Caroline
Estimated birth November 2012
Rescued November 2013
Surgery for tumors April 8, 2014
Died May 24, 2014
Caroline came to us after what seemed to be a challenging life. The young lady we got her from had taken her in from a family who no longer wanted her and didn't care if she was food for some other animal. She had lived solo up until we got her.
While with us, she viewed us with great caution and was even known to nip at stray hands left in the cage. She moved in with Queenie and with an ever-changing group of young girl rats. Some of the girls she found annoying and others she snuggled right up with. She lived with this group up until we discovered a number of mammary tumors on her one side.
During her vet appointment for surgery, it was discussed whether they could even be removed due to the number and locations of the tumors but the vet was able to remove them all. This left her with an incision underneath her front arm all the way back to what you might call her hip. Actually, in the picture above you can see a bit of skin showing on her back leg still. We dressed her up as well as possible to allow her to heal and moved her in with Isis, our pneumonia girl, for company. Once Isis was all better, she lived with Weezy the head-tilt girl, who was being treated for an inner ear infection.
Caroline never did quite heal all the way up from her surgery, though the last part did finally scab over and given more time it would have. Two nights ago she had a severe respiratory flare-up which I treated with some emergency meds and she responded well by the following morning, moving around the cage, eating, and taking her new medication regimen. Last night she was just as active and sounded good; this morning she was gone.
It was not surprising to me, but it was disappointing because she seemed to have responded so well to treatment. Caroline had made a personality change after her surgery, she no longer nipped and she seemed to not mind our company anymore. Once or twice she actually enjoyed being petted, then caught herself and realized what she was doing lol. Run & play, Caroline, and remember us fondly.
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