New rats ahoy!

There's always something weird in my life, and for the past few years one of the top contenders has been my status as a foster home for a rat rescue.

Yes, rats.  Yes, they get rescued.  Yes, they need foster homes.

Name a pet, you can probably find someone who runs an organization dedicated to saving them when their owners can't or won't keep them any longer.  Rattus Norvegicus is no exception.  In the case of many animals, a foster home is just a nicer alternative to a shelter.  But in rat rescue, foster homes are a necessity.  That's because rats--especially those coming into rescue--tend to carry upper respiratory infections that are very contagious to other rats, and are a real pain in the butt to treat.  Bring one sick rat into your house, and you could end up having to treat every single rat you own.  Therefore, all rats who come into a rat rescue really must be quarantined, preferably in a home with no other rats, until it's determined that they have no contagious illnesses--or have been successfully treated for them.

That's where I come in.  Our abode is a stopping place, a temporary home while rats go through quarantine.

I've always liked animals, and when I was a kid our house was home to a cat, three dogs, and a rotating menagerie of things like chameleons, gerbils, fish, mud puppies, and a rat.  For awhile, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, and my job through high school was working in the kennels of our family vet.   I changed my mind, and I have no interest in having a mini-zoo as an adult, but I did welcome the opportunity to temporarily house needy animals.  So, boom, I'm a rat rescue foster home.

Right now, our local rat rescue has a group of rats who have just come up from Dayton, OH.  Their next stop is our house, and they're coming tonight.  I will have them for about three weeks, trying to socialize them and treating whatever illnesses they are harboring, and naturally reforming them from any Buckeye fan leanings they may have.  I get the privilege of naming them, too, something I always enjoy.