Rat Slideshow (All of our photos)

Sunday 22 March 2009

MORE Hospital Visiting....

This time he's REALLY not well, not just Pretend Not Well.

Poor old Nurse Grissom is in hospital himself, all alone and in glorious isolation. There was an unsavoury incident involving a Clearance Event in Grissom's Basement Department and Other People's Fur.... said Other People were distinctly Unhappy About Being Newly BROWN, thank you very much. Simon organised a petition and the result of it was Grissom and his smelly belly was banished to the Hospital Cage, with Malone being reinstated amongst the ranks of the healthy in Rat Towers. This was the first time he properly met the four new boys - Malone was always good with babies, and this batch proved to be no different. He greated them with wiffly nose and good humoured tolerance - he allowed one of them to ride him across the cage... even with his bad legs, bless him. It was like seeing an old donkey with a well-fed adolescent human male sat astride his back - but the spirit was willing, even if the flesh was weak. Baby was given his piggy-back and deposited gently at the other end of the cage, with Malone rubbing embrocation ointment on his sore hip and baby yelling "Again, again!!!". Bless him, good old Malone.

So back to poor old Grissom and his shares in Andrex.... Friday night (his first night in Intensive Care) saw him lying very sorry for himself In The Ball, Too Ill to Come Out. Boy did he manage to generate a strong and PUNGENT odour... Saturday was much the same, unless he heard the russle of the Treat Bag, in which case he managed to limp as far as the bars to claim his share of any treat to be issued. MummyRat got him out to love him better, and ended up having to put all her clothing into the washing machine along with every cleaning product she could get her hands on (including Harpic, just to be on the safe side) and herself into a very long and hot shower. Sunday saw MummyRat, peg firmly in position on the end of her nose, cleaning out Grissom's cage while Grissom himself sat on DaddyRat's knee, firmly on a Morrison's carrier bag and 18 rolls of kitchen towel.

Sunday evening - the time is currently just after 8pm - the Patient appears to be feeling much better and is eating his way through a kitchen towel MummyRat placed in Hospital with him just in case he felt the urge to .. wipe .. Let it also be stated, for the record, that there is also a plentiful supply of food in the cage - however, the kitchen towel is clearly more palatable.

If only there were rat-sized Pampers....

Wednesday 18 March 2009

Prison Visiting...

Nigh on three weeks have passed since my last posting – three weeks which included a day of wearing black (and not in a GOOD way) to “celebrate” the dreaded day when MummyRat turned 50 years of age. One good thing – none of the rats appear to mind that they are now being tended by a person of considerably advanced years, and who can now officially wear a purple skirt twinned with an orange blouse and a red knitted hat and nobody will think any the less of her since such colour schemes are clearly expected.

These three weeks have seen the introduction of Data, Worf, Flack and Hawkes into Rat Towers, the re-introduction of Colin back into the fold (still with a sore hand but bored out of what few wits he had in the hospital cage) and the imprisonment of LB into a cage on his own. Malone spent two nights in Rat Towers before MummyRat decided that he was Looking Frail and needed to be spoiled and made much of in the hospital cage, so he’s now being nursed and given lots of lovely tit-bits by his ever-loving Mummy. He really doesn’t seem to mind being alone so nobody is suffering from his being on his own in hospital – for approximately six nano-seconds I considered putting Nurse Grissom into hospital with Malone as a Carer but Grissom (who is very well-attuned to his adopted female parent’s thoughts) took to the hills and is still in hiding somewhere, holed up and being smuggled supplies by the four babies. The only time he deigns to appear in public is when I’m giving out treats, and when he wants a cuddle – Grissom is an extremely cuddly rat, and appears to trust me now not to put him into hospital. Malone is happy, so I’m leaving the status quo alone.

The Imprisoned One, however – now this is a different story altogether. I was labouring under the mis-illusion that once I managed to get LB on his own I’d be able to spoil him into becoming a friendly, sunny-personalitied rodent. I held this opinion for at least four days – four days that saw me daily putting my hand into the cage and stroking LB carefully and gently.. three of these days this worked very well and I was convinced that LB could be saved for the population of Rat Towers. However, day four was a totally different story; hand went into cage, as usual – LB allowed approximately three strokes before turning on me and giving me several really nasty bites. I should have known what to expect when I saw a bottle of nice Chianti opened and breathing in the cage and the book “Hannibal’s top 100 recipes” open to page 4 – “Human Finger Food”. That was the last time I stroked LB, and the last time I ever really want to have contact with him since there was absolutely no reason for such vicious behaviour – when he’s cleaned out he’s placed in his cage into the big “cleaning out” cage, with the roof taken off and allowed to effect his own egress – cage is then removed, cleaned and replaced and LB goes back in in his own time. Feeding him is now a matter of never letting the hand come between teeth and Thomas the Tank Engine cup containing the food. Maybe it’s Thomas that he has an aversion to – I’ll never know since I’m not a rat psychiatrist and LB himself doesn’t appear to want to share.

However, during the three days when LB was actually being nice (such lovely days) there was in Interesting Incident where LB won some definite brownie points. I got up (early, as always) and went to look at my boys – spotted that LB’s cage (on the bottom of the stack of two with Malone in the Hospital cage on top) had its front door wide open and no LB present. Furniture removal, frantic search and much sweating and swearing ensued. I moved the settee twice – no mean feat since it’s a large leather four-seater job – but no LB behind it… however, the movement of said settee maybe disturbed him from his hiding place because I spotted him strutting determinedly across the room towards his cage, tail stiff and nose a-quiver. He entered the cage, practically closed the door behind himself and sat and ate some food since he was Starving After Having His Adventure.

LB’s cell is now held close with a nappy pin…..