u/RatWaySanctuary

Casper and Mochi are both feeling better, and we are hopeful they will recover fully.
Tate is still doing alright. He's in oxygen, but never got as ill as the others. Nico, our personal boy, has been steady, but we haven't seen clear signs of improvement yet.
We haven't had to start any other rats on new meds in the past few days, so we are hoping the worst is behind us. Since SDAV infections can persist for 6-8 weeks, we still have a long way to go until we can say we are in the clear, but we are hopeful we are past the critical period and most everyone should be on the mend soon.

Now the biggest concern is Hot Pocket's mass. So far we have not seen a response to the antibiotics, but the SDAV makes surgery very risky. If she declines any, it may force our hand. The longer we can wait, the safer it is for her.

We are about half way to our $2400
matching donation goal! Can you help us achieve it?

✨ How to help ✨

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

In viral outbreak news, things seem to be stabilizing at the sanctuary. Casper and our boy, Nico, are at the vet today. Casper and Mochi have both been improving, and things are starting to feel a little less dire, though we're not about to let our guard down. At least we have gotten past the initial panic.

We have hit the $1000 mark on our donation match event! Another donor stepped up to raise the goal to $2400, so let's keep this push going! It makes such a difference in the lives of our residents. Thank you to all our supporters for allowing us to keep doing this work for the animals.

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

We lost Jimmy two days ago, and Harvest died yesterday. We got our test results back confirming SDA virus. It's so hard to watch so many of our babies struggling. We still have four rats in oxygen. Casper, Mochi, Tate, and our personal boy, Nico. We have many more being treated for more minor respiratory symptoms. We've been used to being extremely busy with rat care since the Seaside rats arrived, and now it is accompanied by a sense of dread as we watch more of our animals getting sick. We are doing everything we can for them, but this is a big blow and our hearts are heavy. At least there are babies to snuggle.

Rat Way Sanctuary is a nonprofit that specializes in caring for rats with medical or behavioral concerns. If you’re able to donate to help us cover the vet bills SDAV is piling on, we have a MATCHING DONATION event going on right now! Every dollar is doubled up to $2,400, thanks to a few very generous donors ❤️ See comments for more info!

We still have six rats on oxygen. Our med schedule has ballooned beyond anything we've ever done before. We're tired. We're stressed. We're sad. We're worried. We haven't lost anyone yet, but it is a very real possibility. We started seeing symptoms appear on Thursday, so I hope we start to see improvements in the next few days. I worry that for Jimmy in particular, it might be too late.

But as hard as it is to see the good in things right now, we see all of you offering support.
Kind words. Supplies. Much needed donations. We see it, and we appreciate it. It allows us to focus on all the hands-on care without the added stress of bills looming over us. We appreciate all of you, and we read every single comment and note. Thank you.

We are always in need of funds

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

We're up to four rats in oxygen - sanctuary rats Jimmy, Casper, and Harvest, plus one of our personal crew, Nico. We are keeping a very close eye on everyone else and have a plan in place to support everyone while this virus runs its course. We submitted samples for PCR, so hopefully we will find out what is making everyone so sick, and what we can expect. In the meantime, we can't take in any new rats, and the only rats leaving are going to vet visits or to partner rescues where they can be appropriately quarantined.

Our vet visit today was another $900 and change for two exams, two sets of rads, treatments, and the PCR test. That makes a total of $1500 for the last two days. Besides Casper, Mochi was at the vet as a follow up to her choking episode earlier this week. After she cleared the obstruction, she still had some gunky sounds in her trachea and lungs, and we confirmed she has aspiration pneumonia. Her meds have been updated accordingly. This is a real rough patch in our sanctuary work, but we'll get through it.

Thank you all for the outpouring of support. It means so much to us and helps make a stressful time more manageable. We still have a long way to go to recoup our costs, but your donations are really making a difference.

How to help

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

He looked a bit better after his neb and seemed pretty comfortable overnight on oxygen, and our vet got him in today.
Unfortunately, we are now seeing symptoms in a couple of the other rats in that group.
Nico, of our personal boys, is also showing some increased symptoms, and Casper, who has never had any respiratory issues is also breathing hard and is now on oxygen. He has an emergency visit secured for tomorrow.

This makes three emergency visits for the week, three sets of rads, and three vet bills we don't have funding for. We know most of you have your own financial concerns, and we always want you to take care of yourself first, but if you are able, we need donations.

Our medical fund is at a deficit of over $2000, and Jimmy and Casper's emergency bills will push that easily over $2700. Please donate if you can, comment, and share to help us reach a wider audience. We appreciate you!

How to help the sanctuary? 🐀💞

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

A little update on Madrone and Hot Pocket's vet visits yesterday:

Hot Pocket appears to have a uterine stump abscess. She is starting antibiotics and hopefully we can resolve it non-surgically
Madrone, like Yarrow, has hyphema (blood pooling inside the chambers of the eye). So far it's just one side, and she is starting many of the same meds Yarrow is on. We're catching it early this time, so hopefully treatment will stave off progression. One of Huckleberry's sisters is also starting to show signs, so she will be seen soon and will likely join the so many eye drops club.

Yesterday's visits totaled close to $400 for exams, rads, and meds. We are sitting at a deficit of about $2500, and we have two spays scheduled next week. We are in desperate need of financial support to treat our residents. We are starting to see so many issues pop up in the Seaside crew, meaning we will have to care for many of them indefinitely. If you are able, please consider donation, sharing, commenting, and other engagement on our posts to help us reach a wider audience. Thank you!

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

We found a weird, hard lump in her lower abdomen. She's no stranger to weird, hard lumps. Last fall she had multiple surgeries to remove her reproductive organs and much of the fatty tissue in her abdomen due to an infection that was suspected of originating in her digestive tract. We're not too pleased to find another lump in her, and we are crossing our fingers that it is something treatable. She will very likely need rads taken, so her emergency bill will be around $400-450 on the low end.

Madrone is also at the clinic today. One of her eyes now has a reddish sheen in certain light, similar to Yarrow. We spotted it in one of Huckleberry's sisters as well, so it is starting to look like we have some kind of genetic issue on our hands. She may also need some diagnostics, so l anticipate another $200 or so for her visit.

This all comes after a heavy week of surgeries and expensive med refills. Before today's visits we are in debt by over $2000.
We are so grateful to everyone who helped us meet our donation match goal, but there is still very much a need for more funds, so if you have wanted to contribute and haven't yet, it is still very helpful to us. As always, take care of your needs first, always, but if you have a little extra, our critters would be delighted to spend some of your money. 😂

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

With how high up his injury was, there was a good chance it wouldn't heal on its own the way that amputations lower on the tail often do, so we are very happy for him (and our wallet!) that it appears he will be fine with just meds to prevent infection and control his pain.

Besides Huck, Yarrow and Cascara were also at the vet today. Yarrow's hyphema is greatly improved, and she has significantly less blood in the chambers of her eye. And with less blood, the doctor was able to see that her blood vessels that feed the eye are severely dilated. She will be starting new meds to reduce her blood pressure, but she is on the right track.

Cass is one of the bottle babies who came with the Seaside group who weren't claimed by any of the nursing adults. She was around 2 weeks old at the time, with her eyes opening within the first couple days with us. When her eyes did open, they were hazy, and crusty, and she has been treated for an eye infection since. Thankfully her eyes are looking much better, although they still aren't quite normal.

Tomorrow, Hot Pocket and Madrone will be at the clinic. Madrone may have eye issues of her own (a theme with this group), while Hot Pocket has a strange, hard lump in her abdomen. The last time she had a strange lump, she needed two surgeries to remove a lot of infected tissue from her abdomen, so we are hoping this isn't a repeat of before.

We are in the final push for our donation match, and we are within $50 of our goal!
Can you help us over the finish line?

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

The matching event ends TODAY, and we are 2/3 of the.way to our goal. Can you help push us over the finish line?

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

There was a 100% pregnancy rate among the girls who stayed with us, minus Acacia, whose complications from previous pregnancies left her with such severe reproductive disease that she couldn't carry another litter, and likely would not have survived much longer without emergency care. We were able to spay five girls and prevent 37 babies from being born.
We are immensely thankful to our vet and her staff, who have given these rats such excellent care and saved multiple lives. They bent over backwards to fit in all the emergencies, all the surgeries, and get these rats on the path to safety and health. We are also so grateful to our donors, who have covered over $4000 of care for these littles.

We still need another $2000 to bring our medical fund out of the red, but your support has meant we could act quickly to get these rats the care they deserve.
We still have a donation match in effect, and we are $377 shy of our $1000 matching goal.

You have through tomorrow to double your impact! Go to www.ratway.org learn more about what we do and donate, or use our Venmo or PayPal below!

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

Of the rats in our care, we were able to save two ladies from severe infections due to complications from pregnancy/birth, spay a total of five rats and prevent 37 babies. Another 50 babies have been born under our roof. We are past the emergency care stage, but there is still a lot to be done. We are coordinating the transfers of mamas and babies out to Little Critter Crew and A Pint-Sized Rescue so they can be raised in foster homes and eventually adopted out while we focus on the rats who need long term care.

We will start introducing all our new residents in the coming days, but here's a look at Trillium and her babies. Trillium will stay with the sanctuary, and her litter will be adopted out through A Pint-Sized Rescue when they are old enough.

We had a flurry of spays last week which have exhausted our medical fund! We have a donation match going through tomorrow, and we still need $377 to meet our $1000 goal!

Now is the perfect time to double your impact and help us catch up on bills.

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

They are already familiar with most of the rats in the group, so it should be a quick and painless process (knock on wood g)), and so far it's going exactly as expected. Even Casper is relaxed.

We have had our hands more than full with the Seaside rats for the past almost three weeks. We've had five emergency vet visits, two emergency spays for pyometra and other reproductive disease, three (more) spay/ aborts, eight litters, so many meds, what feels like thousands of cage cleans, and a whole lot of money. Almost $6000. This has put our medical fund under by $2270. We currently have a matching donation in effect! We are a little over halfway to our $1000 goal, and we have through Tuesday to raise the rest. Can you help us reach the matching goal?

How to help

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

Repeated masses and seromas/hematomas prevented us from spaying her earlier in the year, and she has been on meds to suppress further tumor growth, but recently she started having a dark brown discharge from her nethers made the spay necessary. She's an older girl and has some additional concerns that make the spay riskier, but we can tell she hasn't been feeling herself. Wish her all the luck with her procedure today!

Also!! We have a ✨donation match✨ on!! Up to $1000 in donations will be doubled between now and Tues! This is the perfect way to make your donation go further for our sanctuary babies.

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

DONATION MATCH IS IN EFFECT!

Donate today and double your impact - a generous donor is matching donations up to $1000

✨We are always in need of funds! ✨

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

It's mid 90s out and honestly, we feel about as limp and tired as this little guy does. We are so glad he isn't stuck in a hot metal shed with all his siblings, mama, aunts, uncles and more, and our hearts break for the few we couldn't save and hope by some miracle that they are somewhere safe.

✨We are always in need of funds✨

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

These 5 babies are being hand raised by one of our amazing board members. When baby rats get particularly into feeding, they may display a behavior called power sucking. They go into a bit of a milk trance and start sucking harder and faster, often arching their back, twitching, or waving their arms. This group of babies has a lot of power suckers in it, resulting in many adorable videos.

The Seaside rats have so far racked up vet bills exceeding $3700! We're past a lot of the most urgent needs, but we still have a long way to go to get these guys back to health. We could really use your help recouping these costs. Info ⬇️

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

Between all the emergency care, all the work setting up cages, cleaning, and ensuring everyone has everything they need, these little moments cuddling babies bring so much joy. We have spent over $3700 so far on emergency care, surgeries, and medications.

We knew this case would be a huge undertaking, but we couldn't leave them all to die in a hot metal shed, covered in their own waste. If you are able, donations toward their care are so needed. Every little bit is appreciated!

How to help? 100% of all donations go towards the rescue’s medical care fund!

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

She did well, but since her procedure was at the end of the day, she stayed on her IV overnight and will come home today. We got to visit with her little zooted self while we brought her meds over.

She had 10 beans cooking, which would have posed a real risk to her if she had been allowed to go to term. Between her 10, another 10 from Madrone, and a whopping 54 from five spays performed on the rats with Little Critter Crew, we have prevented 74 more negligently bred animals from entering an already overcrowded world, and we've prevented seven young girls from going through the physical burden of growing and birthing new lives rather than fueling their own bodies.

All of this care has put a huge strain on our finances. The Seaside rats have cost us over $3000 so far, not counting Yarrow's surgery, and our medical fund is in the negative by over $1500. We need your help. We love being able to jump right in for cases like this, but we can't do it without your support. If you are able, please consider throwing some funds our way so we can continue to make a positive impact in our community and in the lives of all these precious little babies.

Rat Way Sanctuary is a nonprofit organization! How to donate to Yarrow’s medical care?

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org

She is back at the vet today to attempt a spay/abort. On Friday, she had an emergency visit for her eyes. She has severe hyphema (blood pooling in the chambers of the eye), a serious condition that can be caused by trauma, some viruses, bleeding disorders, and more. We likely will never know the cause of hers, but anything that causes a blood pressure spike can exacerbate it, making surgery risky.

Unfortunately, at that same visit, we also determined Yarrow is pregnant. Carrying a litter to term and giving birth are also very risky for her, and we determined that it was better to attempt the risky spay in a controlled environment where we have the best chance of stabilizing her than to have her go into labor at home, likely with no one aware of, let alone able to respond to, an emergency, and potentially leaving behind a motherless litter of babies on top of everything else.

We are very worried for her today, but we know she's in the best hands. Please send her all your well wishes, and if you are able, donate toward her care. This is the third surgery in a week for the Seaside rats, and funds are beyond non-existent. We appreciate every little bit!

Help us climb back out of the hole!

V3NMO: @ratwaysanctuary

P4yPal: RatWaySanctuary@gmail.com

More donation options and shop at www.ratwaysanctuary.org