Happy Friday!

We talk about Sushi a lot on this blog, for obvious reasons. But since it's Friday, let's also remember that we're also lucky enough to have one very healthy, robust, and sweet rat.

Saké

Making Up For Yesterday...

Dave pointed out to me that yesterday's blog post was depressing. That is true, but I pointed out that the entire situation with Sushi is depressing. However, in an attempt to provide more cheerful fare, we took some adorable pictures of Saké. Sadly, the camera batteries died before I was able to upload the pictures. So instead, I offer an adorable picture of Saké with a piece of banana from May, 2011.

Saké

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

Wine Nights

Sushi does love her wine box.

Sushi

She isn't the only one.

Tomie de Paola might find this familiar...

Adorable Sushi

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

A Change of Pace

Saké has really taken a backseat the last couple of weeks to updates about Sushi. I guess that is what she gets for being such a robust and healthy fat rat.

She's a good way to start off the week though, so here she is:

Lazy Medicating

When your rat is on three separate medications, it can take a while to get through them all. It helps though if she is particularly cooperative.

Sushi Update

A much healthier Sushi

Sushi has improved drastically since going to the vet last week for an upper respiratory infection. Her breathing is mostly clear, other than a little bit of sneezing and sniffles. Her nose and eyes also look better. Her appetite (which never really waned) is 100% and she also is back to being her normal energetic self.

Sushi Takes Her Medicine

I cannot imagine how Sushi could be better about taking her medicine (Ciprofloxacin and Prednisone).

It helps that she seems to like the taste of both medicines. After her surgery in the fall she was also on Ciprofoxacin but also Meloxicam, which she hated the taste of. As a result, it took an enormous amount of skill and luck to get any of the meds in her mouth. This time around it only takes one person to treat her, which is a bit of a relief, since she has about fifteen more days of Prednisone ahead of her. 

Sushi's Feeling Better

Sushi demonstrates how to take medicine.

Sushi is doing better today. Her eyes and nose are much cleaner and her breathing, while not yet clear, is greatly improved.

Holding onto the syringe, not pushing it away...

Her appetite also seems good. She ate her monkey chow this morning and immediately dove into her dinner tonight.

I'm not sure she could cooperate more than this.

Sisters

This speaks for itself:

Cushions

Sisters may make the best cushion in a hammock but I think it probably works better when the chubby rat isn't on top.

Sushi

I love this little rat.

Sushi

She's so sweet and always looking for something to do.

What's over there?

She also makes me laugh on a regular basis - especially how she uses her paws.

Itching her ear.

Cuteness!

I know this isn't rat-related but it's far too cute not to share:

Sakè and Sushi Recommend Comics

One question that we get constantly asked is, "What have Sakè and Sushi been reading lately?" While it is true that Sarah and I are both avid readers, the rats seem to be more interested in eating, sleeping, and running on their wheel. Additionally, rat-sized books are a rare commodity. However since they're newly minted Internet Celebrities, it's important that they give their fans what they want. In the spirit of starting out small, I'm going to run down a couple of Sushi and Sakè's favorite comics.

There is a distinct lack of rodent role models in comics, with those characters often being relegated to the role of villain or nare do well. Superhero comics are pretty much right out, since rats only ever appear as set dressing or a minor plot device. You could even say that they are into a bit more haute coture than spandex and capes, though they do have a soft spot for Bat-Man (bats are flying rats after all).

So without further ado, and in no particular order, I present to you: Sakè and Sushi's Must Read Rat Comics!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Sakè and Sushi are huge fans of Master Splinter. Starting out life as the pet of Ninja master Hamato Yoshi, Splinter learned the art of the ninja by watching his master train and copying his movements. When he was exposed to radioactive "ooze" he was transformed into the anthropomorphic hero we know and love. Many of our younger fans may be familiar with the television cartoon or the live action movies, but Sakè and Sushi both recommend hunting down the original comics by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.

Ratfist

Long-time fans of Earthworm Jim and The Neverhood, both rats were unbelievably excited to hear that Doug TenNapel started a web-comic. They went absolutely crazy when they found out that the titular character was a rat, with a rat sidekick. Though this one just started, It's absolutely amazing so far and totally worth keeping an eye on!

Maus: A Survivor's Tale

Art Speigelman's tale of his father's survival of the Holocaust is one of the most powerful comics ever written. Maus transcends the genre and has become one of the most celebrated books of any kind in the modern era. Sakè and Sushi really can't recommend this book highly enough.

That's all for now, perhaps once they've had some time to read some more books we'll be able to add some more titles to this list. Until then, keep on reading!

Musical Rats

Sushi and Saké do not have any tricks yet, other than keeping us up all night and harassing our cat Penelope. However, The Telegraph has an awesome gallery of pictures of two rats who have been trained to pose with musical instruments.

Check out the entire gallery for more rat awesomeness.