Happy Raturday!

Welcome to a new weekly blog post I'm calling, Raturday! I've seen Caturday and while that's really cute, I think the rats needs some photo time so everyone can see how cute these little animals are. I've gotten permission from Rat Logic's fb page to share their pictures on my blog. So get ready to smile because these are cute. 

*click on the pictures to enlarge them*

How *Not* To BBQ

So while my brother was in town we decided to BBQ some steaks. When there are two males trying to do it, this is how it goes...

Add a little bit of charcoal. Start fire. 

Fire isn't big enough, add more coals. Make big fire!

Still not enough, add enough charcoal to make a forest fire!

Accidentally drop some charcoal on the ground and around the bbq.

Pick up lost charcoal and add to fire.

Whoa, I made fire!

Find more dropped charcoal and add to fire.

Oh hell, it's hot. Must be careful.

Man make fire!

My brother thinks my husband didn't add enough coals and the fire isn't big enough. 

Oh hey, you dropped some charcoal. 

I'll just add it to the fire.

Oops here's a few more dropped charcoals...men make fire bigger!

Now men stand around and talk about the fire they made and stare into said fire.

And finally start cooking the damn steaks. 

Looks at us, we're cooking! Yes, yes they deserve a medal for bbqing the steaks. *eye roll*

I even took a little video of my brother and Ken starting the bbq. My brother is the "fire, fire fire" guy. LOL

My Grandson's 1st Birthday!

Logan's birthday went well and he had a great time. I thought I would share some of the pictures with you. He was more interested in my camera than his presents. lol 

Until he saw one of the toys inside the wrapping paper. 

My brother was playing with Logan's big blue dog. 

My brother with Logan.

Logan and grandpa.

I think this is my favorite picture.

"Mommy, gimme cake now!"

He very much enjoyed his cake.

And made a complete mess. Bu the time he was done he had it all over him. 

I took a little video of it. 

Weekly Rat Facts: How and When To Euthanize A Pet Rat

In this post I'm going to talk about a hard subject: Euthanasia. 

Most times as a rat gets older we can see they are slowing down, getting older and we may need to think about making an appointment to have our rat euthanized if it looks like they are having a hard time breathing or are in pain. 

But what happens on weekends or in the middle of the night when the vet offices aren't open? Do we let them suffer all weekend? When rats get sick and start panicking because they can't breathe, it's a horrible thing to witness and even more horrible for your little friend. 

So I went in search of a way to end their suffering at home in case of emergencies that would be safe, humane and painless and I found one. A quick, peaceful and humane way to euthanize your pet rat at home. 

Warning: If you don't want to read how to euthanize a pet rat at home you should stop reading here. 

While I was doing research online a few years ago because a rat I had got sick so quickly we didn't have time to get him to the vet during the week. I didn't want him to suffer with breathing problems all weekend and he was panicking because he couldn't breathe and I didn't know how long he would be like that before he would pass away on his own, but I knew seeing him like that was killing me. 

I ran across this article online and did more research to see if this would work and found that there were other articles talking about pretty much the same thing and by this point I was willing to try this. The instructions for the baking soda and vinegar euthanasia is toward the bottom of the page. Now while I don't agree with everything the lady who wrote this article has to say about rats, I do agree with her on this. 

Now after reading that article you have a better understanding of what I'm about to show you. Below is a picture of my own home euthanisia kit. The precise instructions for how to prepare, mix and administer the baking soda and vinegar can be found in the linked article above.

You will need a a 10 gallon container and a small wire and plastic carrier. Measuring about 12" X 8" X 8" and no more than a 2" tall bottom pan. 

You will also need two containers with 2 cups of Distilled White Vinegar each. They should be in large cups or other containers that are easily pourable. 

5 tablespoons of fresh baking soda *Make sure it is fresh or it will not work*

(If your rat weighs more than 1 ½ lbs., you need to use an additional 1 ½ tablespoons of baking soda and an additional cup of vinegar at the end.)

I always have these things on hand while having rats or small rodents in my home because you never know when one will get sick really quickly and if I can't find a veterinarian office open I don't want my pets to suffer needlessly. *This is a last resort* You should always have Baytril antibiotics on hand and try to get your rat better before thinking of euthanisia. I replace my box of baking soda every month to make sure I always have a fresh box because old baking soda will not work.

Instructions:

Where I have drawn a red line is where you would sprinkle all of the baking soda, all the way around the container. I do this before putting in the smaller carrier so I don't get any inside the carrier. 

Put a small blanket or towel inside the smaller carrier so your pet has something soft to lay on. Put the rat inside the carrier. They may try to get out, so either comfort them by petting them or give them a treat to eat or if they are really trying to jump out and you are having a hard time keeping them in *Some rats will do this because they are in distress when they are having a hard time breathing*, close the gate so they can't get loose. This is the hard part for most pet parents. Now pour the first two cups of vinegar into the well where you have sprinkled the baking soda. Making sure not to spill any inside the carrier and make sure the baking soda and vinegar mixes well. 

This low concentration should put your rat to sleep within 1-2 minutes. When they start to become groggy you can unlock the gate if you closed it and pet and talk to your rat. After 1-2 minutes and your rat is unconscious *You can check this by touching the side of his eye. If he doesn't blink when you touch him there, he is unconscious and not feeling anything and not aware at this point* that is when you pour the second 2 cups of vinegar into the plastic container. Making sure any movements you make inside the cage are slow as to not disturb the gas inside the container too much. In my experience a rat will pass away within 2-3 minutes of administering the second 2 cups of vinegar but the instructions in the article I linked above call for placing a towel over the container and waiting 20 minutes just to be sure. 

I have used this method of home euthanisia a few times and never had any problems with it. But if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. 

I realize some people are going to have a problem with this and that's okay, I understand because I did at first too. But then I had to use this method because there were no vet offices open one weekend that saw small animals like rats and I didn't want my rat to keep suffering all weekend the way he was. I was able to gently put him to sleep and end his suffering at home in a very humane way.

Freebie Friday!

While I didn't get any free samples or products this week I did get 2 books to read for free in exchange for an honest review. 

You can find my review of this book at I Smell Sheep. 

You can find my review of this book at I Smell Sheep. 

Did you get any free books this week? If not, what are you reading?

Could Be A Serial Killer...

So for Christmas my younger brother got this get up to go to fishing. It's boots, waders and he has a float tube. But I told him he looked like one of those serial killers from movies like Hostel 2. LOL My brother is the one on the left. *you know, in case you can't tell which is the serial killer and which isn't* 

He's so gonna kill me for this. 

I May Be Slow To Respond and a Family Visit!

For the next week I may not be making the rounds commenting on other blogs or responding to comments here on my blog. My family is coming into town and I'll be busy visiting and going to my grandson's 1st birthday. I will be back soon and will resume commenting and responding to comments left. I have a few blog posts ready to auto post on the days that I'm not here and hope you enjoy them.

Be back in a week!

My Most Horrible Movies List

There are a few movies that I hope to never have to watch again, they are on my list for the Most Horrible Movies Ever Made. Thankfully, there are only a few of them because I can pretty much watch just about anything and find some type of entertainment value in them. But not with these. I will never again get the time I put into watching these movies, back again. They have left a huge hole where that time and brain space needed to hold the memories of these awful movies. Too bad I can't take the memories of these movies and replace them with others that I liked more. Maybe some day I'll be old and won't remember having watched them...

My list for Most Horrible Movies:

Kill Bill- Great googly moogly can someone, anyone stop this franchise from making any more movies? There was the first one and then the second one which was even worst. The acting, the storyline, the action *if you can call it that* was just beyond ridiculous.

Kill Bill 2- Like I said, the second one is even worst than the first...O.o

Battlefield Earth- Oh great mythical lord of movie makers...please don't make another movie like this one. Holy hell this was one of the most boring, make me want to fall asleep until it's over, movies I've ever seen. The costumes, makeup and storyline was utterly ridiculous.

Wild Wild West- Yes please take a show that most younger people won't remember and make it into a movie no one wants to see. Way to go, movie makers!

Blair Witch- Who came up with the awful idea to make a movie where if you watch it for too long you might fall off the couch into a drooling, seizure induced idiot because they can't keep the camera still, long enough for your eyes to focus on anything?

Happy Raturday!

Welcome to a new weekly blog post I'm calling, Raturday! I've seen Caturday and while that's really cute, I think the rats needs some photo time so everyone can see how cute these little animals are. I've gotten permission from Rat Logic's fb page to share their pictures on my blog. So get ready to smile because these are cute. 

*click on pictures to enlarge*