Why Sponsor Our Rat Residents?

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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.

Moose has joined the permanent resident clan because although we had been working on getting him more comfortable with people and he was making progress letting us hold him, he started having frequent severe nose bleeds. We've never had a rat with nose bleeds before and so we decided it was best for his care to stay at the rescue where he can be sure to get the appropriate prevention, and treatment of his bleeding condition. 

A strong old lady. From a terrible home for much of her life, to Frankie's World where she got adopted with sister Stella to an AMAZING forever home, to getting surgery for a mammary tumor, then back to the rescue, then loosing her sister...She's been through a lot. Unexpected circumstances brought her back, when her sister Stella developed a brain tumor and severe malloclusion of her teeth needing frequent trims that just aren't possible or practical for most rat humans, so they came back together. Luna also had developed 2 more mammary tumors, and we were assessing her for surgery. Sadly, due to her overall frailty, we decided to not get the surgery, and let her live out her life in comfort and luxury at the rescue with her new sisters Aloe and Vera who are lumpy just like her:) We have her on medication to help slow/shrink the tumors, they're quite large and in her groin so they do get in the way, but she's doing well so far and is happy, so we're happy. 

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!

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. 

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. 

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.

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! For the last few months of her life, she had something going on with her lungs, likely to be fluid overload from failing kidneys which is common in rats. She was living in our oxygen incubator to help her breathe and keep her comfortable for as long as she showed us she still wanted to stick aroung (which was an impressively long time!). 

Nora

Nora left us a few days after we celebrated her 3rd birthday 🎂. She had been loosing weight and slowing down for a little while, and recently had started bleeding quite a bit from her vagina. She had had pyometra in the past so we treated it with antibiotics to see if that’s what it was again, but that didn’t make a difference this time. Given the bleeding and her weight loss, we suspect it was some sort of uterine cancer 😢. She was happy and comfortable right to the end, and she had an amazing life. She was part of someone’s oopsie litter of 6 girls who were some of our original residents. She loved her life here from age 6 months to 3 years, and never knew pain and suffering like many of the rats that come through here. Her and her 8 cagemates had their own room for the first year or so, free roaming 24/7. When we expanded, they moved into the big rat room with everyone else. In her final months though, her and sisters Annabelle and Luna got to live a special life in Frankie’s Room ❤️. They had the whole room to themselves with all the toys and hides and snacks they could dream of. Annabelle was a great caretaker in her later days, often biting me when I’d try to pet her, as if saying “No! Nora needs to rest now!” 🥰. Nora was always the young and healthy looking one, even until soon before her death. We thought she’d be the one to live the longest life ever. Her mind was always still there, but her body unfortunately failed her in the end. We’re so grateful for all the great times and special memories formed with Nora, and she will live on in the history of Frankie’s World. We now only have 2 originals left, Nora’s last sister Annabelle with the pituitary tumor who is kicking ass, and mini rat Nelson. We hope these two stick with us for as long as they can ❤️. We love and miss you Nora, Always Always ❤️🐀🐁. .

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.

When we found Charlie he was 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 was 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 settled in here so well, that we decided he was going to stay a permanent sanctuary resident. He spent his life free roaming the rat room and finding the cutest places to nestle in for a nap. He was the only rat who got that privilege because he knew his name and would come to us when called! He also LOVED cuddles! In his old age, his back legs were starting to fail a bit so he was living on bed in the rat room so he didn't try to climb and accidentally fall. Anytime we made an appearance in the room, there was Charlie waiting for snuggles! We have never seen a rat more needy for cuddles and scratches he just always wanted to be pet. He lived a very full life with us and we absolutely loved every second of it!