Miyuki
Birthday: 19/July/1999
Birth place: A medical lab in Acton area, London, UK
Weight: 540grams
Sex: Female
Favourites: Savoury food. nuts, sweet corn, pasta, couscous.
Hobby: Sleeping, occasional run around, shoulder ride
She is so gentle and wonderful temperament and she makes a joyful company. She is smart and very fast learner, which could also mean she used to be the naughty one out of the twin sisters. But she is always friendly and sweet. She enjoys exploring new places and she is absolutely fascinated by the paperbacks on my bookshelf. I once caught her ripping the final page of a mystery book I was reading. She was trying to take the page back to her cage to make a cosy nest.
She
enjoys a ride on my shoulder, demanding me to show how her around the room
in a bird eye view. She loves savoury food, especially Heinz baby food.
(Though she is on weight loss diet at the moment). She enjoys having a
nap on the back of the sofa cushions too, as well as nibbling the sofa
cover.
Miyuki's illness
I have a very sad news. She has developed a small bump on her back in late December 2000 and I took her along to a vet in my local area and Miyuki didn't seem to like this vet so she decided to poop on a table right there in front of us. He said the bump IS a tumor. He didn't even have a proper look on a bump or perform a histopathology test, but I was very upset and my mind went just blank. So decided to take her along to another vet which used to be my old local and her favourite, but quite far. There, a young vet gave her some antibiotics, Baytril. Miyuki seemed to like this vet particularly she was being very patient and even sweet to her! I gave her some antibiotics for 10days but no change, and my friends suggested it could be an encapsulated abscess. I really hope it is just an abscess. I am taking Miyuki back to her favourite vet, to have it checked properly, and possibly a minor surgery. I hope she will be all right. She is my strong rat, she will survive.
The vet took a small sample of her bump with a needle and he said he would have a look on a slide to see if the sample cells are dividing. If it is dividing, it could be a tumour. If not, it could be an abscess or a cyst. And lucky it turned out to be just a cyst type of growth.
Then in early May 2001, my worst nightmare came true. I have discovered a proper lump on her belly / groin area. I thought I checked her properly every week, and I couldn't believe I have not noticed it. It was almost about an inch (3cm) wide, as soon I saw it I knew it was some form of tumour, either benign, or malignant. Soon I booked her into an operation to have it removed as most of the rat owners and literature recommended me. The chance is that it could grow back after having it removed, and thing could go wrong during an operation but we wouln't know until we've done our best. She is in good shape at the moment, so I thought it would be the best time to operate on her when she is still strong and happy. Best of luck for Miyuki.