12/14/2018
Hi all! I wanted to check in because I know I have been terrible at communicating. If you have been following my posts, you know a little about what has been going on this year. It has been crazy! Long post ahead that summarizes all of this (and explains some more that I may not have shared yet), but it does get to rats eventually.
We still have our dog who is recovering from paralysis (from a collapsed vertebrae). This has been going on since June!!! He made a miraculous recovery, but then he declined again, and though he has improved, this time he's not walking yet and will be attending physical therapy in January to build up his muscles and "learn" how to walk again. It was so difficult for a few weeks when he was really bad, and we actually had an appointment to put him down, but ended up leaving with him and a new treatment plan that day (this is the second time we planned to euthanize and changed our minds). We are glad we did, but it has been a lot of work to help him through recovery a second time. On top of that, we lost another of our dogs very unexpectedly after she got very sick suddenly and was rushed to many different doctors, including a specialist. We did have to euthanize her at the specialist, which was super heartbreaking. Last week, I found out that my other dog is in the very early stages of kidney failure, so that is also something I am dealing with.
That is not all, though those are the things that have sucked the majority of my mental and physical energy... Additionally, I just started a new job! This is great because for the last year I have been working a lot, including 7 days a week for the last 7 months or so. This job will allow me to work less, but the prep over the next couple of weeks will be demanding. I have had to kind of set the rat stuff to the side the last few months, but things have still been going on behind the scenes. This is overall a hobby, one that has one clear goal: improving the rats. I have continued to do that, I just have not had the mental capacity to do much more than that lately. That's not even to mention how exhausted I am. It has honestly been very difficult just to keep up and make sure I am providing quality care to ALL of my pets, including the rats. There have been times that I have wanted to just hang up this hat, because I have far too many of those and not enough heads! BUT! At the end of the day, I know that I can continue doing the thing that is most important - improving the rats - even if that means that I have to reduce the amount of time I spend online working on the website and the page and communicating with people.
With all of that said, we did end up bringing home a puppy, because clearly we are absolutely insane. Even though it adds a lot to my workload, she has really brightened my days and made me realize just how far had I descended into the dark. She has brought a lot of light to my life and reminded me how joyful the early years are with these incredible companions. She has reminded me why I do what I do and that though it often ends in heartbreak, it is so worth it. It is miraculous what she has done both for my mental health, and to perk up Pooper the Wonder Dog. As a bonus, she has helped me begin to find that superhuman energy everybody always joked about me having once again, but I realize I am getting older and need to take things down a notch most days! I also want to spend my spare time with my old dogs who will not be here forever.
Long story short, I am still working on the rats, but I have shifted my focus a lot to the rats themselves, above all else. In the end, this will allow me to provide even better rats, but will mean I am not prioritizing messages and emails, so that is why I check in about once a week and answer inquiries then.
