies.

2) We've been reintroducing the rats (they met for a moment when we first got Hob, but the vet suggested she didn't have stress when she was ill, so that was a no-no for a while). There was a tad of hilarious flailing, where they stood on their back legs and windmilled their forelegs, but then Hastings sat on Hob and groomed her and, after a while, Hob realised that Hastings is the boss. We've been quite intense in their reintroduction. Late last night, lunchtime today, then this evening. We think it's best that they get used to it quickly. I worried that if we left it for a couple of days, they might have to go through the original flurry again. They now play nicely together. Well, Hastings will jump on Hob and forcibly groom her, but Hob will roll over and act submissively with an almost visible air of boredom. The only strops occur when Hob is playing on me - then Hastings will shoulder barge her out of the way in a possessive manner.

3) I've been feeling pretty good the last couple of days. Sometimes unnacountably grumpy, but that passes quite quickly and, in general, I'm doing ok. I know I haven't been talking much about the varying levels of depression, but it's so incredibly boring for everyone other than me, and I prefer not to go into it. Unless, of course, I snap and end up ranting.

4) My brother H and his long-term girlfriend are coming round tomorrow night to meet the new pets. I'm doing them dinner of pepperdew poppers, followed by my delicious beef and bacon stew with mustard mash. I haven't seen them since New Year. I kind of miss H. And also his girlfriend. She fits into my family disturbingly well.

5) It's nearly 4.30am. I just needed to write down all the things before I forgot them. I'm also half-watching Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Hob.

This is Hob (short for Hobgoblin). She was offered to us on Thursday after her owner had been evicted from her house, and the RSPCA had refused to take her. She's an absolute darling, friendly and sociable and affectionate, but she has head tilt, meaning that her head is almost permanently on one side, she has a tendency to circle, and sometimes to roll, and a lack of balance.

I took her to the vet yesterday, and he thinks it's most likely to be an infection or inflammation of the brain (her mania could be a sign of this too) and he is concerned about her size and weight. So he gave me a broad-spectrum antibiotic to give her twice a day, and he's told me to feed her up. There is a possibility that she may have to be put down if her quality of life gets worse, but we're crossing our fingers that it won't come to that.

Here's Hob hanging out on the back of my neck.


And Matt and Hob napping.