# Rescue Effort - Kelowna,BC



## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

I was called by a family who had rats living in their basement, they were left behind by previous tenants... who turned out to be drug abusers and were kicked out.... so they set their rats loose to do some damage!! I went to go take a look this evening to see if I could confirm it was indeed domestic rats... I believe they are since there are fawns, black berks and I seen a few hoodeds. The place is a mess, and the rats have chewed threw and are actually living between the walls. There is at least two inches of rat poop, and several rats who have already passed away - some with large visible wounds. We have no idea of the numbers of rats there, I counted over 10 deceased bodies. I didn't see much of the rats as they were pretty quick and flighty. They looked in poor condition, dirty and a few had large tumors and obvious URI's. The family insisted I did not take any pictures. 

We have set a few humane traps to try catch as many as we can. We have 72 hours before the family are laying down poison.... at least they are giving some of them a chance though. We were not planning on rescuing these rats, the family called us out for advise only. Originally I thought they wanted advise on how to trap them (thinking they were their rats that were loose), but they wanted to know the best way to exterminate them. So obviously when I was put on the spot like that, I started plans for a rescue effort instead of thinking practically. I just couldn't walk away from these rats knowing they would be killed. Hopefully we can give even a few a new chance at life, any we can not help will be humanely euthanasied. Its sad, but its a better option for these rats that being left to be exterminated.

If anybody here has the space, time and resources to take in a possibly sick rat or two... let me know. My QT homes are full, I have a place lined up that can house these rats temp for a week or two MAX... 

I suspect there will be both males and females... but I'd only noticed males there so far. They all seem to be adults, which suggest no breeding. Maybe they are all males? I guess we will see if/when we catch a few!!


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

Good luck Ema. It's times like these I wish I lived closer so I could help out


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## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

Good luck! I hope they aren't breeding though. That would be a huge mess. I hope you find someone to take them in. I would if I could.


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## ][stacey][ (Nov 4, 2007)

wow how sad and terrible that is i wish i could help


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## Nekopan (Mar 18, 2010)

Again, my home is open. I have space for up to four. Send me an email.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

You also may want to purchase nets, and leather gloves for handling them. I know a person who found a colony of domestic rats outside and they managed to catch quite a few and rehab them into lovely pets.

Try the best you can, and if you are able to save any, its better than none.


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

Thanks for the kind words and advise. We went back this morning and had a group of 9 rounded up, all males. We also removed all the dead bodies... of which we could tell were also all males. The boys have been split into two groups, three males who seem the healthiest... I've heard a few sneezes and they have a bit of porphyrin. And six boys who are in pretty rough shape.

Kyla, I'll send you an email. Maybe you would be interested in taking the healthiest group of three? That would really help us out  Theres a young adult black hooded dumbo, he has a large open abscess on his back which the QT home will of already started treatment on. He seems otherwise healthy but a bit aggressive . A large blazed boy, adult, who also seems a bit bloated and is sneezing. Hes quite friendly and a large fawn berk, adult, who is sneezing and has porphyrin around his eyes. Hes also friendly, and tucks his legs when we pick him up.

As for the other group two of the boys appear to be really old, their teeth are a mess and they are skin and bones with lots of scratches and scabs. They are both black berks. There is also two blazed boys, really bloated and really labored breathing. One of them has an abscess around his eye. A large fawn older rat, missing part of his foot and tail - clearly infected and lastly, an aggressive PEW with about six open nasty abscesses all around his neck.

We were also surprised to find a young female cat in one of the traps. Shes had clearly had a litter of kittens before, by the looks of her saggy belly. She seemed really hungry and skinny but quite friendly. The family have agreed to not put any poison down, so we can round up any remaining rats and cats/kittens. We seen a few kittens who looked about 8/9 weeks old but were up able to catch them (The place is messy and filled with junk). And I have no idea how quick cats can reproduce.... is it anything like dogs? We think the cats were eating the rats as we found over 20 dead rats. We left down food, water and more traps! 

The group of six will be seeing the vet tomorrow morning, the earliest they could fit us in. I cleaned them up best I could, gave them some child pains relief were needed, a large comfy cage and some good food. (They have eaten six bowlfuls between them just today!) We know the outlook is bleak for the group of six, but they are comfortable and well fed for the night. 

Sorry I am just posting now, I had to wait three hours before returning home. We are also trying to find somewhere for the cats/kittens. As I am not experienced with them, but I'll do as much as I can for them. All of the cats seemed healthy, but obviously all unfixed, possibly pregnant and underweight. The kittens likely have never been handled, I may keep these back a few weeks to socialize them a bit better. I'd take them the SPCA but they are already overrun with cats.


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## digitalangel (Apr 16, 2009)

I would call the SPCA and let them know the situation, if you volunteer to foster them they may be willing to take them in "officially" and be able to provide medical care and pay all the bills while you socialize them and then once they have room they can go into the shelter.


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

Thanks for the info Digitalangel, I'll give them a call and see if they can do that.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

This is great news!!!! Now you can relax a bit and work at trapping the remainder without worrying about the poison. 

Instead of the 3 hours away you can go home, remove your clothes (put in sealed bag to be washed) jump in a hot shower, scrub, wash your hair, then blow your nose when you are done. That should take care of any rat viruses lurking on your person. If you want to play it safe, stay away from your own rats for the balance of the 3 hours. Make sure your clothes and shoes also don't go near the rats for those 3 hours as well.

I wish the 6 much healing vibes...the illness is harder on them than the injuries...do you remember Gilbert? I was sure he was going to die from his infected wound, and now he's big, fat and goofy


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

We went back today and caught no more rats, just cats and kittens. We can not see any more rats running around, and the food we put in the walls was untouched. We also laid down flour, and seen no foot prints. But we are still going to keep putting the traps out, until we are catching nothing for at least a few days straight. We broke down a section of the wall to see how far the damage went back, and found moldy damp bags of oats that had we think been left down for the rats to survive on. 

Some good news is that I have found a foster for the cats, they have five children (ages 5-17) so they will all get lots of love and socialization whilst they are nursed back to health. My vet is also willing to give discounted spays and neuters to adoptees when we come to adopt them out, the family said they are going to keep all the cats that can't find homes. They have a 5 acre hobby farm and lots of love to give these kitties.

Thanks for the info and healing vibes Lilspaz, it will make things easier to visit them and help out now I know I can do that. I do remember Gilbert!! Such a handsome boy, I'll have to go search for some up to date pics of him on the shack. Thats great to hear hes made a full recovery!  Gives me some hope for these boys.

Now some bad news! We noticed all of the blazed boys were bloated and in general poor condition, so they all came along today for a checkup. The vet confirmed our suspicions that they all had mega colon (so we think brothers, since their markings were identical) We had them humanely put to sleep, they were all clearly suffering... two of them had ulcerations coming out of/around their anus which I hadn't noticed before. (But I had given them all pain medicine yesterday thankfully, so I hope they had one night of some relief, scritches and good food :'() R.I.P Rooney, Looney and Mooney. (The vet techs named them at the last minute)

The two old thin berk boys, whom we've named Rumple and Stintskin had their teeth trimmed, we are hoping they will grow straight with some corrective trimming. Rumple had a small abscess by his teeth which has been flushed and should heal quickly. It was about the size of a small pea. They are both on meds for an URI. The vet also thinks they are both completely blind, but I know thats much of a big issues anyway. They are eating like horses, so we hope with some TLC we have some fat squishy old men. Stintskin loves his strawberry ensure, he likes to bath in it too for some reason! 

The older fawn male, Bandit, needs a leg and tail amputation. However with his current condition and age, the vet said he wouldn't survive surgery. Instead we had him sedated, and the vet cleaned up his foot and tail as much as he can and put a compress on it and a e collar on Bandit. Hes on amoxicillin, baytril, doxy AND metacam. Does this seem right/enough? I was not sure if they could take them all at the same time? Were hoping to get a bit of weight on him and get him in better shape before his surgery. The vet wants to see him again in 1 week. He is fine in himself, eating and drinking and taking meds like a champ.

The PEW, Albert, is still at the vets. Hes having surgery first thing in the morning so the vet can have a proper look at what his open abscess things are. Hes on metacam, he seems petrified of people but is allowing us to stroke his head since we've given him the pain killer. So I think the aggression was just the survival instinct of rat in a lot of pain. He seems otherwise in okay health, a little skinny but doesn't have a URI! Which is a bonus for him I guess, he can have his surgery straight away. 

The black hooded dumbo, Merlin is at the vets also with Albert. One of the vet tech staff is going to foster both Merlin and Albert. I am still going to be over seeing their care and what not, but this is great news for them. Merlin has a URI and an open abscess on his back which are being treated, I am confident he will make a full recovery. Both Albert and Merlin will also be getting neutered. (And Albert has a friend whilst hes at the vets)

The the adult fawn berk, who've we have yet to name (suggestions?), seems to be in the best health of them all. He sounds like he has a URI, but has a lot more life and energy in him that the others. We suspect he may be younger, but hes still a full grown mature adult. He is the best weight and the biggest boy. I'm hoping Kyla can foster this boy, waiting to hear back from her! He is the friendliest of the bunch too 

So now we only have two groups.

QT group
Rumple, Stintskin, Bandit and the Unnamed fawn berk.

Group at the vets, who already have a home lined up.
Merlin and Albert

I will keep you updated and will get some pics over the next few days!


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

I contacted the SPCA, but was told there was nothing they could do unless somebody reported the issue and they sent someone out there to investigate themselves. (Which the family would not of waited for, they gave me 1 hour to get there from the time they sent their first email). But I understand, anybody could just call up and say they rescued the animal and expect help with the vet bills. They said since I've taken the animals, legally I am responsible for them.. which I understand. I have the option of surrendering them to the shelter as their owner, within 7 days of obtaining them, obviously no charges of animal cruelty will be laid on me and it won't affect me adopting from them in the future. 

So I will keep them in mind for a last resort! Thanks again, Digitalangel.


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## babybeef (Jul 3, 2010)

Aww that's sad was jerks for leaving them :/


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## Spider (Mar 19, 2007)

Any Updates? Pics?


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## laughingrats (Apr 21, 2010)

I wish I would of read this sooner! I totally would of helped you Ema. Do you have any updates?


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

Sorry I have not given an update sooner, I have not been online much recently. 

We are still trapping and re-homing the kittens. We did keep one of them, well my boyfriends father did. Hes such a sweet lil guy, and super handsome too. I'll have to get some more up to date pics of him. And we have someone waiting for the next kitten we catch, but we think there is at least four left. Also another possible pregnant female in the area who we have not managed to catch or even get close to yet. I'll keep you posted! 

We ended up having to humanely euthanise Bandit, the infection was much worse than we thought - it was in his bones. He did have two weeks on his pain meds with lots of loving and good food - but the vet said he would not be a good candidate for surgery. 

Albert's surgery went well, the lumps were abscess and the vet was able to drain them, neaten up the area and neuter him. He healed up very quickly and is now super sweet and enjoying life with Merlin. Merlin is just finishing his round of antibiotics for his RI, his abscess healed up really quick. He will be neutered in the next few months.

Rumple and Stintskin have been adopted into a fantastic retirement home together. They have gained lots of weight since we first got them but are still having to have regular teeth trims. They get ensure everyday, which they are thoroughly addicted to and they will cover themselves and in their cage in it in the attempt to eat it fast enough. They are showing signs of HED, but are in fantastic hands and will be spoiled for their remaining days.

Sambuca, the younger fawn male abscess healed up, but it came back again a few weeks later. We drained it again and its healing. He is on meds for a RI we are trying to beat. Poor guy is having to be housed alone since hes still in quarantine and still feeling poorly. 

I will try get some pics up!


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