Rats!

So we’ve been living in our new house for over 6 months and everyone was nagging me for a pet.

I don’t feel settled enough to have a dog as yet - especially as I know I’d be the one who ended up walking it twice a day, which I seriously do not have time for. Plus it would be more ideal to wait until my youngest daughter is a little older (she’s 3 at present).

Anyway, I got pushed, and suggested a hamster. My girlfriend thought we needed something that the kids could better interract with - ie, like human company, but sturdy enough to cope with the attention of a 3 yr old.

So she decided on rats.

Not just one, because they’re sociable animals, and not just two, because it’s depressing for the other if one dies. So she decided on FOUR.

And bought a bloody big 3 foot tall ferret cage (with multiple platforms) to house them.

Anyway, we’ve kept rats before, and made a mess of it because we didn’t know what we were doing. So she really researched it this time.

To the point of fanaticism. :)

After a few weeks intensive study it seemed like she knew pretty much everything about rats.

She tried to order some from a rat breeder but she eventually found it could take 3 months from her first request.

With time on her hands I suggested she put what she’d learned already into building a website - it would also be a great way to apprentice her as a webmaster.

She decided on 9. :)

She’s already made a decent start - building That’s Rats, as a general info resource, and My Lovely Rats as a general rat diary.

Anyway, I persuaded her to try a rescue centre while waiting - who happened to have 4 little boy rats - just what she was looking for. :)

So we brought them home - Rocky, Shy-shy, Stripe, and Pip.

And now my bloody asthma - which has been domant for years - has suddenly sledgehammered my lungs.

Oh, yes, I’m apparently allergic to rats. More precisely, rat urine, which boy rats apparently like to spray about.

So now I’m cornered wheezing in the house, feeling flattened by a course of anti-histamine, trying to figure out a solution.

Getting rid of them would break her heart and set up a “Brian is evil” meme in her I would never be forgiven for.

We could always set them up in a shed - we really need to get a large one anyway, as we’ve no garage - but the Scottish Highland winter could prove a little cold.

A possible best option would be to build a conservatory - again, it’s on the to-do list, especially as an investment on the property - and that might work well, because it should be warmer than a shed, plus doors we can keep closed when not required.

I’m sure we’ll figure out something for the long-term.

I guess the point if this is - if you have allergies, even dormant, it could be worth finding out more about possible allergies with any future pet you may consider buying.