The Rat Tickling study is back: further insights

The Washington Post just published an article on rat tickling and "joy jumps," and how rats are ticklish when relaxed but resistant when anxious. They are also a lot more like humans regarding tickling than we knew. Read on for why!

Happy Feast of St. Francis!

This morning I came across this Franciscan blessing. St. Francis was there for me when I first started my rodent rescue in 2004, and the inspiration lives on. Twelve years later, this world is already different for animals around the world, and our current Pope Francis holds their interests and the care of Earth in high enough esteem that he wrote an encyclical, Laudato Si, about it.   

A FRANCISCAN BENEDICTION

May God bless you with a restless discomfort 

about easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, 

so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger 

at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, 

so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, 

and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears 

to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, 

or the loss of all that they cherish, 

so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them 

and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness 

to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, 

so that you are able, with God’s grace, 

to do what others claim cannot be done.

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

Prevention of mammary tumours - Potential research participation for citizen rats!

May the beginning of 2016 find you and yours happy and healthy!

I have received two emails from a thankfully persistent researcher who is looking for citizen participants in her research on preventing mammary tumours in rats. Ideally, your rat has had a mammary tumour and had it removed, so that the treatment in testing can be ascertained to prevent recurrence, but I think she is also fielding participants who would like to participate for tumour prevention, as well. It is a contraceptive treatment. She wrote to me from the UdeM Veterinary school at St. Hyacinthe, so anyone basically within 2-3 hours of Montreal may find it worthwhile to participate. Here is what she sent me; you can communicate with her in French and also in English.

Je vous contacte car je suis vétérinaire et je fais une un projet de recherche pour trouver un traitement contre les tumeurs mammaires des rats de compagnie. Si vous connaissez des personnes qui ont ce problème parmi les propriétaires de rats, n’hésitez pas à me contacter. Le traitement est à base d’implants contraceptifs insérés sous la peau et a fonctionné sans aucun effet secondaire chez une dizaine de rats jusqu’à présent. Dans le cadre de mon étude, les implants sont gratuits à la Faculté de médecine vétérinaire de Saint-Hyacinthe.

J’espère que cette information pourra vous être utile. Mon adresse email est claire.grosset@umontreal.ca. N’hésitez pas à me contacter pour plus d’informations.

Bonne année 2016

So far, we are implanting rats to prevent recurrence of mammary tumors but the next step would be to implant them preventively and see if this implant can avoid development of the first mammary tumor. As part of the study, the mass analysis and implants are completely free and it could definitely help other rats to prevent this tumor, which is the most commonly seen in female rats.
If some owners are interested, please do not hesitate to contact me for more information.

Claire Vergneau-Grosset, méd. vét., IPSAV (Médecine zoologique), Dipl. ACZM

Clinicienne - Médecine zoologique
Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal
3200 Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC
J2S 2M2
CANADA
(450) 773-8521(poste 16079)
Vétérinaire Aquarium du Québec