klary

My girls are now 17 moths and the other day I realized that they are
definitely not as lively as they used to be. Still happy and healthy,
but sleeping just a little bit more, and heving a bit more trouble
climbing the stairs in ther rat-apartment..
Now I find that since realizing this, I am spoiling them more.. giving
them more treats then when they were very young, because then I
thought I should try to keep them healthy for as long as possible.
I still want them to be healthy ofcourse and it's not like I'm feeding
them hamburgers or anything. But just that little bit of extra
cheese... a piece of chicken.. you know. I want them to have a happy
old age..

klary

phil l

:: definitely not as lively as they used to be. Still happy and healthy,
:: but sleeping just a little bit more, and heving a bit more trouble
:: climbing the stairs in ther rat-apartment..
:: Now I find that since realizing this, I am spoiling them more..
:: giving them more treats then when they were very young, because then
:: I thought I should try to keep them healthy for as long as possible.
:: I still want them to be healthy ofcourse and it's not like I'm
:: feeding them hamburgers or anything. But just that little bit of
:: extra cheese... a piece of chicken.. you know. I want them to have a
:: happy old age..
::
:: klary

I think you're right, quality of life is what matters not quantity.
On a similar note, my doctor told me to cut out meat, beer, cigarettes,
chocolate and loose women, 'will I live any longer' I asked, 'No' he said,
'it'll just seem that way'.

:-p

j&s bouchard

Well, I'm with the other way of thinking... I've got three old boys, 23
months old and I'm doing everything possible to keep them fit and well. This
means a healthy diet. Some people say quality not quantity...but your rat
doesn't know that he is not getting that extra chicken or cheese. Give her
that extra pea or broccoli instead. She won't know the difference. She
doesn't know that she's not getting chicken, all she knows is that mommy is
offering her a treat. If you want to make it yummy, offer her a very small
piece of whole wheat toast with a bit of jam... 17 months is still quite
young in my book... I soooo want mine to live forever.
--
Joanne
Mom to 12 rats
http://community.webshots.com/user/joanneb70
j-s.b@nospamsympatico.ca
remove "no spam"

kate

Good for you Klary, I do the same thing..

jackie mullins

is definitely only a treat. But peas do rule!
Jackie

tracey

I find myself doing the same thing. Of course the younsters get treats too,
but the old guys just get that extra one. I guess with me my rats have
usually lost a bit of weight when they get geriatric, so the extra treats
are to try and bulk them up a bit, well that's my excuse anyway.

Tracey

«. .»,¥©¬¥©°¢w^­û¥²–¦r‰

in article 2ki6inF2mnt7U1@uni-berlin.de, Tracey at talton@members.v21.co.uk

I call it insurance.... a bit of padding against possible illness that old
age brings! When they do lose weight, they lose it so fast. And they get all
skinny and doddery when geri-ratric, I suppose making sure the oldies are
tubby is our way of trying to stave off the inevitable...

My biggest and lardiest girl is Octarine, who will be 2 on 14th July. She
has the occasional wheezy day when she stays in bed, but it's never
progressed enough for me to feel she needs medication, yet.... (I have some
doxycycline on hand in case). She has no lumps, and climbs about the huge
cage like a youngster. She's also the chief nestmaker, and spends hours
running up and down the ramps with torn up newspaper building beds in all
the 3 igloos. Or trying to pull an empty cardboard box up the ramps....now
that is funny to watch!

marian bennett

I always thought thta newspaper wasn't very good for them. It makes any
white fur look very grubby and I seem to remember hearing that the inks were
a bit toxic when they clean themselves. Anyone else have any thoughts?

Marian

j&s bouchard

Most printing agency now uses a vegetable base ink. But you can find out for
sure by calling your newspaper office.
Newspaper is ok to use, once you are certain the ink is non toxic... it does
get white ratties a little dirty but that's about it.

--
Joanne
Mom to 12 rats
http://community.webshots.com/user/joanneb70
j-s.b@nospamsympatico.ca
remove "no spam"

«. .»,¥©¬¥©°¢w^­û¥²–¦r‰

in article Tg%Ec.2689$K%2.308@newsfe2-win, Marian Bennett at

As Joanne said, the inks these days are non-toxic.

And grubby rats? Weirdly, no. Although I noticed that if I use my local
newspaper, the rats stay cleaner than if I use the national dailies, but
even that's not too bad... nothing a quick wipe of the tail with a baby-wipe
can't solve. A lot of my rats are pale, too - nine of my 17 are Black-eyed
Siamese.

It's great in winter-time; the rats know when the weather's about to turn
colder and spend ages ripping up more newspaper to make fantastic, huge warm
nests.
Sue
----------------------------
pendragon fancy rats & rare breed rabbits
Portsmouth, England, UK
http://www.pendragonrats.co.uk