March 31, 2008 -

Ok, I have been doing a diary of the Monkey Boys and of the two new Rex girls. So I decided to do one of Blondie too since recently we have been making progress in leaps and bounds. Before I forget what happened I will tell what happened today and then I will tell her story that led up to today.

Today's story is:

I got both Blondie and Molly out of their cage to play on the bed. They have been having fun exploring. Molly enjoyed the tissue box in the headboard. I hadn't noticed that my husband left the sliding door open and I looked up and there was this rump sticking out of the box with a tail I could almost swear was wagging in delight. What a funny sight.
While Molly was busy doing this, Blondie found out how to finally go under the blankets. I could see this bump moving everywhere and I knew she was having fun. She kept coming up to the top of the blankets as if to check and see I was there and when satisfied, she would disappear for another go round.
At one point, after Molly decided the tissue box had no more to offer, she jumped down and continued to explore the bed. She turned around to go back to the top of the bed at the same time Blondie was under the blankets just in front of her. Molly froze staring at this lump moving. She cautiously crept up to it while it wasn't moving. Slowly she approached stretching her body out as long as it could leaving her hind feet planted in the spot where she first saw the lump as if it was home base. Then, when she was stretched out as far as I thought she could go, Blondie started to move again. This startled Molly so much she jumped. She looked everywhere for a safe retreat and saw me. She ran straight to me and right up against me with her right side planted firmly against my chest as I was kneeling next to the bed watching, trying to hold back the laughter. But she wasn't secure enough. She looked around some more and then did something she hadn't done before - she climbed up onto my left shoulder and around to the back of my neck under my hair. She had found the furthest place she could go away from this very scary moving lump in the bed.
I felt bad because I couldn't stop laughing. I knew she was really scared, but it was just so funny. Am I mean?
I took her down to try and comfort her but she wouldn't have it. Then I saw that Blondie was at the opening of the blanket ready for a dive back under. I quickly put Molly there with her and they both disappeared under the blankets. As I knelt there, I watched two bumps under the blanket move around and around. After a long while they both emerged and then lay together as if to say, "We have explored the unknown and conquered it. Now we need a nap."

Blondie - due to inactivity she has gained too much weight and needs her own personal trainer!	Blondie - "Shake paws - isn't this right?"
Blondie - "You mean my diet doesn't include Yogis?"	Blondie Photo to come

April 7, 2008 -

I haven't written in here very much for Blonde. I have kind of had my hands full with the new babies and other family things. So here I will play catch up on what Blondie has been up to.

She has learned to come out of her hammock and come on down to the lower level to get love and attention. I am hoping she starts to lose some weight with more activity. I think I see a difference already. When she is out on the bed playing she seems to have more energy. She loves to explore under the blankets. At first I couldn't get her to do that. Now I can't get her to not.

We still have issues coming out of the cage. Her and her sister's cage is too big to move over to the bed to let her out on her own. To I have to reach in for her and scoop her out. But she is still back end heavy and I have small hands so it is hard to pick her up with one hand. So I really hope she loses a little more weight. More veggies please! :-)

This is Molly on Eeyore.

April 10, 2008 -

I have a little trouble getting Blondie out of the cage as I have said before. But once she is out in my arms and the whole time she is out - biting is never an issue. Maybe sometime in her life she had someone who didn't know how to pick her up or chased her around the cage to get her. But with each outing outside of her cage playing, she gets a little better.

Today I set up the photo area and played a little with Eeyore. Molly was the only one that really decided to go into this specially lit area. I hope to get more cute pics. I am trying to think of other items to take their pictures with. Maybe I will think of things appropriate to the months of the year and maybe then I can make a calendar. Just a thought.

April 12, 2008 -

Ok, I think Blondie is going through menopause. Today she acted like she wanted out, but then did her old acting like "You get near me, I'll bite you" routine. And then later, she was much different and let me take her out to play. She is approximately 1 year and 5 months old, so about right for it. Funny how Molly doesn't act this way. She is such a lovey dovey.

April 17, 2008 -

So, I figured out that if I want Blondie to come out and play, I have to wait until she is on the second level and right away open the door and sweep her up in my hands. Once she is next to me, she relaxes and is willing to play.

April 29, 2008 -

It has been a while since I have written about Blonde. I have been working hard to get her used to being taken out of the cage without turning around quickly to bite my hand off. I found that if I come to the cage, say her name and she is on the 2nd level of the cage, I can swoop in with my right hand and scoop her up under her belly. She has lost some weight, so I can do this now safely. Then I cuddle with her against me for a little while before I put her on our bed to play with her sister Molly. She bruxes pretty quickly and sort of snuggles in against me and then looks up into my face as if to say she is comfortable now. And her whiskers tickle since they are really long. She has even done the eye boggle. Although, she is not as much of a master of it than Backup is.

When Molly and Blonde are out on the bed, they explore everywhere. I put pillows out too for them to climb over and under just to add more levels of difficulty and calorie burning. Then they both hunt down my pillow and settle in there for a full body clean and then they are off all over again - over and under the blankets.

Today, she didn't want to go back into her cage. I cleaned it all up yesterday, but I think she was having just too much fun running around. And before I had let her on the bed today, I took her out into the kitchen with me to check out what veggies she could have afterward. I think she liked that. So I sat on the sofa for a short time just to see what she would do. We have a few cats and all of them wouldn't hurt the ratties, but I do keep my guard up just in case. Blonde's nose was sniffing away in the direction of the cat sleeping on the sofa. But she never stiffened or ran away to hide.

I am glad she is trusting me more and more. It feels nice that she is finally finding out what back rubs and ear rubs feel like. I couldn't imagine life without those. :-)

May 15, 2008 -

Wow, Blonde now comes and waits to be taken out of the cage for playtime. Awesome. I still haven't let my guard down but I haven't seen the attutude she displayed before biting that she did before. I do believe she has learned to trust me finally. I am sorry it took so long, but I am certainly enjoying the cuddling, ear tickling with her whiskers, her Dumbo ears tickling my nose, her preening my eyebrows and yes, even her sharp little nails on my neck as she travels from one side to the other. Unlike with the babies, I do know exactly where she is at all times due to her weight. But I do believe she is still losing that extra weight she needs to lose. It isn't disappearing fast, so I know she is exercising it away and not ill. Molly is also losing some, but not as quickly. She is much more comfortable out of the cage, so I do not believe her metabolism is racing as much while she is out. Molly's fur is so soft to the touch which makes me just want to pet and pet her. Sometimes I think I might make her go bald if I keep petting her this way. But she loves it. I know this because she stays put while I pet and she even seems to move her body for me to get to different parts of her to pet. And she and Blonde love to have their backs scratched. I bet if they could purr, they would.

August 18, 2008 -

I haven't written in any of the journals for quite a while. When summer comes to the Pacific NW, well - the sun becomes more important as it is something that is very scare around here.

Blondie has had a bit of a set back. It seems, for some reason, that Molly decided to bite her sister, Blondie. I don't know why, but I ended up taking Blondie to our vet just to make sure they were healing ok. But I suspected they were not. You know how your rats have a unique smell. Boys more than girls. But you know they are ok when they smell just fine. But Blondie had a different smell, even though she seemed to be as active as ever an eating well. I knew from the smell that something wasn't quite right and I was right. It seems that a small corner of one of the bites was getting infected. Another one was a puncture that seemed to want to become an abcess. So I am glad I took her in.

I was a little nervous about her seeing our vet. She had never been in this situation before that I know of. But she was a very good girl and let our vet check her out thoroughly. When Dr. Mitchell was cleaning the wounds, I fully expected Blondie to bite me as I was holding her very tightly. Not too tight, but definitely more secure than I have ever done. But instead, when I knew it must have hurt, she started to lick me furiously. It was very odd to say the least. But I am glad that was her reaction instead of using her very sharp and strong teeth.

And, when she felt threatened, she ran to me. Yeah. She trusts me and I am happy. But after I gave her the meds for 10 days, she has decided to bite yet again if I reach in for her. I actually believe that it is more from the fact that I had to separate her from her sister. I did this when I first discovered the bites. Not only did I separate her from her sister, but I moved her into the room with the other rats I have which is my office. I wanted to keep a better eye on her. But I think there is just way too much smell stimulus and with her Ruby eye poor eyesight, I think she is just being a little too cautious. I am going to be rearranging my office to accomodate everyone in a more accessable way and am thinking of moving Molly into my office and Blondie back into our bedroom where there are no other rats. I know she must miss her sister, but I also think she is uncomfortable now with all the smells of the others in the office. I was going to see if she and her sister would play on the bed for a while each day for comapany. But we will see.

11/02/2008 - Sad news today. Blondie went on to wait for her sister and myself at the Rainbow Bridge today. While I was in New Orleans she had developed a bad ear infection and my younger daughter, who was supposed to be taking care of all my rattlings didn't notice she stopped eating. When I got home I almost didn't recognize her. Off to the vet and on antibiotics. But it was just too bad and she never bounced back. All I could do was hold her and love her. I told her that it was ok to go and that she would see Molly and me again. She went peacfully in her sleep. She will be buried under the weeping cherry tree with my other rattlings that are waiting for us at the Bridge. I will miss my little biter. :-(