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).

HeroRATS

I read a great article yesterday about training African giant pouched rats to sniff out landmines (www.good.is/post/could-giant-rats-eliminate-land-mines-in-thailand). Amazing! The rats are light weight enough that they do not set off the mines, and yet can indicate where the mines are so they can be safely disabled.

It turns out there is an entity called APOPO (www.apopo.org/), which trains rats for various humanitarian purposes. The African giant pouch rats have a longer life span than domestic rats (6 to 8 years), and are smart, inexpensive to care for, and easily motivated by food. In addition, because their sense of smell is so strong, these rats can even be trained to sniff out tuberculosis!

Image from APOPO

I am continually amazed by how smart Saké and Sushi are, and it is fascinating to know that there are other rats out there using this intellect for a greater good. If you are inclined, APOPO has a variety of ways in which you can support the HeroRAT program at www.apopo.org/cms.php?cmsid=34&lang=en.