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| Name: |
Koko
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Age: |
Two years, one month old
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| Gender: |
Female
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Kind: |
Fancy rat
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| Home: |
British Columbia, Canada
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Koko
is an incredibly special rat. She is a Siamese, dumbo-earred fancy rat.
She has a respiratory illness known as mycoplasma, which she has been
fighting most of her life. She has been on medication almost everyday for the
last year, but she is still so strong and happy, and otherwise healthy. She
is a curious rat who loves exploring my house, but she is also very cuddly.
She loves being pet and scratched behind the ears. Some of the best times we
have shared have been pizza-movie nights; I share the veggies off my pizza
with her and then she sleeps on my lap while I watch a movie. She loves
fishing for frozen peas in a tub of water, and her favorite foods are
homemade banana muffins and broccoli soup.
A few months ago Koko lost her cagemate, Loki. It was very sad to see Koko
living alone, but I recently adopted three rats to be her friends. Koko now
lives very happily with her step sisters, Lily, Rue and Piper.
All rats (except lab rats) are actually born with mycoplasma because its so
contagious. Rats are just more or less resistant to it. Since I got Koko from
a pet shop where she was intended to be snake food the owners didn't care
about breeding for health.
Because Koko has it in a pretty advanced form, it has actually scarred her
lungs so she often makes noises when she breathes, and she needs to be on
meds for the rest of her life. But because I give her medicine twice a day,
the occasional breathing noise is the only symptom she has; she is actually very happy and healthy!
View more images of Koko!
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