State of the Rattery

State of the Rattery : 2020-2022

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

With more than a decade of professional experience in the animal industry and the owner of Bleuming Tails, Abby has a deep interest in the science behind our beloved pets, and what that means for their care.

The last two years have been trying for everyone. The pandemic introduced new obstacles and problems that most of us have never had to face. And as the world faced new issues, so did the rattery.

2020

COVID-19

At the height of the pandemic, I made the decision to close applications and cease adoptions for the time being. This was to both follow stay-in-place mandates that were in effect for my area, but also to do my part in keeping myself and others safe. I was and still am a strong believer of science, as I’m sure you can tell from this entire blog.

During this time, I was able to focus on my rattery, slow down litters, and really was able to produce focal point litters that were vital for the lines that I currently had.

The New Rats

At the end of 2020, I participated in what is known as a “train.” This is a cross-country venture that was hosted by a private company from the West coast. Absolutely none of the blame for what occurred in the community is on their shoulders. This train traveled from the West coast, through the Midwest, to the East coast and then back. Along the way, making stops to pick up rats, mice and various other species of rodents, as well as stopping to drop them off. This method is a great way for breeders across the country to collaborate.

But it does come with its own drawbacks. Unlike dogs and cats, rats cannot get vaccines, and there are a handful of diseases that are extremely dangerous to colonies. I received a trio of bucks from a breeder on the East coast after discussing it for a few weeks. Everything seemed perfectly fine.

I followed quarantine protocol, and these three bucks never stepped a toe into my rattery. They immediately went to a completely separate home, where they stayed for 16 weeks. This was in mid-Novemberish. This action potentially saved my rattery.

For weeks following the train, numerous ratteries were having severe illness and deaths, eventually being pinpointed to the Sialodacryoadenitis Virus (SDAV). I have more information about this virus under the Zoonotic Diseases tab.

This virus is mean. And being a virus, there isn’t a treatment. You just have to hope, and treat prophylactically to hopefully ward away secondary infections. However, this virus can be burned out of a colony during a 4-month breeding moratorium… or a 4-month-long quarantine. While the trio of bucks I received never showed symptoms, I didn’t take the chance and even consulted professionals from Charles River Labs. They assured me the 16-week QT with the absence of symptoms was more than enough to ensure safety.

The Drama

The digital rat community definitely doesn’t lack its fair share of drama, or strong personalities. A witch hunt ensued.

Now, many ratteries faced devastating consequences for the actions of one irresponsible breeder. Their pain of having their pets, their ratteries, facing daily deaths, sometimes upwards of 10 a day, is absolutely something to be empathetic with, and to mourn for them.

The community sought the breeder responsible, and simply asked for them to re-evaluate their policies. To stop breeding for that 4-month period so that any virus they had, may be burned out. Ratteries affected weren’t even asking for reparations. Just for that one breeder to do better.

During this time, the community repeatedly sought out assistance and advice from Charles River Labs, and ratteries were choosing to serology test their rats for the common illnesses they can carry. Most of these are not transmissible to humans.

But a couple of them are.

2021

Rat Bite Fever

It’s now May 2021, and the community has become aware of Rat Bite Fever due to this influx of testing.

A lot of snap decisions were made by a lot of ratteries during this time. Many ratteries chose to depopulate entirely during the initial stages. A lot of fingers were pointed, and blame was handed out freely, but many ratteries were testing positive for RBF. Far more than were testing negative. Many people were hurting right on the heels of an illness outbreak. We had also received reports from ratteries who had tested who had cases of negatives becoming positives without the introduction of new rats, and positives becoming negatives. These were isolated instances, however, and were not frequent enough to be understood for certain.

I, and many others, chose not to. Instead, I kept my applications closed, and watched. The biggest takeaway is that we do not have concrete numbers for RBF. We don’t have the data.

At this time, the stance for my rattery is that I am not testing. I believe that my adopters are intelligent adults who are capable of reading the research, learning about the risks, and making the educated decision for themselves, just as they have done for every animal they own.

Pet ownership comes with inherent risks, no matter the species. I include zoonotic disease information on this website. I also require all adopters to sign a Liability Waiver that includes all of this information, as well. It will be amended upon reopening to include Rat Bite Fever. I have owned rats for 10 years, and I have been operating my rattery for 5 years without issue from myself or my adopters. If an adopter is immunocompromised or has family members at risk, I absolutely urge them to find a fully-tested and cleared rattery.

I may test the rattery in the future, but right now, it’s not in the plans.

Burnout and Line reduction

By the end of 2021, I had successfully integrated genetics from the trio of bucks I had received into my lines. One line I ended very early (marble) due to immediate health concerns as well as temperament issues.

The remaining 2 bucks were in good health, and had good temperament. Unfortunately, it eventually came to light that while they were well-tempered, their genetics were not. The inclusion of these genetics to my rattery all but destroyed my lines. Lines I had been working on for nearly 5 years. Temperament took a rapid back-slide, and it felt like I was bailing out a sinking boat with a Dixie cup.

This combined with the RBF problems and the stress it caused killed my passion. I was very close to throwing in the towel entirely.

But I didn’t. Instead, I chose to downsize my rattery to two lines. This is something I regret doing, even if it’s just to get my Pearl Merles back.

Because temperament issues are still an issue.

2022

The big move

In early 2022, I made a big jump over the border and went from Kansas back to my home state of Missouri.

The rattery, naturally, took a backseat, and likely will for the next few months as the move is finalized.

Where we go from here

Temperament issues are still a concern to a point where I’m potentially looking outside the rattery again. A risk, but sometimes outcrosses are necessary.

The harley line will hopefully be changed to Golden Siamese as the golden gene did appear. I’m ending this line of harlies due to health issues beyond normal protein sensitivities.

I plan on returning my Russian Blue line back to just Russian Blue, and it will probably host my blazes as well.

For silvermane, I’m hoping to introduce agouti back into the rattery.

These are large changes that will take a great deal of time. I’m essentially working from ground zero again. But this time, I have five years experience at my back. Reopening may take longer than planned, but I truly do believe it’s worth it to be able to produce rats who are temperamentally sound AND healthy.

Food for Thought

Food for thought

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

There’s nothing more confusing or frustrating than deciding what to feed your small furry friends. This food is the best! No, THIS food is the best. That food has too much protein. No, that food has too LITTLE protein. This article aims to help breakdown what rats actually need to help you make an educated decision on what type of food is best for you and your pets.

Rats are grain-based omnivores. This means, like humans, their diet is open to a range of ingredients, but they primarily focus on easy-to-digest grains such as ground whole oats and wheat middlings. You’ll also often see corn as either ground or whole, but we’ll talk about corn and the controversy surrounding it later.

Ingredients are important, but equally important are the nutritional percentages. Food breakdowns are extremely nuanced, and a ton of research goes into formulating pet foods. This article won’t cover everything in-depth, but hopefully it can help make the food mystery less… mysterious.

Deciphering Guaranteed Analyses

Min and Max

You’ll likely notice that in the above guaranteed analysis, we can see that the labels include not more than or not less than. These are maxes and mins (respectively.) This ultimately means that the % on the bag may not be the exact amount included in that bag of food, but it’s guaranteed to either be the min or max, depending on the wording. Protein not less than 18% means that the bag could potentially have 20% protein. Ash not more than 8% means that it could have 6%. Ultimately, when you see these labels, our calculations are always going to be estimates.

Rat calorie intake/feeding schedule (fasting)

It has been suggested that the average rat needs 60 calories of food a day. Again, this is an average. Depending on the activity level, age, and sex of your rat, this amount is going to vary. If we look at our M6F calculations above, 60 calories would mean a rat needs to eat 17-18g of food a day.

Fasting

In a few studies, short term fasting has been shown to not only increase life spans, but also decrease the occurrence of mammary tumors. One study found that fasting 1 day in every 3 days increased the lifespan of males by 20%, and females by 15%. However, the study does note that other factors, such as general health and genetics, does play a role.

Feeding Schedule

For rats who properly hoard food and don’t overeat, keeping food constantly available poses no issues. However, when you have rats who gorge themselves and are overweight, a schedule may be beneficial. Rats are crepuscular, meaning they are the most active during dawn and dusk times. This is also when they eat!

By providing an appropriate amount of food twice a day rather than all day, this will both meet calorie intake criteria, and prevent obesity.

Corn Controversy

Most of us are familiar with the back and forth about corn being used as a filler in pet foods. But is it? And when is corn safe for rats?

Corn is not nutrient deficient. This is a myth that has been passed around for years. Corn is a highly available source of complex carbohydrates, protein, fiber, essential fatty and amino acids, and antioxidants, which makes it the opposite of a filler. Fillers contain no nutritional benefit. Corn is safely and easily digestible by pets. It is more digestible than rice, wheat, barley, or sorghum, and corn gluten meal touts an impressive 87.5% digestibility. Higher than beef/bone meal, poultry by-product meal, and fresh beef or poultry.

Corn meal and corn gluten meal do have different % between protein, carbs and fat. Given that our pet rats require lower sides of protein, corn meal tends to be a little better as it’s more carbohydrate dense than protein dense.

Aflatoxin is a common contaminant of corn and peanuts and their products, and fumonisin is a common contaminant of corn and corn products. In these foods, aflatoxin and fumonisin most likely occur at levels, which are carcinogenic to rats; so feeding a daily diet, which consisted only of these foods, would result in liver, kidney, and colon tumors in many of the rats. Feeding a daily diet limited in corn and peanuts and their products reduces aflatoxin and fumonisin levels and reduces associated tumor risks.
RMCA

So what makes corn a problem?

Whole corn kernels in mixes and lower-quality commercial foods pose a very dangerous problem. This type of corn is generally only dried at high temperatures, not ground and cooked like we see in our corn meals.

This process invites mold to form which creates mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are common contaminants of dried corn. Aflatoxin and fumonisin are known carcinogens and are largely found as contaminants of corn. Aflatoxin causes liver, kidney, and colon cancers in rats, and fumonisin causes liver cancer.

Citations

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK231925/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3079815/
https://academic.oup.com/jn/article-abstract/31/3/363/4725632
https://rmca.org/Articles/corn.htm
https://petnutritionalliance.org/site/pnatool/why-is-corn-an-ingredient-in-pet-foods-is-it-used-as-filler-is-corn-a-major-cause-of-allergies-2/
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April 5, 2022July 16, 2024

Orange You Glad You Know This?

Orange You Glad you know this?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Let’s dispel some myths!

For a long time, it’s been preached across the fancy to NEVER allow your male rats to eat citrus fruits or have the juices. Why is that? Well, there’s a terpene in the skin called d-limonene.

This substance is primarily found in the skin of citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes, mangoes, and other herbs and spices such as dill, cumin, black pepper, and bergamot. This naturally occurring terpene is commonly used in citrus-scented products, goo gone cleaners, and citrus-flavored products.

Some preliminary studies found that high doses of limonene in a male rat’s diet causes an increased risk for kidney cancers and a male rat-specific kidney toxicity referred to as hyaline droplet nephropathy. Why is this only an issue for male rats? Well, male rats’ livers produce a protein known as alpha 2U-globulin. When administered high doses of limonene, the protein builds up and causes hyaline droplet formations (1).

Seems like a huge no-no, right? Well, maybe not.
It’s been discovered that this binding process is completely reversed after 48 hours, even when limonene is given at high doses (2). So at what point do we need to be aware of when it’s just *too much?* Let’s do some math.

The TD50 (or the rate at which 50% of the population develops cancer) for limonene in rats is 204mg/kg of rat
(Carcinogenic Potency Project).

The TD50 (or the rate at which 50% of the population develops cancer) for limonene in rats is 204mg/kg of rat (Carcinogenic Potency Project). We also know that 800mg/kg of pure D-limonene is processed and gone from the kidneys after 48 hours (2). There is an average of 1300mg of limonene from the peel of an entire orange (3). A 6 oz serving of orange juice contains 5.49mg of limonene (4).

In order to hit the TD50, a 1 kg rat would have to eat roughly 16%, or just under 1/5, of an entire orange peel in one sitting. (Have you ever eaten an orange peel? Not exactly palatable.) From juice? A 1 kg rat would have to drink 22 oz of orange juice, or 1.375 pints, in one sitting, understanding that even at this amount, it would be completely gone from their system in 48 hours.

We also have to remember that a TD50 is different from an LD50 which is the rate at which 50% of the population dies. An LD50 is immediate. A TD50 takes time.

So, what does this mean? Am I saying to shower your bucks in orange juice and exclusively feed them mangoes? Of course not. But what I am saying is that your rats are going to be fine if fed the occasional orange slice (sans peel) or if they dunk themselves in your morning glass of OJ. (Admit it. We’ve all turned around to find our rats face down, rump up in whatever it is we’re drinking.)

Citations

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7945892/

2. https://www2.mst.dk/…/pub…/2013/08/978-87-93026-33-9.pdf

3. https://www.researchgate.net/…/282843770_EXTRACTION_OF…

4. http://www.rmca.org/Articles/oj.htm

Month: April 2022