Monday Mornings

Sometimes all you want to do is lay in your wine box and watch the world pass.

Sushi with Apple Jacks!

Slowly Sushi is able to eat harder foods again.

She isn't able to eat cereal yet if it is completely hard, but if I hold a piece under water for a couple of seconds, it gets just wet enough that she is able to eat it (and does so eagerly.)

A New Nest!

Sushi and Saké received a much overdue new nest this weekend. Their old one was more than a bit threadbare and smelly. Of course, the old one also was completely broken in just the way they wanted it. Now they have to start over.

New beginnings are tough. You have to figure out the best positions for napping again. Is it better to have your sister on top of you like this?



Or to lay on top of your sister instead?

Pancakes!

We had delicious apple and cinnamon pancakes the other morning, which meant that the girls also had them. I was pretty happy with how well Sushi did eating her piece. She was definitely slower than her sister, but despite her speed, she didn't seem to have too many problems.

Saké Attacks!

I've posted before about Saké's endless fort building and baiting of our cat Penelope. This weekend I finally to record some of the action.

Most of the time, it turns out like this:



Saké does her best to attract Penn's attention while Penn is oblivious (in this case, Saké's under the towel but instead  Penn is watching Sushi upstairs.)

But then Saké is finally able to attract Penn's attention and draws her in as close as possible:


That was enough action for Penelope, who quickly decided to keep out of Saké's way:

Rearranging

The other day Saké was busy rearranging the first floor of the cage.

As part of this, she flipped over their wine box and balanced it on a block. It didn't seem to matter that Sushi was in the box when she moved it.

Fortunately Sushi is used to her sister's antics and didn't seem to mind.

Sushi Eats

Sushi

One of the biggest changes that Sushi has had to make in her eating habits since having half of her teeth removed is that she has to use her paws much more.  It didn't take her long to figure out that fastest way to eat her crushed lab block/baby cereal food was to shovel it in by the pawful.

Happy birthday!

The girls are one year old today!

I have a hard time believing this. They came home with us when they were 8 weeks old.

Today I am going to share some of my favorite pictures over the past 10 months.

Both girls shortly after we brought them home.

Saké with a Cheerio.

One of Sushi's favorite poses.

Saké loves her hammock.

Sushi loves denim.

Saké sticks her head out.

Sushi wakes up after getting her teeth trimmed.

Hoodrats!

Keeping an eye on things.

Setting Traps

Saké was at it again the other day. She moved items around the lower level of the cage to form a barrier along the front, and then flattened herself out on the other side of it, waiting for a victim to come along.

Waiting patiently...

I felt bad that after all of her hard work, there wasn't anyone around for her to jump out at, so I went and found Penelope. Unfortunately Penn was asleep when I found her, and as anyone who has a cat knows, just because you move a sleeping cat doesn't mean they will actually wake up.

Sleepy Penelope is unimpressed.

I finally just held Penn up in front of the cage and as soon as she sniffed at Saké's creation, Saké jumped out of hiding and smacked her nose through the cage. Penn was less than enthused.

Saké

Sometimes a basket of towels is all you need.

Suitcase Adventures

We were out of town last week, and when we returned, our unpacked suitcase was a perfect place for the girls to explore.

 

 

 

Hiding

 

 

 

Sushi

Saké

Sushi Update

Sushi isn't so sure about the examination table...

Sushi went in for a recheck this morning. She is at 250 grams, which means she has actually gained weight since last week's surgery. This doesn't surprise me too much, since she's been really good about eating her mix of baby cereal and crushed lab blocks.

The vet was really happy with how her gums are healing. There is a small bump under her chin on the left that we need to keep an eye on. It's getting smaller and hopefully will disappear soon.

Once her remaining two incisors grow big enough, she'll return to have them pulled as well. I will be happy to have this whole ordeal over with.

Considering a jump...

Hide and Seek

Saké spends a lot of time trying to hide. She lures in the cats and then when someone comes in for a closer look, she jumps out at them.

Hiding.

Such a cute face!

She carefully maneuvered the blocks on the left to hold up that end of the towel.

Saké the trickster.

Saké

Saké, in a tube, with a Cheerio. What more does a rat need in life?

Sushi - Starting to Look More Normal

Sushi is definitely on the mend. Her swelling is down, she is grooming herself regularly again, and her activity level is back up. She was able to eat peas the other night. She had a tough time splitting the skin open, but was able to slowly (but eagerly) eat the softer flesh inside. She is still mainly eating the mixture of cereal and crushed lab blocks but I've noticed her poking around the dish of regular food in their cage as well.

Sushi has a snack.

I'm hopeful she will be back to normal soon.

Sad Sushi

Even though I knew this surgery was a good thing in the long term for Sushi, it has been hard watching her slowly heal.

Swollen face. 

Snacking on baby cereal and crushed lab blocks.

Swollen face and crusty eyes.

Leave Me Alone!

There is a rat inside this nest:

Usually the girls sleep on their bedding but in this case I think Sushi shoved all the bedding in the front to hide from us. Saké was downstairs renovating when I noticed the nest. Sushi must be a bit tired of all the attention, plus she's still swollen and probably sore from Tuesday's surgery.

In terms of recovery, I think she is doing pretty well. She has another day of pain meds and I will be glad to be done with those (she isn't a fan of them). Her antibiotics do not seem to bother her as much. It is remarkably hard to get the syringe into her mouth when she doesn't want it there - it is amazing how dexterous and strong her tiny paws are.

She is still eating the mixture of crushed lab blocks and baby cereal, as well as soaked monkey chow. I did notice her poking around the water bottle yesterday, which I think means her mouth must be feeling a bit better. Until she's able to drink comfortably, the baby cereal mixture should give her enough water. 

Lonely Saké

It's tough when your sister disappears for an entire day and then returns home swollen and sleepy. What's a rat to do, except curl up in her nest and hide?

I had a hard time finding Saké initially:


First I noticed the ear. Then a nose appeared:


And finally, one very uninterested eye:


As for Sushi today, she's okay. Still swollen, but her color is better and she is back to grooming herself. She's also eating pretty well. We are giving her a mixture of baby cereal and crushed lab blocks, which she seems to like. She doesn't seem to mind her antibiotics, but she is less than excited about taking her pain meds. Fortunately we only have to give those for a couple of more days.

Sushi's Surgery Report

Sushi came home last night.  I was unprepared for how swollen her face would be.



We initially needed to give Sushi some quiet, confined time to rest, since she was still pretty groggy. We put her on the upper floor of the cage, so she could just curl up in the nest. Saké was less than thrilled to be locked downstairs, and occupied herself by burying the contents of her food dish in the litter tray. Sushi ate a bit of softened food (crushed lab blocks mixed with baby cereal) and then slept pretty hard for a while. Her ears and tail are a little pale, which combined with the swelling made her look a bit rough.


The surgery did not go exactly as expected. The right upper and lower incisors came out easily, but while the vet was pulling those the left teeth broke off just below the gum line. Dr. Nolan could have continued trying to get them extracted, but at the point Sushi had been under anesthetic for quite a while. It would not be quick for him to pull the teeth from under the gum line, not to mention that that would be more traumatic to her mouth than a regular extraction. So he decided to take the conservative route and saved those two teeth for a future day. While I had hoped that today would be an end to all of the annoyance and pain of malocclusion, I am glad he stopped for today when he did.

Dr. Nolan saved her teeth for us. I knew they would be long but I didn't expect them to be nearly the length of Sushi's head!

Her upper incisor broke in half and can be seen on the right and left above. The middle tooth is a single, intact lower incisor.

Sushi is on antibiotics (Ciprofloxacin) for the next ten days and pain medication (Meloxicam) for the next four days. I'm hopeful that we can keep the pain in check and that her mouth heals quickly so she can resume her normal diet.



I'm glad she's home.

Surgery!

Today is the day! Thanks to a voicemail mixup, we didn't get a lot of time to stress over Sushi's surgery. Instead we found out last night that she is having her upper and lower incisors removed today!



She'll come home later today on antibiotics and pain medications. The surgery carries some danger that I find scary - she may not handle the anesthetic well, or her jaw may break when they pull her teeth out - but if things go well, this should drastically improve her quality of life.



Sushi will be a year old in almost three weeks. I'll be glad to close this teeth chapter and move on to her living her life in more than three and a half week increments.

I don't think I'm the only one who will be happy to have this over.

Industrious Saké

I was getting ready for work the other day and looked over to see Saké carefully pulling up the towel from the floor of their cage and moving it to the front. She started pushing the edges of the towel into the front of the cage and then moving their tube and blocks around as well. Sushi was upstairs asleep the entire time.

I'm not sure *why* Saké does what she does, but I absolutely love how deliberate she is.

Saké.