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As they grew bolder and more at home, I got to know their personalities. Ivy (pictured on the left above), is a homebody and takes care of the nest building, as well as rearranging things in the cage. She's also very protective of her food and treats. She views Lux (my cat), as a great big furry friend, and maybe her second mommy :P. She loves to find a comfy place to curl up and sleep.

Donna (pictured on the right), is more active and curious. She's smaller than Ivy, and loves to sniff out new things. She's more protective. If Lux goes anywhere near the cage, she will huff and puff, and try to grab Lux and bite her (even if she catches sight of Lux when outside of the cage). Lux is quite scared of her XD. Donna often gets pushed out of the food dish, but she's quicker to get treats that are offered.

They are both very close, and will snuggle up together and groom each other. When they were young, Ivy would be reluctant to let Donna leave the cage to explore, and even try to pull her back in :). However, they do have their playfights, and they get very upset if the other rat looks at them when they're eating. They are both friendly sweethearts, and are totally at ease with us. They switched their Granny from viewing rats as pests, to loving them! We have to be very careful when they have their out-time, because they will run right up to our legs when we are walking, and see if we have any treats. Ivy and Donna have taken a few trips outdoors with us, and even oversaw a shopping trip from the cart!

Ivy and Donna have also had their share of vet trips. Shortly after we got them, I discovered that they had worms, and what might have been a resp. infection. We treated for both with our first Vet. It appeared there was no resp. infection, and the medicine for the worms didn't work. We also found our first vet to be no good, so we got our second and current Vet, who we're very pleased with. We treated them for worms a second time, but they got very little of the medicine as they refused to eat the pills, after adding them to many different things. Before we could try anything else though, the worms disappeared. Later on, we had our first emergency with Ivy. During her out-time, she made her way into a desk drawer, and her Granny caught Ivy's ear in the drawer by accident. She got Ivy out, but her ear had been hurt, and we could see she was in pain. This was very late though, and we couldn't find an all hours vet office. So we kept her comfy, and as soon as the Vet opened, we took her there and had her examined. Thankfully she was okay, and we left with some gel to put on her ear (and a permanent ding in it). There was nothing major for a while then, until recently when we had to take Donna to get her claws clipped (Ivy too), because they had gotten sharp enough to cut herself. While there, the vet thought she might have a skin infection, and gave us medicine for her. We treated her for a few weeks, but it didn't seem to make any difference. Her scabs just never got a chance to heal properly, and her claws started growing out again, starting the cycle over.

Not long after that, I made a discovery. Donna has a mammary tumor. It's not uncommon in female rats her age. This has hit us hard, and we looked over all our options. We decided to let Donna live her life normally, until we notice that the tumor is starting to effect her quality of life. If it does, we will have her put to sleep. Naturally this really upset me, but I'm focusing on spending time with her, and taking care of her as best I can. She's still doing great and living normally :).

Ivy and Donna are a huge part of my life, and they've also changed the way I look at things. Despite the stresses, frustrations, and destruction of a few coats and objects, I'm so glad to have them, and I'd never give them up for anything.