Lonely

Sake has spent the last few days alone because Sushi took another downturn. Sake immediately began nesting in her litter tray, going through all sorts of trouble to hide herself from all observers.

Saké

I think Saké is in desperate need of some quality time. We haven't had a lot of free time lately, yet it's easy to get Sushi out on a regular basis. She is happy to get held and it is easy to grab her out of the cage and tote her around the house while I do other things. On the other hand, Saké hates to be held and really only wants attention if you're going to pet her in the cage or hold her quietly outside. She especially likes to just lay next to me while I read if I pet her lightly. She certainly doesn't want to tour the house on a regular basis like her sister does.

Saké in January

As a result, she spends far too much time inside her cage these days. I'm hoping to rectify that tonight and spend a couple of hours reading while she sacks out asleep next to me.

Update

Sushi demonstrates how one uses a towel to keep a rat upright.

Sushi is slowly bouncing back, although very slowly. Being sick for so long is obviously taking its toll, yet the little girl is a trooper. She's taking her medicine without a struggle, tolerating the horrible fluid injections with hardly a fight, and still manages to look happy to see us. She is eating her regular food now (in addition to liquid food we hand feed three times a day) and is walking around more, although she's definitely not as light on her feet as is normal. She is still a bit unstable when cleaning herself, but at  least she is feeling well enough to groom. She isn't out of the woods but she is doing well enough that I'm not terrified I'll find her dead every time I look in the cage.

The girls are separated again, because Sushi is too weak to navigate the ramp or stop her sister from pushing her around. Saké isn't pleased with the state of things.

Saké nests in the litter tray.

Hopefully Sushi continues to improve and they can be back together soon.

Sisters Reunited

After two days apart, we were finally able to put the girls back together on Saturday night.

Which was good, because while Sushi was resting and looked like this:

a very bored Saké looked like this:

Saké destroyed the contents of her cage, jumped out at every person or cat who happened by, and even bit me during her time alone.

I'm not sure who was happier once the sisters were reunited - Saké or I.