High White / Mega Colon Litter Question

[Sorraia]

The sad thing is that these are *incredibly* sweet babies well worth over a hundred dollars for temperament alone. Unfortunately, too many people see them as disposable pets, especially in this state. Heck, in my area people are reluctant to pay $40 to adopt a cat...

That's exactly what I was thinking when I typed my reply.

The worst part is, people WILL lay down thousands of dollars for a "designer mutt", but refuse to pay $50 for the SAME thing at a shelter.

What a horrible backwards world this can be.

 

[jenniferkelley]

I think having them spayed and neutered might even make them more desirable.

Let's just say, im wanting to get two ratties who have high white marking, they are still babies and i DO have the funds to spay them, would it REALLY reduce the risk of getting MC?

 

[lilspaz68]

I think having them spayed and neutered might even make them more desirable.

Let's just say, im wanting to get two ratties who have high white marking, they are still babies and i DO have the funds to spay them, would it REALLY reduce the risk of getting MC?

No Jennifer. If a rat is going to contract MC there is nothing you can do about it. What Jo is referring to is altering any rats that may carry the MC gene onto a future generation. Uncaring or ignorant people want to breed these pretty rats which just brings more MC into our rats overall. Dooming many more than just a random litter to dying a painful death. Most die at home, no vet care, no pain meds...its a horrific way to die.

 

[PitLuvs]

Not that it makes much diff, but I would be willing to pay $40 for adoption fee's on a speutered rat Thats a great deal! After reading this, I've had tons of high whites over the years, never one problem with m/c. How lucky am I? Hope these babies turn out healthy, they sound neat Years ago I would jump all over odd markings, now I love my black hoods.

 

[minnow]

My litter turned out... absolutely tragically. Every one had megacolon, and didn't make it past 5 weeks. Their mama was frantic when they didn't come back from the vet.

I would do so much to keep this from happening again, but ignorant backyard breeders are out of my control, so... I just do what I reasonably can to mop up the mess.

 

[puffnstuff]

OldsGal: If you could please post photos of your litter showing the crazy cow markings, I think this would be helpful to educate people about what you're talking about, and that these types of markings are NOT desirable to breed.

I would gladly pay $40 for a fixed healthy rat. That's a bargain. And would probably save on vet bills in the future due to less chance of tumours. Cannot understand people who want to pay thousands of $$ for a "special breed" of dog, and turn their noses up at rescues. It's such a backwards world we live in. 18,000 children die every day from malnutrition. That's like 150 jumbo jets crashing every day, and all the passengers are innocent children. Every day!!! Yet it rarely makes the news. And here we are, walking into the grocery store seeing more food than we could possibly ever need, much of it being thrown out because it's past the 'best before' date, or going a little brown. Sick, backwards world.

 

[xxchelle]

I had a "cow marking" litter, so I'm happy to share some photos of them. Luckily, no one developed MC, everyone is still healthy as a horse today. Shelley from the forum adopted two of the boys, and I visited them a couple months ago, when we were picking up mice from her for Shelagh. Newton (his new name escapes me at the moment) is huge and super sweet and licky. I'm so glad those babies went to awesome homes!

Here's some pictures of them.

 

[PitLuvs]

I had a "cow marking" litter,

:thud: :thud: :thud:

 

[xxchelle]

Hehe, that was Volta (on the left) and Tycho (on the right). Shelley has Tycho now