Ditko is doing much better.

Most of the necrotic tissue looks to have fallen off, and I think the wound is mostly closed up.

The antibiotics seem to be doing him a world of good. He's still got a slight head tilt, but I was told that might be permanent. It doesn’t slow him down though. He can even still run in the wheel without any problems. He just always looks like he's on the verge of asking a question now. It certainly does not impair is quality of life in anyway, shape or form.

He's in fact dong so well that last night he was hanging upside down and trying to climb on top of the wheel in his cage. Once he got tired of failing at that and falling on top of a grumpy Stabler, Ditko then played "chase and tackle" with Kirby. So he's back to his old rough and tumble self.

So I'm so glad I made the call I did and didn't put him through surgery.

hmmmmmm I think I may rename 'Ditko' 'Stan Lee' because Kirby seems to have bit clean through one is Ditko's testicals. Ok actually I'm not sure it was Kirby but I'm trying to make a joke here (and if you get the joke, power to the comic nerd)


Lame attempt at humor aside, something ripped Ditko's testical apart. It could be anything from a fight with either Stabler or Kirby to getting it caught somehow in the wheel he likes to run in. What happened I'll never know.

What I'm left with is a rat with a necrotic testical part of which is hanging out of the scrotum, so I've been told. I can't actually work my stomach up to looking directly at the wound. He is also now walking with his head tilted to one side, whihc may indicate in secondary infection (so systemic infection).

The vet made it sound like my choices were:

A: Surgery on a rat with a systemic in infection. A surgery that on healthy rat has only 50:50 survival expectancy. On rat with a systemic infection, far worse survival expectancy, and of course it won't help the systemic infection. I can get antibiotics and hope for the best.

B: Immediate Euthanasia.


I've chosen
C: Give me antibiotics now. I'll treat the damn wound.
Lets see if the antibiotics can treat the infection then I'll think about surgery when he's healthier.


Truthfully, I think Ditko's not going to survive the year now, it's just a matter of choosing how his lives and dies.

I don't think surgery is his best option. I think it's a painful, stressful, and very likely lethal option. I think he's clearly in no pain now, not even caring about the testical and actually as I type this hanging upside down fro the cage and playing with Kirby.

If he is going to die from a systemic infection, I'd rather he last few days be spent hanging upside down playing with Kirby than curled up in a ball of post-op pain, or worse, dying in the table and having no last few days -_-

So in keeping with me plan of naming my new rats after artists whose work I particularly like/ have been inspired by I made a list of said artists.

If you’ve ever wanted to know artists I’ve been particularly inspired by or just enjoyed here's the list.
I starred the ones I felt were particularly big influences and double starred anyone I’ve actively attempted to copy. Tripled starred anyone I still try to copy =P

Illustrators
***Virgil Finlay
Bernie Wrightson
**Brian Froud
Robert McCall
**George Barr
Tasha Tudor
***Roger Dean
Norman Rockwall
*Alan Lee

Comic Artists
***Al Williamson
Jack Kirby
Gil Kane
Will Eisner
***Stan Sakai
*Hogarth
Steve Ditko
Alan Moore
**Coleen Doran
**Wendy Pini

”Modern” Artists (if I knew the movement they were usually associated I tried to include that, but I’m not always sure, It’s been years since I studied these guys ^^)
Monet (impressionist)
Kant (?)
*Rothko (Abstract Expressionist ?)
*Paul Klee (Abstract Expressionist)
William De Kooning (Abstract Expressionist)
Cezanne (?)
Roy Lichtenstein (Pop)
Jasper Johns (Pop)
Carl Andre (Minimalist)
Robert Morris (Minimalist)
Piet Mondarian (?)
Eduard Munch (?)
**Degas (Impressionist ?)
**HR Gieger (?)

Classical Artists
*Rembrandt
Botticelli
Battista Alberti
Jan Van Eyck
Durer
*Hieronymus Bosch
Ruebens
David
***Raphael
**Caravaggio
Leonardo Da Vinci

I’m sure I left people off, but this is the list I could come up with this morning. I’m so sure too, I’ve misspelled some names ^^

As far as names for my rats, I’m leaning toward, Finlay, Rothko, Jasper, Morris, Degas, Kirby, Alberti, Bosch, and Ditko.

Also Murdock . . . you know just to through out the whole “artist” thing, though Murdock did PRETEND to be an artist in one A-Team episode, so we can count him, right?