Early on the morning at the beginning of November, 2023, a resident in a NW Portland apartment discovered a box on the steps of her building. The box contained an elderly rat and a young mouse. She brought them to DoveLewis for care, and from there they were transferred to the county shelter. The mouse was apparently healthy, while the elderly rat was covered in scratches and missing large patches of hair. He was severely underweight and showed signs of hind limb degeneration. But despite all that, he was sweet and affectionate. After his stray hold at the shelter ended, we brought him home to live out the rest of his life in comfort under the protection of the sanctuary. Since his arrival, he has been cleared of parasites, his skin has healed, he has gained over 50g, and grown back much of his hair, which is soft and wavy. He had a small mass removed in January 2024. He is delightfully vocal and likes to groom his humans. His favorite snack is toasted almond slices, which he will cram into his mouth until they are falling out the sides. In June 2024 a couple new mammary masses appeared. He was not a good candidate for surgery, so his human servants closely monitored him and spoiled him. He loved all of his rat friends, and could usually be found happily cuddled with fellow sanctuary residents, Alice and Amos. Finch had his final vet visit on Aug 20th, 2024, following a decline in his health. He is now reunited with Alice and Amos to cuddle across the Rainbow Bridge.

Alice was a three year old lady who came to us after losing all her cage mates as well as her human. Her dad had been hospitalized, and she and her sisters had been left in the care of a friend. Alice became depressed and defensive after losing her sisters, and she developed some respiratory and skin issues. After coming into our care, she saw our vet and we began treating her respiratory disease and lice infestation. A few days later, she suffered a series of seizures, followed by vaginal bleeding, which prompted an emergency visit to our exotics vet and an urgent spay. Her reproductive tract was covered in cysts and masses. It was reportedly the worst our vet had seen. She healed up amazingly well and was loving life again in no time. In January, 2024, she was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor, but with treatment she has regained her spirit and is thrived for another seven months. Despite her advanced age, she was active, curious, and sharp. She adored her rat friends, and she tolerated all her meds. Despite everything she had been through, she was relaxed and happy in her sanctuary home right up until her last day. On the night of July 16th, at over 3.5 years old, we noticed she had a severe head tilt that had not been present just hours earlier. She was having trouble getting around on her own, and we knew we couldn?t let her continue to deteriorate. She ate her fill of snacks, including a piece of watermelon as large as her own head, and she went peacefully to sleep while we held her and told her how much we loved her.