Blog H2

This is an afterthought of Blog V2; last Tuesday, after two successful removals of the vet's row of stitching, we finally created a dressing/truss which Holly, our superactive little rat, could not rapidly remove, and hence, we have been able to supervise the so far successful healing of the large scar left from surgery, to remove a growth that these little critters are prone to. Now I have to watch in awe as she contends with the maddening itch that lurks under every dressing; we have replaced it once, after day two, with a slightly less restrictive truss, but she, a four legged beastie, still has to suffer the destabilisation of her front half. Add to this the hopeless task of reflexively scratching her itches through the dressing, and you start to get a picture of the burden this little creature is coping with. I am filled with admiration. Cats and dogs, being bigger, withstand and take human style dressing proceedures; I've seen dogs and cats live with plaster casts and all sorts of encumbrances by just taking it easy; not so for a rat. You object that I add the lowly rat to the 'man's best friend' notions propagated for cats and dogs? Considering the shorter lifespan of rats, and having a sixty year history of a few dogs and many cats, I rate Holly as equal to any of them for fortitude, stamina, and sheer determination to be her hyperactive little self; she almost never relaxes, but has succombed to some sympathetic little massages since the surgery, and I hope she will continue to be so soothed after this is all over. But being herself is her strong point. Her sister too is a character of totally different perameters, and only goes to underline the amazing variety of personality one may find in this perrenial rodent. ('Rongeur' is the French term; I prefer it.) It is the constant, (almost) concern for this little critter's progress that has had me design a dressing system for tiny beasties, which is formed from virtually indestructible thread (stronger, more resistant than Kevlar is available now) in a series of four point adjustable loops, which can be set to anchor accurately the dressing on said tiny body, but allow full movement, the space to continue to scratch and groom, and, when it finally gets chewed through, can be replaced with an identical, low cost replacement. (Aha! low cost? I hear you crow? Can I describe the investment in time and effort to get this process reasonably right the THIRD FUCKING TIME?) Dear readers, necessity is the mother of invention. I have the material readily available from European sources. I have overcome our crisis, as getting this material would take longer than the healing of Holly entails, but I'd like to work with a Vet Supply Organization to get a suitable product into the surgeries of the world. Small stuff; great purpose. I will try. Nuff said.