There are around 70+ rats that need to come into rescue. Unfortunately we currently only have foster homes for about half of them. We are in desperate need of foster homes. Please email us at info@littlemischiefrescue.org if you can foster a pair or more. At this point we are looking for people in the Vancouver and Victoria area.

4 of the rats that need to come in were caught in Alberta where rats are illegal. They were lucky and got a special permit to be moved out of Alberta into safety. WestJet will fly them to Vancouver any day now.

Cowboy & Stetson

Henrietta & Georgina (might be pregnant)

About 60 are from a situation that got out of control because the males and females weren't split up. We suspect that there are more females that are pregnant.

There is a special needs boy who has malocclusion who needs to come into rescue also. He was brought to a vet to be put down but lucky the vet tech stepped up and offered to take him in. He is safe but the vet tech can't keep him forever. He is an approx. 6-8 month old black hooded dumbo. He needs to have his teeth clipped every few weeks.

There is also a pair of males that a shelter asked us to help with.

We also have a lot of rats that have already been quarantined and who are looking for forever homes!

Reese and Josh are a wonderful pair of ratties who have been with us a long time. They were originally seized by the SPCA from a neglectful situation and ended up in an SPCA shelter for several weeks. Because they were very shy, we took them in to work with them so they'd have a better chance of being adopted. The staff at the shelter thought this was a pair of male rats, but when we picked them up we discovered that one was female! Luckily they didn't have any babies during their time at the shelter. We had Reese spayed ASAP so she and Josh could stay together.

After several months in foster care these two are doing very well. They are both quite friendly with other rats so they are sharing a cage with two more spayed females. Josh benefits from having a laid back cuddle friend and Reese has a younger female to chase and wrestle with. Josh and Reese are still very, very bonded with each other and must be adopted as a pair.

Reese has really come out of her shell and now acts like any other busy, curious female rat. She has hilarious quirks and can be quite cute and bratty sometimes. At dinner time Reese waits patiently at the door of her cage so I can hand her a rat block. She will stash it and then run right back so I can give her another one. She occasionally can act a bit hand shy, especially when it's time to be picked up in the cage, but she is very affectionate and interactive. During time out she loves to climb in pockets and up on my shoulders.

Josh has come a long way too. He is incredibly gentle and has the most soulful look I've ever seen in a rat. He is extremely fearful in most situations but he copes by freezing in place and staying very, very still. It is no problem to pick him up in and out of the cage. He has learned to enjoy snuggling and will even brux and boggle when I scratch behind his ears! In the cage and during playtime Josh feels most secure when he has a hiding place. He spends the vast majority of time in his hidey house, but does come out to interact with the other rats. During play time I've started setting up a bunch of boxes and tunnels on the couch and then draping a towel over the whole thing. With this setup Josh feels secure enough to come out and explore. If all is quiet and calm, Josh will leave the safety of his hideout to come visit me. He occasionally comes to the cage door to say hello too. But any potential adopter should understand that he will likely always be the kind of rat that you have to approach slowly and quietly. Despite his fear, Josh is very trusting and affectionate. It took moments for me to fall in love with him and I know it would be the same for his new family!

If you could give Reese and Josh the home they deserve so much please get in touch. These are extra special ratties!

Hot off the press - The LMR Spring 2009 Newsletter can be downloaded here. Enjoy!

Feel free to crosspost it.

We love and appreciate all the updates we get from the many animals we took in and found homes for!

LMR is a powerhouse when it come to rescuing ratties, but did you know that we also are one of the few rescues in BC that does Ferret Hospice Care?  We are currently working in conjunction with the Washington Ferret Rescue to provide care to those fuzzies who may be on their last paw so they know that they have worth and are loved.   We also look after those who need to attend manners bootcamp in order to make them more adpotable. 

Currently we have 10 ferrets in permanent care. Some of them are seniors, whom people overlook just because they are an older fuzzy.  Some of them have medical issues such as adrenal disease. (Ferrets are very prone to aderenal disease and it can be costly to treat a ferret with the disease. It requires the ferret to have a monthly injuection of Lupron and many owners just don't want to deal with this.  All of a sudden the commitmenet they have made to the ferret has become a burden and they no longer want to keep them. If you are considering a ferret, please do some research on ferret health issues.) Some of them have behavioral issues. Our ferrets range in age from 8yrs old to only 3 yrs old. 

Our most recent victory was with a ferret named Kasey.  We received a call that she was being very aggressive with other ferrets and people and would we try to help her.  We said sure, let's see what we can do.  The foster home was at their rope's end and the resident ferrets were terrified of her. 

Once we brought her home, we realised that she was terrified of other ferrets and was not found of people either (I found this out first hand).  She had been living with her buddy Yahoo. He was much bigger then her and bullied her.  Kasey had learned from him that this was the way of the world, thus she bullied other ferrets. She even tried to take on our 120lbs Rottie!

We decided that she should meet our resident alpha CT.  Kasey is a smart girl, sometimes too smart, and learned very quickly that there was a pack order.  She also learned that it was much more fun to cuddle and dance with the other ferrets and they weren't as scary as she thought they were.  Kasey was also started on Lupron as she had adrenal disease, which was contributing to her agression.  All of this happened in less then 30 mins!  I have to still smile to myself, every time I see her cuddled up with the others.

Yahoo, now lives with our "big boys" and is happy to have brothers the same size to wrestle with.

Another happy camper...Saturn. (His buddy Lokie, sadly passed away only 2 wks after coming into care.) Saturn is quite the ladies man and loves to cuddle with the girls.