November

At last a quite night! Kali's been very active the last few nights so much so that she's been keeping us awake. Its amazing how loud gnawing can be but last night she didn't wake us up.

She had a very late playtime last night and that might have tired her out. I didn't let her out until gone nine and she was off exploring immediately. She was running about for about an hour before I steered her back into her house for her supper. This morning she was wide awake again and very active. She pounced on her breakfast as I put it into her house and nearly took my finger off.
 

Pouched rats may be very intelligent but that doesn't stop them doing stupid things! Kali has chewed through the bottom of her potty. Her potty bowl sits in a hole in the shelf just above where she's chosen to make her nest so all the contents dripped out into her nest overnight - very pleasant.

I've had to make a new shelf for her house. She'd been able to pull the top shelf away from the side of her house and the back edge of the shelf was one of the few parts which wasn't protected by aluminium. She'd gnawed a lot of the shelf away so it needed replacing but I also needed to stop her gnawing because it was very loud. She usually attacked it at about three in the morning and woke everyone up. I've cut a hole in the shelf so that I can insert a large cardboard tube for kali to play in. We live next door to a carpet fitter so we have a regular supply of very large cardboard tubes. I cut holes in the tubes at intervals so she can climb in and go up to the various levels in her house.

I'm letting her out to play later in the evenings at the moment. She is much more active and on Thursday night she really tired herself out. She was running up and down the stairs, jumping on her toys, rolling in her cloth and play-fighting everything that moved. She wore herself out after about 45 minutes and had to have a little lay down. She soon got her energy back and followed me into the sitting room where her house is. She explored in there too while I got her house ready. She took quite a bit of persuading to go home and she went for my hand when I was trying to guide her home. Luckily I was quicker than her this time. Her limp is still quite pronounced but it isn't slowing her down at all.

Wednesday
13 November
2002

Kali now lets me stroke her. I'm really pleased with this as it seems like such a step forward. I noticed that she was letting me get really close to her when she was playing with her toys. She was so fully engrossed in what she was doing that I gently touched her tail and then stroked her back. She has very wiry fur - much courser than a domestic rat. At first she jumped round to see what was going on but she must have decided that I was no threat and she carried on with what she was doing and let me stroke her. She now lets me stroke her when she's eating and when she's out exploring. I stroke her rump and back and only when she's facing away from me. She may even get to enjoy it!

On a less positive note, her limp is back. Its never completely gone away but it was obvious one day that it was much worse. She still uses the leg and it doesn't stop her running, jumping and climbing the stairs. In fact it is most noticeable when she's walking. She doesn't put her full weight on it or extend it backwards all the way. She also spends a long time streaching it when she first wakes up. It must be quite stiff to start with because she it seems to get better the longer she's running about.

Kali has got so inquisitive now that I can't keep her in the hall when I go into lounge to get her house ready for her to go back into. I tried to stop her going in at first but she now comes in with me and explores the room while I'm sorting her food and bedding out. She still responds to the 'Kali go home' command and, with a bit of persistence she climbs back into her house.
 

Tuesday
5 November
2002

Lots has happened in the weeks since my last entry. Kali is now in her new house and, after a bit of fuss, she's settled in well. She now enjoys the complete run of the hall and landing at playtime and she loves running up and down the stairs. She continues to get bolder which is a mixed blessing because, in some ways, she's harder to handle.

Its become clear that she doesn't like things to change. We had a few rather wild nights with her as she got used to the new house. She really attacked it and was obviously trying to get out. She's since become quite attached to it and now thinks of it as home. However she did discover that she can chew through the wire. Her house is now patched in several places and awaiting proper repair.

Playtimes have become more energetic for Kali and for me. She goes up and down the stairs running and playing in both the hall and the landing and I follow her to make sure she's all right. When she's upstairs she spends her time trying to work out how to get onto the next shelf of the bookcase or pulling at the carpet in front of the doors to the bedrooms and the bathroom. When she's downstairs she's searching for the treats I put down for her. She still spends about five minutes sulking in a corner when I first put her down. She really doesn't like being picked up and held and it takes her a while to get over it.

I've introduced a few new toys for her to play with when she's out. One is a length of coloured rope with a big knot at the end. It has eight short lengths of rope coming out of the knot, so it resembles a spider, it also has a bell. Its intended for cats. It hangs from one of the bedroom door handles and just about reached the floor where Kali tries to dig under the door. She tries to pull it out of the way but it just swings back and the harder she pushes it away the harder it comes back. I also wedge folded up sheets of paper under the doors and Kali has a great time trying to pull them out. She rips and tares away at them until they are free. She also has a cloth to play in. I hold it up infront of her and when she comes forward to investigate it it drop it gently over her. She darts out from under it but soon comes back for more.