Scary Night
Tim and I didn't get to bed until after 11pm and that is real late for me. We had a medical emergency with Janola. She and her sister are my little old rats. They are 2 1/2 years old this month, so we're very lucky to have had her this long. They both don't get around as well as they used to. Janola used to climb and jump almost as much as Beroe (codename: Monkey Rat)! Now, if she wants up onto the computer table she will sit on top of either my or Tim's foot. Then, we'd lift her carefully up so that she can walk on our relatively straight leg to our lap and get a lift to the table (yes, I realize that we've become a handy rat elevator). Sometimes I just pick her up off the floor, but I think she and Barbara like walking as much as they can.
OK-back to the stress. Just as I was about to put our dinner on the grill, I noticed that Janola was having a hard time breathing. She's been sneezing a bit this last week, but I've been too afraid to take her to the vet due to her age, and none of the other rats seemed affected by it. Also, she was still "active" and eating. Well, this about broke my heart, seeing her choking and making strange sounds. Actually, rats are so quiet to us that any sound coming from her would be strange. Tim gave her a look as well and asked if I wanted to do something. This had gone on for about 1 or 2 minutes by then, so I decided that we needed to take her to the emergency vet. I was all teary-eyed and scared, she was sitting in her basket on my lap, still struggling to breathe while Tim drove. The vet was crowded! Everyone in SB must've had a pet emergency last night. She was taken in right away (thank goodness). But we did end up spending what must have been 2 hours in the waiting room. They came and told us that they had her on oxygen and when she was stable and the other emergencies had been dealt with, the dr. spoke with us. I was relieved to find that she was not getting ready to "cross over" but does have a respiratory infection. We got a prescription and headed on home.
Now it is morning and she's looking at me as if to say, "See, I told you I'm alright. Can I have a snack?"
OK-back to the stress. Just as I was about to put our dinner on the grill, I noticed that Janola was having a hard time breathing. She's been sneezing a bit this last week, but I've been too afraid to take her to the vet due to her age, and none of the other rats seemed affected by it. Also, she was still "active" and eating. Well, this about broke my heart, seeing her choking and making strange sounds. Actually, rats are so quiet to us that any sound coming from her would be strange. Tim gave her a look as well and asked if I wanted to do something. This had gone on for about 1 or 2 minutes by then, so I decided that we needed to take her to the emergency vet. I was all teary-eyed and scared, she was sitting in her basket on my lap, still struggling to breathe while Tim drove. The vet was crowded! Everyone in SB must've had a pet emergency last night. She was taken in right away (thank goodness). But we did end up spending what must have been 2 hours in the waiting room. They came and told us that they had her on oxygen and when she was stable and the other emergencies had been dealt with, the dr. spoke with us. I was relieved to find that she was not getting ready to "cross over" but does have a respiratory infection. We got a prescription and headed on home.
Now it is morning and she's looking at me as if to say, "See, I told you I'm alright. Can I have a snack?"
posted by Hi! I'm Janola. at 8:47 AM
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