A Typical Day

Ok, there really isn't a typical day at The Rat Retreat. The path of each day depends on the number of volunteers, visitors, sanctuary rats, rats to be adopted and sick rats as well as whether we have an event. So it changes from day-to-day. I'll tell you about today, though. Rats are social and need company, but they live in colonies, so you can't just plop a new rat into someone else's cage. Hence, we sometimes have singles. Single rats ideally need from 2 to 4 hours daily of human attention. They don't get that in this place, but I try. First thing in the morning, I take my breakfast of a couple pieces of fruit, and single rat, Bear, to the sofa to eat. Bear hops and runs and snuggles and shares breakfast for half an hour. Then I do meds. We have 19 rats today, only 5 on meds, some are taking two meds. That's a low number, so morning meds only takes about an hour. Then a bath with Bear. While I do my morning cleansing rituals, Bear hops in and out of the water, and runs around the large bathroom, knocking everything over. That's another half hour. So on a good day, Bear gets an hour of my time. If a volunteer comes in, he may get a little more of someone else's. Next is trust-training single rat, Domino, who is not ready for Bear's level of freedom and human interaction. He still bites. So I will feed him some soft food off a spoon, then my fingers. He will eventually climb into my towel-covered lap. I have prepared for this with a bath and a clean, long-sleeved top, but eventually he will smell Bear and start with a warning nip. At that point, between 10 and 20 minutes, I will wrap him in the towel and put him back on his table. Any day could be different, because he's been neutered. As soon as it takes effect, we will progress to longer periods of time together until he, also, gets an hour. By then, I hope to have had a successful introduction with Bear to a group, because two hours a day with single rats is a big chunk of the day. Most days I have to do a cage cleaning, or water-bottle cleaning, then paperwork, social networking, bookkeeping...a myriad of tasks that go with running a busine4ss and having too few volunteers. Today I am on vacation and a volunteer is coming. The most I'll have to do in my workday, besides what I already did, is pick up supplies. When my workday is over, I enter my worknight, which is a little easier. There is another round of meds, chopping fruits and vegetables for dinner and trying to get around to the three colonies. Tonight I may be able to spend the minimum half hour with them, that they need. I will carry them, one colony at a time, to the sofa and give them treats while I watch a show. They will get scritches and love and I will get grooming and love. The interaction with the rats is what makes the day worth it. Most of this does not happen if I have a very sick rat. Sometimes they need 2 to 4 hours of attention, alone....sub q fluids, hand-feeding, 4 doses of medicine, bathing, etc. Thank God that today there are no very sick rats here. It looks to be a relaxing day!