Ivar
Born April?, 2014
Black variberk baldie dumbo velveteen
Ivar is a special rat. He was born with very tiny, vestigial eyes that have rendered him completely blind. He was born in a feeder breeder bin, in very poor conditions, and was rescued, along with his mom and siblings, by some wonderful folks in Portland who gave them all a second chance at a good life. They were all malnourished and covered in parasites and required a number of weeks of special care by their fosterers to get clean and plump and healthy again. Ivar has grown into a big, husky, plush guy and his lack of vision does not slow him down or make him unhappy one little bit. He's the boss of his cage and lives to decorate with tissue and corn husks and whatever other building material he can lay his little pink paws on. One of our favorite games with Ivar is to hand him tissues or towelling strips at the bottom door of his two-story cage so he can bound up the ramps with the bedding material in his teeth and then add his prize to his architectural creation. One does have to be careful not to startle him and to make sure he hears and smells and senses with his whiskers where you are before you offer him your hand to sniff or arm to climb out on. Once he knows you're there, he loves a good head and back massage.
He lives with Homer, also blind, and M. Gustave, who has his sight. They do love to tussle but, just as often, I find them all curled up in a pile together, either in the hammock or in the middle of Ivar's giant tissue nest.
In his tissue box lair.
Getting in poor Homer's face. Ivar is not good about boundaries.
All appears to be forgiven, though.
Mmmmm, cheerios.
And now, it's naptime!