To offset some of the nasty taste from a recent thread with some levity and cuteness, and because I’m about to make a photo dump from my mobile to computer, I thought I’d share some pet pics and news.

• First of all: I have a new canine “nephew” named Loki, who is a golden retriever/border collie cross, and he’s the cutest little pup ever, and SO smart, already mastering many behaviors on cue at not even 3 months old. He has his own Instagram where you can follow his adorable adventures: https://instagram.com/loki_pup.....8fu27icy3c

• My husband, who knows I’m a fan of Netflix’ The Crown and saw their season 3 re-enactment of Princess Margaret’s infamous bathtub photo with her Poltimore tiara, decided to get me an inflatable tiara for Christmas. I LOVE it. However, I’m afraid I am upstaged by the real royalty in the house, Lucy.
At est. 7 years old (5.5 years with us) she’s as full of sass, personality, and cuddles as ever. We love her, even if she and best friend Beau (my parents’ handsome senior golden retriever) are bossing Loki around a bit and not letting him play with them yet.
I would ask who wore it best, but I’m afraid I already know.

• We lost two rats this summer/fall, Izzy and Pippi, and that was hard. We knew after Izzy passed that Pippi was pretty weak (always a sweet gentle runt) and Lolly was just as old as Izzy, so we wanted to make sure no one was left alone.
• Shortly before Pippi declined we adopted 3 middle aged adult rats: Leia, a spunky explorer who is a quick-moving escape artist (but always comes home to the cage after exploring forbidden areas) with a black hood/white body and white “diamond” on her forehead; Minerva, a hooded “dumbo” with low, big ears who is the squishiest, softest rat we have EVER had, and will cuddle with you until she falls asleep; and Pongo, a large, handsome black boy with a rugged torn left ear (doesn’t bother him one bit.)
• Lolly, our remaining elderly rat, is now SUPER old at almost 38 months! I’ve never even had one make 3 years before, and Lolly got really sick with a respiratory illness this fall and lost half of her body weight, so we are REALLY glad she pulled through and made that milestone birthday in November. She’s the smaller black one with fuzzy balding hair. The bald patches are because she’s a Rex, a genetic variety with coarser hair and related to “naked” rats. When Lolly was younger her hair was super thick and black, but it tends to thin a lot as they age. We are still trying to keep weight on this old girl so she gets higher calorie, soft treats like yogurt, cheese, hummus, avocado, or egg to much.
• Pongo unfortunately seems to have some kind of cancer. He had a large mass appear suddenly on the surface of his back, had it surgically removed, and now a smaller lump is back and we are scheduled for a 2nd surgery next week. We are really hoping it goes well. He is a total sweetheart, and from the start he’s REALLY adored Lolly, and we’d like more time with this good boy. Fingers crossed.
I included some photos of Pongo angled to be in front of Lucy because he really is large, but not THAT large; the lack of perspective makes him look like a Rodent of Unusual Size.
• We had introduced all 3 new rats days before Pip passed. It was easy because the new rats had met others before (Pongo was a recent addition after losing his male cage-mate; all of the girls are spayed for health reasons so it’s safe for them to room together.) They just wanted to hang out immediately. The newbies seemed to sense that Pippi needed warmth and company in her final days so she got lots of cuddles, as did Lolly. Instant buddies.

So that’s what’s new with the critter fam!