Sushi

Sushi

We lost our littlest girl tonight.

Sushi was in her tube hanging out and looking content when Dave came home from work tonight; by the time I got home two hours later she had died.

I knew when we started this blog that some day there would be a post like this, but I never thought it would be so soon. She was 21 months old. A youngster. This morning she was so rambunctious that Dave had to help me get her in the cage; every time I put her down she would race up my arm before I could shut the door.

I think this is where this blog ends. Our intent behind the blog was to create a place where you could find information on the reality of caring for a rat with severe dental issues. I think we've accomplished that. We have visitors from over almost 90 countries and judging by the search terms that are getting people here, the posts on Sushi's teeth were worth it. I'm going to leave this blog in place in the hope that it can continue to be that resource for those looking for information, just like we were looking when we brought the girls home in December of 2010.

I don't need to describe how special Sushi was. This blog is evidence of that. As devastated as we are tonight, we're also keenly aware of how lucky we have been. We had no idea what we were getting into when we brought the girls home and I am grateful for every minute of it.

Wash Day

Early last week I noticed that the girls' hammock was wet, due to someone's laziness. I took it out of their cage, threw it in the laundry room, and didn't think much more about it.

Sushi really likes her hammock. It is where she spends most of her time when asleep. Saturday night I found Sushi laying on her wheel, seemingly trying to recreate her hammock experience while her hammock was in the laundry.

Once I realized what was going on, I immediately threw the hammock in the washing machine. Not a minute too soon either, since by the time it was out of the dryer and ready to be placed back in the cage, Sushi was sound asleep.

She woke up while I was hanging the hammock and was curled up in it just seconds afterward.

Hanging Around

I know this picture is terrible but I still love it. Sushi was exceptionally annoyed to be woken up.

Sushi Takes a Bath

Tails

Where there's a tail...

there must be a rat!

(I obviously woke Sushi up when I took the picture - look at that sleepy face!)

Explorer Rat

Sushi was in full explorer mode today. She played on the bed while I dealt with laundry and cleaned her cage. Her sister spent the entire time napping in their hammock and had no interest in leaving their cage.

I love seeing Sushi seem more like her normal explorer self. However, this picture makes me incredibly sad:

I'm astounded at how quickly that tumor is growing. It doesn't seem to bother her at this point, although I think she's a little more unbalanced than she was previously.

Looking Back

Last year around this time I posted this picture:

I love this picture of Sushi. The past year has had a lot of ups and downs for her. I love how bright her eyes are as she holds onto her piece of Rice Chex.

Move Along

There's nothing to see here.

Can't a rat hang out in her tube in peace?

Move along.

(I love these pictures because we can always tell when Sushi has really recovered from being sick - she always starts spending a ton of time in her tube.)

Lumpy Sushi

The other sad development with Sushi over the past few weeks is that she has developed not one, but two tumors. One is a relatively slow growing one under right front leg but the other one is behind her left front leg (behind it, but not under it like on the other side). I swear this one on the left grows while you are looking at it, and every day it seems more substantial.

The big pushed out area on the right behind her front leg is a tumor.

So, what are we doing? If she didn't have all her respiratory issues, we'd take her to the vet and see about getting them removed. But with her breathing problems, I'm not sure she can handle anesthetic and frankly, I'm not willing to put her through much more suffering in her life. She has overcome so much and still maintains her sweet, inquisitive, willing nature. Unless this seems to cause her any pain or discomfort (none yet that we can tell), we're just going to let her be.

I hate it though. She is one of the sweetest creatures I've ever met and I hate that she can't seem to catch a break.

Dinner Time

Sushi examines her dinner.

We've worked hard over the past few weeks to makes sure that Sushi is eating, despite how sick she has been at times. She is still getting soaked monkey chow every morning and crushed lab blocks mixed with baby cereal each night. However, we've started mixing baby food into her evening mixture, in an effort to give her some variety. Simply adding a couple of spoonfuls of peas or squash really makes a difference - she dives into her food and there is rarely anything left by morning. 

Interested in the camera, but not interested enough to leave her food...

An Update on Sushi

Sushi has had a rough couple of months. She is still on ciproflaxin and prednisone twice a day and still has some respiratory issues. Every couple of weeks it seems like she really goes downhill, but then after a few days of staying quiet and mainly just eating and sleeping she bounces back. And when she bounces back, she does it with energy. Every time I find myself thinking that maybe this is enough to put her through, she scrambles to the front of the cage to see me, or dives into her food up to her chest. Even when she's sick, she doesn't seem to lose her appetite for life.

As long as she's still fighting, we'll fight with her.

Sushi takes her medicine.

Exploring

Sushi spent a while outside of her cage today. Whereas her sister spent the time buried under a blanket, Sushi was all over the place. She was clearly happy to be out of the cage, even though her breathing was a bit congested.

Hungry

Sushi is feeling better. Her breathing is clearer, her balance is better, and her appetite is back with a vengeance.

An Update

I took a break from blogging last week because there hasn't really been anything good to report. Sushi is hanging in there but she's not great. She still eats like a horse and is her usual affectionate and talkative self. But she's also wobbly, periodically congested, and sleeping a lot.

There isn't a lot that we can do - she certainly isn't suffering. She is still on the antibiotic and prednisone. I hate seeing her like this. But sometimes, like last night, I'll walk by the cage and she'll be sitting in the front watching the world pass by, eyes bright, alert, eager, and aware. I'm grateful she still has those moments. She's a pretty special little rat.

Sushi (from August)

Sushi

After a week back on her antibiotic and antihistamine, Sushi seems to be holding strong. She still gets stuffed up when she's excited or right after she wakes up, but her appetite and activity level are back to normal. She drove me nuts tonight while I cleaned her cage - she spent the entire time trying to climb out of the cage and onto me.  She's a tough one to get mad at though.

Sushi

Sushi Update

After talking to the vet, Sushi is staying back on ciproflaxin for the time being, possibly for the rest of her life. There doesn't seem to be a real good answer as to why she takes a turn for the worse every time we take her off of it, but we're done screwing around with it. She's a great sport about taking her medicine twice a day, so if that is what it takes for her to stay healthy and live a happy, comfortable life, than that is what we'll do.

Sushi has a piece of watermelon.

Sushi

I'm a little nervous about Sushi today. We took her off the ciproflaxin Thursday night as planned, but kept her on the prednisone twice a day. By Sunday morning her breathing was congested again and by Sunday afternoon she was sliding down the ramp in the cage, rather than walking.

It doesn't make any sense to me that the ciproflaxin is the medication making such a difference for her - I really thought it was the pred. Regardless, she's clearly worse off after 48 hours without the antibiotic. We started her on it again last night and will call the vet today.

Sushi before her latest downturn.

Reunited...Again

Yesterday the girls finally rejoined each other again, after being apart since Wednesday night. That was when we found Sushi nearly unable to stand, definitely unable to navigate the ramp in their cage, and firmly sliding backward again on her recovery.

Dave called the vet and she is back on ciproflaxin and prednisone twice each day. There seems to be a pattern here - each time she seems back on the road to recovery and then suddenly she slides backward again. The consistent thing in each case is that it occurs about 2 days after she finishes her course of ciproflaxin and the prednisone goes to once per day. So now she's back on both and once she finishes the ciproflaxin on Thursday, the prednisone will stay at twice per day for now. Hopefully that will provide some indication of what is going on.

She's a trooper, but this is so tough on her. She hardly did anything but sleep from Wednesday through Sunday morning, but by Sunday night she'd perked up a bit and by Monday she seemed back to normal. Fortunately she never reached the level of dehydration experienced before and required no fluid injections - just her meds and some quiet rest.

Fingers crossed that she can beat this once and for all.

Adorable Sushi

Some individuals are so cute it is impossible to deny them anything. Sushi embodies this to the extreme.

Sushi Update

Our favorite tiny rat really seems to have turned a corner. Her eyes are mostly clear, her breathing sounds better, and her activity level remains high. She still has trouble breathing in certain instances - when she's really excited or eating quickly - but overall seems far better than a week ago (not to mention two weeks ago!).

She is on antibiotics for a couple of more days. We're going to back off on the prednisone - down to once per day instead of twice - but she is probably going to be on that for at least a while longer. There can be some long term negative effects to prednisone, but since our little girl is 18 months old, we realistically don't need to worry too much about that. Her remaining life likely isn't long enough for any issues to surface (as sad as that is to say).