The Natural Rat

Carrot/Nettle Soup

2011-04-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

Carrot/Nettle Soup

1 tomato
1 carrot
2 cups nettle leaf
1 dessertspoon olive oil
2 tsp pumpkin seeds
1/4tsp thyme
dash turmeric
1/2 clove garlic
1 tsp miso

Pour boiled water over the nettles and leave to steep for 5 mins. Strain the nettles but keep the water. Put all of the above in a blender with the nettles and add 1 cup hot water (nettle soak water) and blend until smooth.

Season with your own preference of herbs but my rats and I both like thyme.

I also like to add a little seaweed to the soup as a garnish such as dulse or mixed sea veg.

You can use some pine nuts in place of the pumpkin seed if you like.

Natural Treats

2011-01-08T04:37:00.001-08:00

We all had a lovely xmas and the rats had some tasty healthy treats such as the ratty xmas cakes I make and sell and also the raw pasta xmas trees which are always a favourite.

We had a minor mishap too with one of the girls being attacked by another girl. It was over territory and the girl had to go and get stiches. It took her about a week to heal and get back to herself after the surgery. The vets were wonderful. I gave her Arnica to help with healing and hypericum which also helps to control pain after surgery. She also got lots of green smoothie and nice vitamin C drinks.

We also have a new addition to our rat family. Sister in law had one doe left over after losing the others in the group. So, we now have 5 lovely does.

She has settled in well.

Natural Therapies

2010-09-22T04:08:00.000-07:00

We lost our dear Coco on Friday due to pneumonia which she had for a week. This girl was remarkable in that she got a mammary lump when she was 2 and managed to come through two infections that left her lame twice when I thought we were going to lose her. Then, to my surprise she would be up and about playing again after she got back on her feet. She died 6 months after the lump appeared. I used homeopathy, gemmotherapy, herbs and raw food. All these natural treatments could be seen to be working each time I used them and I know that we got 'extra' time with her because of them. She did however receive 'drugs' in February for a virus that took her friends and we thought we were going to lose her too. Did the drugs have anything to do with her developing a mammary tumour two months later? I wonder.

Anyway, I think she would still have kept going if it hadn't been for the dramatic weight loss in the last week due to the infection. The infection was clearing up but she had just lost too much ground weightwise. We had to euthanise and she left peacefully.

What a resilient wonderful girl who loved life and bounced back on more than one occasion. xxx

Blueberry Jelo

2010-07-30T05:16:00.000-07:00

Blueberries are high in anti-oxidants and vitamin C. They can be a little tart sometimes so I like to make this jelo to use them up and sweeten it with a little banana for my rats to enjoy. It can also be made with nice plump sweet ones.

2 handfuls (50g)blueberries
1 banana
1 tsp coconut oil or 2 macademia nuts
1cm piece of vanilla pod
2oz water

Blend all the above in the blender until smooth. Pour into rat serving bowls, moulds or ice cube trays and set in the fridge/freezer. You can freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays for another day!

Celebration/Birthday Cake for Rats!!

2010-06-12T05:40:00.000-07:00

50grams of each of the dry ingredients below

gojiberries
sesame seeds or almonds
flaxseed
coconut

Grind them up and place in the food processor. Soak a handful sun-dried raisins in warm water for 10 minutes. Drain the water and add the raisins to the food processor and process with the dried nuts/seeds. Whilst the processor is running, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons spirulina (opt), 2 tsp agave syrup or 1 tsp raw honey and a pinch of cinnamon. The result should be a sticky dough. Mould pieces of the mixture into donut-sized cakes. Keep refrigerated and use within 2 weeks.

Optional icing:-

2 tablespoons coconut butter, melted
Lucuma
1 walnut

Whisk in a tablespoon of lucuma at a time to the coconut butter until it resembles a thick sauce. Pour over cakes and sprinkle on poppy or sesame seeds, decorate with the walnut on top. Place in the freezer until icing sets. Wrap the cakes in greaseproof paper and keep refrigerated. Use within 2 weeks.

Little Energy Bombs!!!

2010-05-31T06:34:00.001-07:00

Rats are well known for their speed, agility and capacity for play. They need a good hour or two a day where they can just let off steam and roam around your house for a bit, jumping, chasing, climbing etc. However, I have seen rats fed a cooked diet where they also eat a fair bit of raw food and then they move over to an ALL raw diet and their energy levels soar within just a few days. Not only their energy levels increase but their coats condition improves and their eyes become very bright. I'm not saying you can't achieve this on a very healthy cooked diet but it's just what I've seen in my own experience with rats fed all raw, especially lazy bucks!

Welcome

2009-01-01T03:12:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to The Raw Rats. I set up this space here to share with you how we feed our pet rats on an all raw, living foods diet. The information here is given freely to study and apply as you wish. I also have a website called The Natural Rat where you can learn more about the diet I feed my rats.