Again, I find myself shaking my head and smiling about why he has this name.

They told me don’t take the Elizabethan Collar off of him. The rat boards all said these things were cruel and should only be used if the rat has a history of mutilation. This is his first procedure so there is no way of knowing. I couldn’t administer his medications with the cone on his head; he has too much fight in him. I took it off and gave him his meds, his greek yogurt and a piece of a donut. Every time he was about to settle back into his nest to go to sleep, he would start grooming his tummy.

Hey, something doesn’t seem right down here!

He didn’t chew hard at it. In fact, if I weren’t closely watching him, I wouldn’t have noticed anything going on. Sure enough, examination shows he was starting to chew it open.

Now, the rat boards also said that if it’s less than 2 inches and opens, it can still heal on it’s own.

Whatevs.

I trimmed down his collar and woke Dismal up to help me staple it back on.
Where’s the stapler?

We used packing tape!

Yes, I am a horrible person. At least it doesn’t have the same fumes as duct tape.

The plan is to try to velcro his collar in the future so that I can remove it and put it back on him when everything is caught up for my rat, before he goes back to his nest.

I’ll admit I am stressed over this. He is the smallest thing I’ve had the veterinarian operate on. Emerson was the champion. Cloud had a spay and died later the same year from a bladder stone. Chloe died before the end of the week on a removal we had performed. She was beside herself on what had happened to her and didn’t bounce back from the trauma of it.

I’ve had rats for years and they are always self sufficient. I don’t know how much they need to eat or how often. The not knowing is part of what makes me nuts. The disappointment I have within myself for not being versed in this beforehand also adds to my frustration.