Happy 2nd Birthday, Loki!

Happy Birthday, Loki!

Smokin' Loki has reached the age of two today! We celebrated this morning with a little scrambled egg in addition to his veggie breakfast. I am sure the day will bring him lots of treats.

We were not at all sure he would make it this far. We lost his brother, Pirate, several months ago to a tumor in his lung. Loki, himself, has been plagued this year with respiratory infections, skin infections, abscesses, and most recently, a urinary tract infection which was successfully treated with Trimethoprim Sulfa. Today, however, he seems mostly healthy. His respiratory symptoms are minimal (he has damage from previous infections and is on Doxy for life to prevent infection of those damaged areas). His skin is better than it has been (the meds for the urinary tract infection actually helped with the skin issues, so there may have been some residual skin infection left behind).

He has, however, been showing signs of a slight balance issue. He is slower and more clumsy than usual. He can grasp food but only does so with one hand (as shown above). The symptoms are extremely mild, however, and hard to notice unless you spend a lot of time with him. I suspect something neurological and am trying to get examples of the problem on video before I bring him back to the vet.

At any rate, we are glad to see him with us at the age of two and we hope he continues to fight his little battles and stick it out. He can be something of a grumpy old man rat much of the time, but he has also turned into a cuddly snuggly licker when he feels like it. He has taken a little more understanding than the other rats we have owned, but deep down, there is a sweetie in there, just a little afraid to come out.

Loki, as a baby, exploring Gorilla Mountain