Thanks to my GF/caregiver I am now the proud owner of a

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coloCan
coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
edited June 2011 in Colorectal Cancer #1
(Ginger Baker drumroll, please--but no Toad)......

I'm now the proud owner of a white, long -haired ,domestic RAT!!!!!!! Our last pet, Cat, died two days before my Dx (Rambo, our Dobie ,went the year before) and I kept putting off another pet so while out shopping today, girlfriend returned with Bella......,

Appreciate any suggestions if anyone-or your kids or grandkids--has ever had one,-- how do you care for a white,long-haired domestic rat? I'll try to look up what I can on internet....

i never expected this!!!!!! ........A Man,His Bag and His Rat........
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  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
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    "how do you care for a white, long-haired domestic rat?"
    VERY carefully I would imagine!
    I don't think you'd feed them snakes, they are on opposing sides of the food chain.
    Check online, with all of the testing they do on rats, they probably like cigarettes and beer!
    They are quite smart and make good pets I've heard.
    Glad you got a Long-haired Hippie Rat!
    -phil
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
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    Hahahahaha i just can say again hahaha!
    Good luck my friend!
  • steve g
    steve g Member Posts: 58 Member
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    My suggestion
    Get another CAT to keep it company.... Steve
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
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    PhillieG said:

    "how do you care for a white, long-haired domestic rat?"
    VERY carefully I would imagine!
    I don't think you'd feed them snakes, they are on opposing sides of the food chain.
    Check online, with all of the testing they do on rats, they probably like cigarettes and beer!
    They are quite smart and make good pets I've heard.
    Glad you got a Long-haired Hippie Rat!
    -phil

    Was your concluding sentence addressed to me or the rodent?
    When I first met GF, she had several snakes, including a boa and a python, Marc and Anthony; little rats,mice,grasshoppers,etc were their prey.........She had an iguana or two,several cats and finally just the Doberman......i've had three cats in my life......Never thought i 'd have a rat but she's getting used to us
    Actually, her droppings look similar to what my stoma at-times produces so we have something in common.......

    Im glad you got a laugh Pepe and since I don't think i can deal with the pain of losing another cat at this stage/conditon in my life, I'm satisfied, as of these frst few hours, with the rat....Now if she grows to 95 pounds like the Doberman was-----
  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
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    Yuck
    Had to laugh when you said the rat's name was Bella, that was the name I'd given to my stoma :) Don't think a rat would be my first choice - or last for that matter.

    Kim
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
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    Yuck
    Had to laugh when you said the rat's name was Bella, that was the name I'd given to my stoma :) Don't think a rat would be my first choice - or last for that matter.

    Kim

    I never named mine, my stoma, that is; instead, I gave it a
    mouthful:" A permanently rerouted internal solid waste disposal system with an external,replaceable,removeable storage recepticle attachment, to be emptied upon fulfillment",or something to that effect....
  • maglets
    maglets Member Posts: 2,576 Member
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    coloCan said:

    I never named mine, my stoma, that is; instead, I gave it a
    mouthful:" A permanently rerouted internal solid waste disposal system with an external,replaceable,removeable storage recepticle attachment, to be emptied upon fulfillment",or something to that effect....

    what can I say???/
    goodness what can I say?????


    you are just one lucky man/////

    hahamags
  • wolfen
    wolfen Member Posts: 1,324 Member
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    maglets said:

    what can I say???/
    goodness what can I say?????


    you are just one lucky man/////

    hahamags

    RATS!!!
    My kids had hamsters when they were younger, but never a rat. One retarded one stepped off the wheel and bashed it's brains out. Just remember not to squeeze it too hard. A neighbor's child finished that one off for us.

    Watching crazy redneck videos last night, a ditzy woman had a pet BAT and kept it in her bra for warmth. YUK!!

    Good luck with your new pet.

    Wolfen
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
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    wolfen said:

    RATS!!!
    My kids had hamsters when they were younger, but never a rat. One retarded one stepped off the wheel and bashed it's brains out. Just remember not to squeeze it too hard. A neighbor's child finished that one off for us.

    Watching crazy redneck videos last night, a ditzy woman had a pet BAT and kept it in her bra for warmth. YUK!!

    Good luck with your new pet.

    Wolfen

    Sprinkles for ice cream
    That's what you get when you squeeze them too hard!
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
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    I am picturing you with your new friend....
    ....and smiling!

    I actually wanted a ferret at one point, and then found out California doesn't allow them...so I settled for a string of hampsters for my daughters. The only trouble with them was their short lifespan...but they were all loved desperately while they were with us!

    "Ben, you're just what I was looking for" (in my best squeeky voice).

    Hugs, Kathi
  • pete43lost_at_sea
    pete43lost_at_sea Member Posts: 3,900 Member
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    just don't buy a cat now
    hugs,
    pete

    ps is it available to try any supplements, does it like chinese tea.
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
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    just don't buy a cat now
    hugs,
    pete

    ps is it available to try any supplements, does it like chinese tea.

    Starting to read some on albino rats and you're right Kathi,
    they don't live too long and GF wanted the biggest ,which was probably the eldest, so......whatever time she has with us, the rat, that is, she'll be well taken care of.....(as long as I know where she is undrr the blanket on my bed so i don't squash her.....We keep her in a real old carrying box I'd used for my cats, lining the bottom of it with old, soft shirts she hides under....And Pete, supposedly you can feed her some banana and avocado ,two foods good for us that I actually enjoy eating (unlike fish, mango, papaya,mushrooms which i dislike)
  • SisterSledge
    SisterSledge Member Posts: 332 Member
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    coloCan said:

    Starting to read some on albino rats and you're right Kathi,
    they don't live too long and GF wanted the biggest ,which was probably the eldest, so......whatever time she has with us, the rat, that is, she'll be well taken care of.....(as long as I know where she is undrr the blanket on my bed so i don't squash her.....We keep her in a real old carrying box I'd used for my cats, lining the bottom of it with old, soft shirts she hides under....And Pete, supposedly you can feed her some banana and avocado ,two foods good for us that I actually enjoy eating (unlike fish, mango, papaya,mushrooms which i dislike)

    taste nasty
    Doesn't it suck that the best things for us seem to taste the nastiest??? Mushrooms....yuck!
  • kristasplace
    kristasplace Member Posts: 957 Member
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    Rat's make great companions, but...
    There was a period in my life when i had several rats. Worked in a bio lab where there was a mascot rat that i inherited when the biology head went overseas, and she decided she didn't want him anymore, and another rat from the bio lab that someone hit over the head with a hammer before being fed to the other mascot; a rosy boa! That poor rat not only survived the hammer to the head, but a night in the freezer! Had to take him home!

    They were terribly affectionate little boogers. Always wanting to be held, and would run from one of my arms to the other via the back of my shoulders. I loved them so much, i got three more. Little did i realize, they don't live very long, and are prone to tumors. It was painful watching them die after only three or four years. I've heard that some of the more hybrid rats can live up to nine years or more, so maybe yours is one of those? I've never heard of a long-haired rat.

    Good luck with her!

    Krista
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
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    Rat's make great companions, but...
    There was a period in my life when i had several rats. Worked in a bio lab where there was a mascot rat that i inherited when the biology head went overseas, and she decided she didn't want him anymore, and another rat from the bio lab that someone hit over the head with a hammer before being fed to the other mascot; a rosy boa! That poor rat not only survived the hammer to the head, but a night in the freezer! Had to take him home!

    They were terribly affectionate little boogers. Always wanting to be held, and would run from one of my arms to the other via the back of my shoulders. I loved them so much, i got three more. Little did i realize, they don't live very long, and are prone to tumors. It was painful watching them die after only three or four years. I've heard that some of the more hybrid rats can live up to nine years or more, so maybe yours is one of those? I've never heard of a long-haired rat.

    Good luck with her!

    Krista

    I'm trying to learn some more via internet and she appears to be
    a pink-eyed albino....Never nkew about potential for tumors...Had her sitting in my lap for awhile earlier........don't know whether it was the Depends i was wearing at the time or the hanging bag nearby that entralled her........Speaking of which......i was always friendly with dogs but it seems having a bag under your shirt can be interesting when a big/tall enough canine walks by. i'm starting to wonder if its me they sometimes go crazy over or the
    bag under my shirt.......
  • thxmiker
    thxmiker Member Posts: 1,278 Member
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    Furry Kids are great!
    Have

    Furry Kids are great!

    Have Fun!
    Best Always, mike
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
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    Yikes!
    More power to you. I have NO desire to have a rat!

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • thxmiker said:

    Furry Kids are great!
    Have

    Furry Kids are great!

    Have Fun!
    Best Always, mike

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
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    tootsie1 said:

    Yikes!
    More power to you. I have NO desire to have a rat!

    *hugs*
    Gail

    Being that i probably wouldn't be here w/o the care of my GF
    (could NOT take care of myself at all, for some time)i can't really deny her anything and as I said we;d get a pet after Tx and never did, we now have a furry rat......As long as she, the rat, that is, leaves my bag alone, we;ll get along fine.....Next time we got to AC for a few days, we'll take her with us (Showboat now allows people to bring small dogs, but not cats-they'll never know about the rat (unless she runs out of the room-but that won't be till next month) Still need to learn some more about my new friend, like do they hear?
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
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    tootsie1 said:

    Yikes!
    More power to you. I have NO desire to have a rat!

    *hugs*
    Gail

    Darn rat.......
    just hit the send button