My grandparents stayed with us during Christmas and my aunt and her sons visited on Boxing Day. As usual, everyone ate far too much, even Ruby (the rat) was eating well and, despite the fact that she had ups and downs, overall she seemed to be getting better. Even on Thursday evening, when puss started coming out of her right ear, she still seemed better than she had done previously.
On Friday, I went to the vet’s that I do work experience at every week. A tawny owl was brought in from a local wildlife rescue centre which had a broken leg which needed to be pinned. It was my job, while Guy (the vet) operated, and Becki (the nurse) assisted, to hold the mask on the face of the owl and make sure that it was breathing – which was made considerably harder as the drape covered the whole of its body. Mid-operation a cat was brought in which was not eating or drinking and couldn’t even stand and the owner asked if it could be put down.
Later, a dog was brought in which had stood on something in the garden and its pad had been slit open. I held its leg up while Guy stitched it up. Unfortunately, two more animals were brought in to be put down; a dog with a brain tumor and a feral cat that wouldn’t eat and was attacking anyone who came near to it.
At the end of the day I asked Guy if he would look at Ruby, since my local vet’s didn’t open again until the 2nd January. My Dad and sister (Emily) brought her in. As they sat down in the waiting room, Ruby went to scratch her ear and suddenly it started bleeding. She continued to scratch and shake her head, spraying blood across the floor, our hands and our faces. We managed to stop the bleeding by applying pressure to her ear and Guy reassured my Dad and me (Emily was sat outside feeling faint) that although it looked like there had been a massacre, the blood loss was not too serious and was only due to her claw scratching her ear canal. He gave us ear drops to give her with her antibiotics as he thought it was most likely that she had an ear infection (possible caused by something in her brain).
When we got back home, after letting her calm down and giving her the ear drops, we put her back in the cage with the other rats (Jasmin and Hollie), but instantly she scratched her ear, knocking the scab off – so it started bleeding all over again. We managed to stop the bleeding but decided we should stay up with her during the night, each taking a 2 or 3 hour shift, and to take her to the Isle of Wight with us while we visited family.
While we were on the Isle of Wight, although she seemed better in herself, a number of times her ear bled again but without her scratching it. On Sunday night it started to bleed and as I attempted to stop it bleeding, blood started coming out of nose and then her mouth. Within seconds she stopped breathing and then her heart stopped beating. Apparently (although I didn’t think I was) I remained calm throughout. My mum, who used to be a nurse (for humans not animals), explained the possible reasons for her death and understanding it helped me to deal with it. She was just over a year and a half, unfortunately none of my rats have been very lucky with their health, Ruby has lived for the longest of any of them. Hopefully Jasmin and Hollie will have more luck…
1 Comment
Monday 31 December 2007 at 4:47 pm
It looks like Ruby didn’t die of an ear infection. Sorry to hear about Ruby.