Why Sponsor Our Rat Residents?
About
- We are a small, volunteer run nonprofit currently caring for over 100 rats on average including residents, new rescues and adoptables with no external funding/grants. We rely on supporters like you to help us continue to give sanctuary and ongoing care for rats in need.
- Our "sponsor a rat" program allows our supporters to choose a group of residents or a specific "condition" a group of rats has and contribute towards their care in the form of monthly donations.
- Perhaps you've seen one of our little ones on social media and thought they were particularly awesome and adorable, and you'd like to play a part in supporting them. This is your chance!
How it works
- Look through all our groups of rats, read their stories and find who you connect with most
- Not sure a specific group is calling you out? You can choose a condition that many residents have and contribute directly towards the care of that condition any rat in our care has. Choose the designation below under CHOOSE YOUR SPONSOR
- Choose who's care you would like to contribute towards, the amount and select it in the section below titled CHOOSE YOUR SPONSOR
- Rest easy knowing that you have made the lives of the Rats at Frankies world that much better!
- You can also set up monthly or make one off donations through e-transfer, or PayPal to frankiesworldrescue@gmail.com
The Founders
Frankie
Everybody loves FRANKS!
Frankie and Phoebe are the founder's of Frankie's world. They came to us after the passing of mice we had previously rescued. We loved having mice and thought rats can't be that different! Boy were we wrong! But in the best way possible. Frankie and Phoebe have an amazing story that I'm sure a lot of you know from social media posts. We will be adding more to it shortly so stay tuned!
Phoebe
Phoebe aka our rat dog. She LOVED to sit on window sills or anywhere really and wrap her tail around making her look like a dog.
Poppy
Poppy came to us after the passing of Phoebe. We adopted her as she was on her own and we thought her and Frankie would bond together however when we tried to integrate them, Poppy had no interest! But that's ok because she had the most amazing life with us!
Stay tuned for more of her story! We're still writing it and want to do her justice.
Joey and Sonic - Phoebo's BFFs
Joey
First, we have Joey, who became Phoebo’s best friend in his final weeks after his brother Henry had passed away. He brought new life and energy into Phoebo’s world, that helped him keep on fighting. Phoebo was named with a Friends TV show theme in mind. One of our first 2 rats, Phoebe, who was Frankie’s sister, was our first hooded rat. After she passed, Phoebo was our first hooded boy rat that looked just like her, and there’s a scene in Friends where Phoebe is asking her friends to name their child Phoebe if it’s a girl, and Phoebo if it’s a boy 😂. Joey is one of our favourite characters on Friends, and kinda the boy version of Phoebe (quirky, weird, not always the brightest..), so the name fit perfectly!
Sonic
Next we have sonic. A baby boy, 2 weeks old, from one of the surprise litters that were born just before we lost Phoebo. We wanted to name one of the baby boys in his honour, and we saw this really cool looking dude who had black patches over his eyes with a white Mohawk looking pattern, that reminded us of how Phoebo looked in his Mohawk phase! We also kept saying that Phoebo looked like a hedgehog with that hairdoo, and so the name Sonic immediately came to mind 🥰
Jynx and Fern - The Northern Girls
Jynx and Fern
These girls came from a town very far north and we weren't sure how we were going to get them to us! We received a message from a high school girl in a small, northern town 7 hours away from us asking if we could help her find a home for her rats who she was no longer able to properly care for. Initially, we said we were not able to take them in because we were already at capacity and had no way to get them to us. Instead, we suggested she try various rehoming websites and Facebook groups to try and find somewhere more local. A couple months later, she reached out again saying that she had had no luck and asked if there was any way that we could take them. With no other rescues closer than us, we found a way to make it work. We posted on some buy and sell groups for their town to ask for volunteer drivers where we found a very nice lady and her son who were driving down our way for a hockey tournament that weekend! how Canadian! So with the hockey sticks and skaes, came Jynx and Fern! You'd never have known that they had had minimal interaction with humans prior to arriving at Frankie's world because they come when they're called, are spooky and they love being handled or hanging on moms shoulders.
It's with amazing people like them, and all of you who take the time to read our stories and donate that we are able to make things like this happen!
Bean and Coco George
Bean
All is well until Grandma rat sits! Bean was the perfect Angel until Grandma came to rat sit and then he decided to turn into an escape artist. He usually chills on the couch and all is fine, but he decided to jump off the couch and go on an adventure! Grandma couldn't find him for a day while he was off exploring the rat room. He eventually came back when he got hungry and heard the food bag being shook! As you can probably guess, he loves snacks! Some of his favourites are... anything he can get his paws on! he's not picky.
Coco George
Most commonly referred to as Coco G, and identified by the now GIANT ear-ring looking mole he has! This adorable boy is one of our 3.5 year old fellas (along with the rest of the quartet minus Earl) that were surrendered to us when their human was moving to England. She was happy to find us knowing her boys would be in good hands, and requested that we keep these guys as part of the sanctuary, and promise to not separate them or adopt them out.
From Bully to best friend, He used to be the mischief maker of the group. No one liked him much at the beginning and he was kind of an outcast. When Earl passed away, Coco G assumed his role in the group and became the sweet, sucky, cuddly one. It's like he took on the spirit of Earl and he's now the first one at the door, anxious to come out and cuddle with everyone!
The PEW Crew
Bear, Minnie, Nala, Hope, SJ, Pink and Daisy Jr
These rats are amazing and would be the PERFECT rats to adopt if not for their severe teeth issues that have lead to some being returned to the sanctuary and requiring regular teeth trimmings. Their teeth unfortunately are growing too long and in strange directions making it hard for them to widdle them down themselves. They start to poke into their lips if left too long without being trimmed They're technically up for adoption if anyone is willing to take on the responsibility of taking to the vet for weekly teeth trimmings otherwise they will live out their lives here at the sanctuary where they can get the care they need.
Freddie and Nelson - The Mini Rats
Nelson
I'm sure you've all seen this adorable little boy! He's the most photogenic of the bunch with every photo ever taken of him being just the cutest thing you'll ever see! Nelson is now 2 years old and loves playing with his OG brother Freddie and newest mini rat brother Tommy :)
Freddie
You'll probably all recognize this heartbreaker too! Freddie is another of the mini rats and is just about the fluffiest rat you'll encounter. He never fails to make everyone smile. We could just watch him for hours he's that cute!
Freddie and Nelson both came to us at around 9 months old from a very nice family who unfortunately didn't have much tome for them while raising a growing family. We were so excited to have them join Frankie's world as we had never seen rats small and adorable! They melt our hearts and I'm sure they melt yours too.
The Hairless Rats
Scraggles and Scoobs
We were so excited when we were contacted to take in these hairless boys because one of our founders Frankies, was almost hairless and we've missed the soft, warm skin and wrinkles that come with hairless rats. These boys instantly connected with us and from the very first time we played with them, they were crawling all over and super cuddly! They are SUCKY boys always wanting attention and waiting at the cage door when you walk by to come hangout. We tried letting them free roam the whole rat room like we do with Charlie, but they were getting a bit mischeivious and climbing up all the other rat cages causing chaos so they're back to the play pen and happy with it. They've also got TONS of energy and run around for hours in the play pen without getting tired.
These boys will be staying as permanent residents of the rescue.
Nora, Luna, Roo, Annabelle, Maggie - The OG Girls
Nora
Playful, energetic, and one of the only rat at Frankie's world who we've seen use the wheel! She loves heights and insists on climbing all the way up your legs whether you're wearing pants she can grip with her claws, or bare skin! Ouch! She loves to set up camp on your shoulder or head, but don't you dare try to touch her with your hands or you'll hear her let out a very stern squeak.
Luna
The quiet terror. She hides in the background amongst her 5 biological siblings but secretly bosses everyone around, messes up the cage and is an A+ snack snatcher!
Roo
The sweetest most attached rat of the group. She desperately wants cuddles with her hu-moms, but too nervous and easily overstimulated to fully accept all the love she's showered with. She's kind of like the black sheep of the group and needs some quality 1 on 1 time with her moms. Sadly she is nearing the end of her life, not imminently, but she's definitely showing her age. Hard to picture her as an old lady when she still looks and feels like she did at 6mo old when she came to us! She's got something going on with her lungs, seems to be fluid overload from failing kidneys which is common in rats. She's on and off oxygen, and such a trooper, still wanting to fight and be with us and her sisters for as long as she can, and we will continue to support that in every way possible for as long as she shows us that's what she wants.
Annabelle
Also known as Annie Bannanie, she's not too shy but not too hyper. She gets along with everyone in the group. She's like the goldilocks, just right.
Maggie
The biggest of the girls, though we don't know how. She must secretly be hoarding snacks and keeping them away from Luna the snatcher! Also hard to believe because she's probably the only other user of the rat wheel and the most frequent user! It's her favourite activity! She loves free roam in the play pen.
The Disney Boys
Toothless, Rizzo, Emile, Hewey, Scar, Captain Hook and Ears
If you've been following their rescue on Instagram and facebook then you know they were all going to be frozen for snake food, and our friends in the rescue community just couldn't let that happen to these adorable rats! We partnered with Teeny Snoots Rat Rescue, and Jenny Sweet Rats to get these precious critters!
We decided to name this group all Disney themed names because we love Disney! They are ALL the SWEETEST and most SOCIAL rats I've ever met! Collectively as a group, there isn't a single one that isn't friendly and cuddly! They are a rescue owners DREAM! We can't wait to see them grow! Keep following along for more video updates on our socials and consider donating to their care by becoming a sponsor!
Charlie - The Lone Wolf
Charlie
One of our newest residents, about a year old at best guess, and the worst story of all. He was surrendered by a lovely woman who rescued him from a hoarders apartment. Charlie and multiple other rats had been living there, amongst the piles and piles of garbage, clutter, and rotting compost. We offered to help clean out his apartment, in attempts to find the others, but they were sadly nowhere to be found. In the process of our search, we found the little nests throughout the apartment where the rats were living. Bits of dirty clothes, rotting food with nibbles out of it, old paper, and smells so bad you wouldn't even imagine. Despite his past, Charlie is incredibly trusting, so loving, and so gentle. Very easy going, and all he wants to do for the rest of his life is hangout with his humans in their pockets, and we're ok with that. He's been through so much, and has settled in here so well, that we decided he was going to stay a permanent sanctuary resident. We hope to integrate him with some of our other boys soon, but so far he has shown no interest in other rats.
Ziggy, Morris and Kahlua - The Backyard Boys
The last of our backyard boys, these two lovely rats are going to be remaining as residents of the rescue.
Ziggy was almost adopted out with a few of his brothers but that morning, we were checking on him and noticed his eye looked abnormal. We took him to the vet immediately and discovered he had a corneal ulcer which was both extremely painful and dangerous as if left untreated for any longer, he could have lost his eye. Thanks to our amazing vet team and donations, we were able to get him treatment quickly and much to everyone's surprise, as even the vet thought removal of the eye was almost certain, he responded so well to the meds and is doing great!
Morris is best buds with Ziggy and we had always intended on keeping him as a resident because we formed a special connection with him as he was growing up in our care. These two will now live amazing lives together at the rescue with help from their sponsors.
In Loving Memmory
Moo Moo
We're sure you've all been following Mooshie's long journey on Instagram over the 8 months that she was with us. She is a very special girl, and is very dearly missed. Stay tuned for more information once we get the chance to do her story justice.
Jack Jack
Our sweetest little tiny dancer, the spinning toddler, who left us far far too soon. He came as part of the big Toronto feeder breeder rescue, along with the rest of "the ones who lived" (detailed story above). Unfortunately it appeared that he had some pretty severe brain damage. We're not sure why, maybe he was born with it, or maybe it was some sort of trauma he suffered before he came to us. We tried our best to do everything we could for him, and he enjoyed his time here while it lasted, but sadly, he just wasn't meant for this life. We are heartbroken, and really hope he returns someday soon in another form, ready to live the full life that he deserves!
Henry & Phoebo
Henry the gentle giant, who joined us in spirit Jan 2023 after a very hard fought battle against health issues after health issue.
This is our oldest pair at 3.5+ years old. They've had a tough go. We are at least their 4th or 5th home so far, and we vowed to be their last. They were surrendered to us from someone who hadn't even given them names, and didn't care where they ended up. He was wanting to surrender them because he wanted younger, cuter, "better", more playful pets. They didn't care to give these lovely elderly boys the care and love they deserve, and we can't understand why because they are such gentle giants. The sweetest, calmest, and most well behaved of our current rats. We tried to integrate them with the quartet, which worked really well for about 6 weeks, but after Cocoa-George unexpectedly (and maybe accidentally) bit Henry so bad he almost bled to death, we went back to separate enclosures for everyone's safety!
UPDATE: Sadly Henry is now in the spirit world, he was a very old man, that had a string of health issues one after another (severe constipation with ? parasite infection, respiratory infection, choking and aspiration pneumonia...and while he had turned the corner and was still recovering, doing well...his frail body just couldn't take it anymore and he passed peacefully at home surrounded by his humans and his brother).
Phoebo is adjusting VERY well to life on his own. He developed a 2 separate nasty abscesses on his neck, and cheek that required a couple vet appointments, some teeth trims, and a lot of perseverance! He's just the class clown now, our "hot mess", not able to groom himself because his mouth still hurts a bit, so he just mows down on his mashed food, covering himself in it, happy as can be, and waiting for his post-snack bath :) He is also a frail old man now, but a very happy old man despite his health challenges. He puts a smile on our face every day, and we hope he continues to for a while longer!
UPDATE: As many know from following Phoebo's journey on instagram, he has now passed but not before squeezing every little bit out of his life. He is our rockstar and spent his old age bathing in all the soft foods we could make and cuddling with his new buddies Uzu and Joey until he joined back with Henry across the rainbow bridge. You will be missed by so many Phoebo but will always remain in our hearts.
Earl Grey & JJ
Our Gentle Giant. Earl is the sweetest boy in the world. No matter what time of day, he knows when someone is coming and is always the first one at the door waiting to come out and cuddle with his mamas. Earl Grey is also quite accident prone!...He has cut his feet numerous times (on what, I have no idea!), and ripped one of his toenails off twice!
One day we noticed something weird about his shoulder. It almost looked like he has dislocated it and seemed like he was in pain. We immediately took him in for an x-ray which gave us news we did not expect. He was diagnosed with bone cancer and the mass we thought was maybe a bone out of place was a giant tumour that grew extremely quickly, as those types of cancers do. After that, he only had a few more days with us as his cancer progressed very quickly and painfully. He was kept as comfortable as possible for as long as we could and given all the love and snacks in the world. Earl will always be the big brother figure at Frankies world and he is missed dearly.
Uzu
An older fella who is paralyzed in his back legs from hind leg degeneration but that doesn't stop him from loving free roam and playing in his Cheese! He lives alone but still has plenty of fun ad you can see. Mama S calls him Jaws because instead of being able to run away, he uses his mouth to protect himself. but if you're not putting your hand in front of his face within chomping distance, he's super sweet.
He a super smart boy and loves enrichment puzzles! He solves them almost immediately! Faster than any dog or cat we've ever given them to! He's our little genius.
He sadly passed away unexpectedly the same day as Coco George. We are not sure what happened. He was recovering well from a lumpectomy and One minute he was fine and the next we went to check on him and he was gone. It was a very heartbreaking loss.
Jupiter
Frankie had happily been a lone wolf since her sister Phoebe passed away and after Poppy had no interest in bonding with her. We thought we'd try one more time and adopted Poppy. She came from a loving home where her cage mate had suffered a stroke and could no longer play with Jupiter and wanted to be left alone. We thought that Jupiter would bond with Frankie well with them both having had tragic events happen to their sisters. Unfortunately Frankie wasn't interested in trying to bond with another rat. However, when the rest of the girls came along Jupiter found her new family! At first the girls were a bit unsure of Jupiter. She was still a bit of a loner and could be found sleeping away from the rest of the girls or playing on her own. After a while, they all got used to each other and the sisters adopted Jupiter into their family.
Char Char (Charlotte) & Lucy
You can sum up Charlottes personality by thinking of that nice little old lady in your life that's kind to everyone and always doing more than you think she should be capable of. Her and her sister Lucy were surrendered by a girl who was moving away to university. She's a sleeve rat through and through! You're wearing a sweater? She's in your sleeve.
For the last couple months of her life, she became paralyzed in her back legs because of what we later found out was likely cancer. But that didn't stop her from doing all the same things she always did. She lived an amazing life here at Frankie's world and is missed by all her sisters and moms.
Lucy was very similar to Charlotte but was the sneaky one of the Duo. Just when you think she's cosying into your lap for a nice nap, you realize she's chewed a GIANT hole in your PJ pants in les than 30 seconds! But what's life without rat made holes in all your clothing? Not one I want to experience! Rat's make everything better and are always giving you a good story to tell!
Lucy passed suddenly after initially recovering from a respiratory infection. One day she went into respiratory distress that we think was heart failure secondly to pneumonia. Right till the last breath she was loving her snacks! She passed with a piece of food she was snacking on still in her little paws. That's something we will never forget.
Quinn
Such a sweet baby girl! We only got to spend 8 months with her but she had an amazing 8 months! Unfortunately, we only really started to get to know her 1 on 1 during the month that she was critically ill in and out of hospital. We learned a lot from Quinn. She was our first real experience with a really sick rat and trying to navigate getting proper veterinary care for a rodent. She had severe pneumonia requiring oxygen for almost a month. We were told her chances of survival were slim to none and that we should consider euthanasia. Quinn was still very much showing us that she wanted to fight and was in it for the long haul. We were able to acquire a home oxygen set up so she didn't have to stay in the ICU 2 hours from home. Once in her home environment, she started to recover almost immediately. She was almost fully weaned off her oxygen and doing fantastic when a freak accident took her from us. We're sad that we lost Quinn and could have done more for her but at the same time, what we learned from her has helped us save numerous other rats in similar conditions.
Tommy
Tommy is the newest addition to the mini rat clan and he integrated so well with Freddie and Nelson. He made his way to Frankie's world from a lovely family who had him and another mini rat who unfortunately passed away. Following the loss of his casemate, Tommy was seemingly depressed over the loss and the family was not yet ready to adopt some new rats. They wanted him to go to a loving home and we of course said a big YES! From the second we picked him up, he was the cuddliest little boy and is now super happy being part of the three musketeers! We're so happy to have him here.
Poppy
Poppy came to us after the passing of Phoebe. We adopted her as she was on her own and we thought her and Frankie would bond together however when we tried to integrate them, Poppy had no interest! But that's ok because she had the most amazing life with us!
Frankie and Phoebe
THE REASON WE ARE ALL HERE!! The founders, the inspiration behind it all. Our first ever rats, rescued from a sketchy couple on Kijiji when they were 6 months old, these girls were the light of our lives, and still are. Everything we do, we do because of them, and in honour of them. They changed our lives forever, and we are so glad they did.
