Rest in Peace, Loki (January 9, 2012 - January 30, 2014)

Loki passed away yesterday, around 3 pm, at home in my arms. When I woke up in the morning, his body was pretty limp and I don't think he could move around. He ate some peas that I skinned for him, but he didn't have much energy. I could tell the end was near.

I put on a sweatshirt with one of those center pouch pockets and put Loki in the pocket and kept him with me all day. I wanted to be with him when he left us, so he would know he wasn't alone. He did not seem to be in any pain - he just had no ability to move about. I gave him some water from a syringe so he wouldn't be dehydrated, and kept him warm and cozy in my lap all day.

He seemed to pass away peacefully, and I am glad he went this way. I am so relieved I didn't have to bring him in to be put to sleep at the scary vet's office where I couldn't be with him when he passed.

Loki, we will miss you greatly. Farewell, my grumpy old man rat who turned out to have a heart of gold. Play hard over the bridge and be nice to Pirate.

Loki Suffers a Stroke

Loki when he was healthy

On Sunday night, we took Loki out for some cuddle time (he is not so active anymore for play time) and he was in bad shape. He was lying on his side and he had completely lost control of his rear legs and tail. His lower half was completely useless to him.

I thought the end must be near and I let him snuggle close with me while we watched Downton Abbey and Sherlock on PBS. I tried to get him to eat something but he would have none of it - not even a lick of yogurt. Eventually, I had to put him back in his cage, because I was on the verge of falling asleep and didn't want to drop him or roll over on him.

I put him back on the upper level of his cage, where he prefers to sleep, with easy access to food and water - lowering the water bottle so he could reach it without standing up. That was a mistake. I went to get him his meds and while I was gone, my son saw him fall down to the lower level. So I moved everything down to the lower level where he couldn't fall. I was sure he was going to pass away during the night. He didn't seem to be in pain, but he was so lifeless, I didn't have much hope. If he was still with us in the morning, I planned to take him in to the vet to be put to sleep.

To my surprise, in the morning, he had managed to get inside his wooden chinchilla hut (an impressive feat, since the opening is a small circle that is raised a bit above the floor). He was sitting upright with his eyes wide open and bright, completely alert and aware. I was quite surprised and left to make him some veggies and oatmeal for breakfast. He hasn't eaten veggies for several days, but I still bring them anyway. When I returned, he had managed to leave the hut and climb back up to the upper level. He regained motion in his legs and tail, although he is terribly uncoordinated.

I offered him the breakfast, and to my surprise, he ate some corn and peas, for the first time in days. He struggles to hold his food, as is typical with pituitary tumors, but he is managing.

It is our belief that he suffered a stroke last night from which he has recovered pretty well. So we have been granted a short reprieve and we will make the most of these final days. 

Vet Confirms Likelihood of PT for Loki

Loki had been deteriorating rapidly in the past two days. Two days ago, he would only eat a little baby food and some oatmeal. Yesterday, we couldn't get him to eat anything until the afternoon, when he took some yogurt. He was bruxing a lot and I was pretty sure it was not the happy kind. He saw our vet later in the afternoon and she confirmed my belief that he likely has a pituitary tumor (PT).

We have two options. We could try steroids to make him more comfortable and relieve the symptoms as he lives out his remaining days. Or we could try one of the drugs that might give him a few extra months - bromocriptine or cabergoline. Those drugs may help or may not and they could also bring with them unpleasant side effects.

As much as I would like to try one of those drugs and see for myself if they have any positive effect on the pituitary tumor, I don't think that Loki is the right candidate for that. If he were younger and healthier, I would be willing to give it a go. He has had so many health problems in the last year and he now has surpassed the two year mark and I just don't want him to struggle with anything else. I don't want to extend his life only to be miserable or to have one of his other health problems come back or have something new take hold. I don't want to turn his last months into a battle. I want to give him some peace and comfort and when that is no longer happening, I want to help him cross the bridge. So I opted just for the steroids.

When our rat Weasel developed PT in late 2012, it hit him suddenly and severely. He had a lot of ups and downs. His ups (while on steroids) were pretty good, with him being aware of us and being able to hold food a little and eat. His downs were frightening. His eyes were glassed over and I don't think he was aware of us or his surroundings. He would move in bursts in a type of crawl run with no sense of direction, suddenly bursting forward regardless of what was in front of him. He would run right into a wall or right off a ledge without hesitation. Then turn, pause, and burst forward again. Run, crash, repeat. Once I found him with his front half run up the cage wall and his back half on the floor, his teeth clenching the cage bars as if he were stuck and hanging there. I freed him and he acted unaware. These terrible spells were short lived, though, and then he would regain himself. I was too focused on trying to treat him and those good periods made it too tempting to keep trying to help him. But I should have let him go, because the night he passed was a really bad one, and I would have had him PTS if he hadn't passed before morning. We found him lying stretched out in his litter box, where he had loved to sleep in happier times. It broke my heart, but I was so glad it was over for him and so sorry I didn't help him avoid that misery.

I won't let that happen to Loki. I am sorry I was not experienced enough to spare Weasel that suffering. At the first sign that Loki is unaware of his surroundings or having fits of movement that he cant control, or some other symptom that is equally as bad, I am going to take him to the vet to help him over the bridge. Fortunately, Loki's symptoms have developed more slowly than Weasel's, and Loki so far has always been aware and in control. We started the steroids yesterday and he now has had two doses and he has eaten better today than he did yesterday, so perhaps they are starting to have an effect. Hopefully, we will see some improvement in his balance and coordination soon. He probably doesn't have more than a month, but maybe he will surprise us. Whatever time is left, I am going to make sure it is in peace and comfort.

Oh No! Not Again! Possible Pituitary Tumor for Loki


I mentioned earlier that Loki is having balance problems. He tends to roll a little to one side, especially his rear end, when he tries to move about. He is slower and has become more cautious about moving. He can grasp food okay so far, but only does so with one hand, saving his other for keeping him balanced. He seems uncoordinated.



Loki grasps a puff with one hand,
using the other for balance.

I was kind of hoping to be able to attribute it to hind-end degeneration (HED), but his rear legs seem to function fine, it is more of a balance/coordination issue. So that points to a neurological cause.

Those symptoms are starting to worsen. I am afraid he may be dealing with the early stages of a pituitary tumor. This is the worst diagnosis a rat could possibly have (of those things that I have experienced so far, anyway). Our sweet Weasel (unrelated to Loki) passed away from a pituitary tumor in late 2012 and it was the worst way to go.

A pituitary tumor is pretty much a death sentence. A steroid like Prednisone may help relieve the symptoms, but will not treat the condition. Weasel was on this med and it did give us a few good moments before his passing, but they didn't last long. I have heard that there are two other drugs that may give you more time - a few more months. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. They are cabergoline and bromocriptine.

Cabergoline is a more well-known treatment, but it is very expensive. And like I said, it won't cure your rat, it will only buy you some time. Maybe.

Bromocriptine is less well-known. However, it is cheaper than cabergoline and only slightly less effective. Weasel never had a chance to try these drugs - his symptoms came on quickly and while the vet prescribed the prednisone for me over the phone, Weasel didn't make it to his appointment where we were going to discuss other medication options.

Loki has a vet appointment scheduled for Wednesday. If she concurs with my assessment, I plan to discuss these options with her to see if either will be right for him. Loki's symptoms have started more slowly than Weasel's (or maybe I just am better at recognizing early signs now), so maybe there is a chance the medication can help him out for a while. On the other hand, I don't really want Loki to go through the bad periods that Weasel went through. I don't want to extend his life only to extend his suffering. At the first signs of those terrible symptoms, I would prefer to help him over the bridge.

More on Rats and Empathetic Behavior

Article: Social Experience Drives Empathetic, Pro-Social Behavior in Rats

You may recall video from a study that made the news a short time ago, showing that rats can experience empathy and will work to free a trapped rat even if there is no reward in it for the free rat. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has owned rats, but it is nice to have documented evidence in a legitimate scientific study. Further investigation has been done on this empathetic behavior, and scientists have shown that rats use their experience with other rats to motivate them to free the trapped rat, and not some instinct that recognizes his/her own kind.

In the previous study, the rats would release stranger rats of their own kind (PEW, or albino as the study referred to them). In this new study, scientists documented that rats from an albino strain did not release rats from a black-hooded strain. But, if the rats had been introduced to a black hooded rat previously, they would release a black-hooded rat from the trap, even if they did not know the rat they were releasing. On the other hand, if a rat from an albino strain was fostered to a rat from a hooded strain and had no prior contact with any rats from his own albino strain, that rat would not release albino rats from the trap.

Hammocks with a Fleece Border

Here is a fun trick I have been working on for dressing up certain types of hammocks: adding a fleece border to the open edges. This works extremely well for pocket hammocks, tunnel pockets, tubes, and double deckers. Not only does it look nice, but it cuts down slightly on the amount of cotton print that you will need, which sometimes comes in handy if you are just a little short. You do need a little extra fleece, but since fleece comes on a wider bolt than cotton, I usually have more fleece than cotton for any given hammock set.

It is really quite simple to modify some of the tutorials in our Tutorials for Common Rat Hammocks and Accessories to create this effect. First, you must decide how wide you want the border to be. I have experimented a bit and I like 1.5 inches per edge, and will use that measurement for the following tutorial.

Pocket Hammock

As an example, I will illustrate how to modify the pocket hammock so that the opening of the pocket has a 1.5" fleece border on both sides.

The pocket flat calls for one piece of cotton and one piece of fleece to be cut in a 15" x 33" rectangle. Because we want a fleece border of 1.5" on each end, our cotton piece can be cut 3" shorter (1.5" x 2 edges = 3" shorter). This means we cut the cotton piece 15" x 30". Since we lost 3" of our cotton, we need to get that length back from the fleece. So we increase the fleece length in the tutorial by 3", to make a 15" x 36" rectangle. Note that the fleece piece will be 6" longer than the cotton piece.

 

Once the fabric is cut to size, the tutorial calls for pinning the cotton to the fleece, right sides together, along the two short ends only. Because we are now working with fabric pieces of different lengths, I recommend doing this one end at a time. So, line up the cotton and the fleece, right sides together, along one of the 15" sides. Pin the edge and sew, trimming the seam allowance and the excess thread.

Now, reposition the fabric pieces so that the other 15" edge is lined up. Pin that edge, and sew. Trim the seam allowance and the excess thread.

 

Once both ends have been sewn together, turn the fabric right side out. Adjust the edges until each end has the same size fleece border (1.5" in this case). Pin the fold to hold the fold in place and top stitch along the edge of the fleece on both sides. I also top stitch along the cotton edge near the seam attaching it to the fleece.

 

 

At this point, you follow the rest of the tutorial to complete the hammock. You should get something that looks like this:

Pocket Hammock with Fleece Borders

Tunnel Pocket

You can also modify the tunnel pocket so that the "blanket" on top of the hammock has fleece borders. To do this, instead of cutting the blanket piece to 15" x 10", you should cut it 15" x 7" (assuming a 1.5" border). You should cut the fleece piece to 15" x 13" (again, 6" longer than the cotton piece). Sew the 15"-long edges of the blanket, cotton to fleece, in the same manner as described above for the pocket hammock. To highlight the fleece border, I like to use a different color fleece than the fleece used on the bottom piece.

Tunnel Pocket Hammock with Fleece Borders

Double Decker

Likewise, the double decker can be modified as follows (for a 1.5" border at each opening): Instead of cutting the cotton piece to 13" x 20", cut it 10" x 20". The fleece should be cut 16" x 20". The 20" edges should be sewn together in the same manner as for the pocket hammock.

Double Decker with Fleece Borders

Tube

Finally, the tube can also be created with a fleece border. If using the dimensions provided in the tutorial, instead of cutting the cotton piece to 16" x 19", cut it 16" x 16" (for a 1.5" border). (This makes an 18" tube. If you are making a tube of a different length, cut the cotton length 3" shorter than you normally would cut it.) Cut the fleece piece to 16" x 22" (or 6" longer than you cut the cotton piece). Sew the fleece and cotton together along the 16" sides (where the tube opening will be) in the same manner as described above.

Tube with Fleece Borders

I really like the way that this technique will bring out the fleece color in some hammock styles where you wouldn't normally see much of the fleece, such as the pocket hammock. I find this effect to be more visually pleasing and it gives the hammock a warm snuggly appeal.

I am working on adding the instructions for this technique to the Tutorials for Common Rat Hammocks and Accessories, along with adding instructions for a corner hut (like a cube, but made for hanging in cage corners) and instructions for the U-Haul furniture pad liners as described in a previous blog post. I will post when the updated document is available.

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