Rochelle - laser treatment & rats

Quick note about the rats before I copy and paste about Rochelle...

Jim was here yesterday, dropping off some cages, and picking up his rat hanging thing (I dunno what it's called, he saw I had em and asked me to pick one up for him).  Well, today I get a text that he's getting some rats and wants to know when I'd be home to get them.  Well, turns out there was a craigslist ad that someone had bought two rats from the pet store and, surprise, they were male and female, and so they had babies.  They had the babies and the parents now separated and all, but had on their craigslist page that they would sell the babies as feeders if need be. 

Well, Jim emailed them and said he could take them into the rescue and so they waived the adoption fee saying they'd much rather someone able to find them homes than snake food.  So, he drove out to Joliet to get them, and we pulled out two of the cages that he brought just yesterday, and set those up and now have 6 new baby ratties. 

Onto Rochelle.... as written on her chip-in page --> http://rochelleslegrecovery.chipin.com/rochelles-leg-recovery :

So I took Rochelle in for her second laser therapy treatment today. She did well.

The vet tech asked what had happened to her, and I explained the situation. She said that when she's seen legs (or other body parts) looking like this before, it's usually when they're on their way to drying up and falling off. She said it's likely that we caught it in time to heal the tissue that hadn't already become necrotic, though she did notice (as did the vet) that a portion already is necrotic. It's sad to think that the leg would have died (probably taking the chin with it) if not treated. Lucky for Rochelle that her previous family didn't let it go any longer, as it seems the longer you wait to treat, the more the leg dies without treatment.

She did well today, she is eating and drinking still, so very good. The leg is definitely dry today. Still very very puffy and a bit warm, which I would think would indicate infection (course, that is why she is on antibiotics 2x day), but definitely dry. The bloody fingernail areas oozed a tad today when I was getting her out of her cage, but that may be due to the fact that she really does not want to come out of her comfy hammock and go back in her carrier yet again. She is very spunky.

She doesn't act like anything's wrong, which shows just how much chins can hide their discomfort and pain. Amazingly, she isn't holding the leg up, she actually does put weight on it. Course, the necrotic tissue is mostly on the bottom, so there's a question as to whether she can actually feel that she's putting the leg down, as the dead tissue would be a barrier between the live tissue and the hammock/shavings/cage. The vet did mention about potentially removing that tissue, but said we would wait until she is a bit more healed, just in case we end up with more necrotic tissue before she is completely healed. Apparently a 6+ week healing time leaves ample time (even with laser treatment and antibiotics) for tissue to die if it's already too late to "save." Well, we will see.

We go back for more laser therapy on Monday, at which time I get to pay for the next few sessions. I sat down and broke down my receipt and -- Thanks to everyone who donated, I believe we will have enough money to completely pay for 3-4 of the next four sessions! The receipt was a tad confusing about what fees were for what, but possibly even all four! How awesome is that! You all are awesome!

Also, Jean, from TJ's Chinchilla Supplies, has said that she will donate $2 from every Dream Catcher Toy or Bagel Tree Toy sold to Rochelle's recovery. The toys are the toip two toys on this page --> http://www.tjschinchillasupplies.com/new.html for anyone curious. So far we have $2 coming our way from that.

Further, one of my adoptive homes donated $20 directly through my website (so it doesn't show up on the amount on the screen in here) when they purchased some other supplies. I am amazed at everyone's generosity, thanks so much!!