Rat people stick together. We're kinda ostracized, sometimes (you have a what for a pet?), and it's sometimes hard to find a good rat vet (for instance, that's probably not blood coming from your rat's nose) and...well, rat discussion lists are a support group. You come to know your fellow rat people, you come to know their rats, and we understand the heartbreak when someone loses a rat (Yes, heartbreak. Haven't you cried when a beloved dog or cat died? Same thing.).
A lot of rat discussion groups have off-topic areas, and on one of them someone brought up this article that discusses how one school has banned peanut butter because of one child who is allergic to it.
I'm not going to discuss the rightness or wrongness of a school banning peanut butter for one kid, nor wonder why so many kids these days are allergic to darn near everything--except to advocate that, if you have kids, take away the hypoallergenic toys and start feeding them a teaspoon of dirt every day, so they can build up their immune systems--but I am going to discuss my love affair with Peanut Butter.
James, over at the Parkway Rest Stop posted about his love affair here, and has apparently eaten peanut butter since the day he was born. Me? Funny thing is, is I really didn't like it as a kid.
Can't explain why I didn't like it when I was younger, or why I suddenly started liking it. It started sometime after my parents moved out of the house, and my roommate bought a jar of peanut butter, some bread, and some grape jelly. I ate a sandwich and I was back in Hawaii, a kid on his brand-new bicycle, coming in for lunch and Mom giving me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk.
(Oh, I always like peanut butter and jelly, but peanut butter by itself? No way!)
But this newly on-his-own adult had to clean the spoon somehow, so he stuck it in his mouth.
Oh. My. Maybe peanut butter was inferior back in the '60's, or maybe the base comissary had crappy peanut butter--whatever it was, it was nothing like this. This was sweet, this was wonderful, this was heaven in my mouth! We had always had smooth peanut butter, but this was crunchy peanut butter made with honey-roasted nuts, and it was heaven!
I stuck the spoon back into the jar (the trained food-sanitation guy on my shoulder apparently having fainted in ecstasy) once, twice, three or four times, until the trained food-sanitation guy on my shoulder regained consciousness and I put the lid back on the peanut butter and put it away. No, I didn't tell my roommate I had quadruple-dipped, and I'm reasonably sure he's alive and well to this day.
Anyway. Crunchy honey-roast became a staple in my larder, at least until my cholesterol stayed sky-high for awhile and the gf started getting natural peanut butter--which tastes fine, don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. It's just not made with honey-roasted nuts.
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is still a great fast breakfast; a spoonful of peanut butter (I'm back to single-dipping) is a great hunger calmer-downer.
Mixing medicine with peanut butter is a good way to give your rats their medicine. Suffice it to say, Ethel doesn't like peanut butter.
So, no real point, except to say that I Love Peanut Butter.
Oh, and click here. It's work-safe, but turn the sound down.
Posted by Victor at Septiembre 22, 2003 12:21 PM(for instance, that's probably not blood coming from your rat's nose)
What is coming from your rat's nose?
Posted by: Jennifer at Septiembre 22, 2003 12:53 PMSo, do the RATS like peanut butter? That's the question.
Posted by: hln at Septiembre 22, 2003 01:03 PMApparently...if that's how you get them to take their meds. :-)
Posted by: Jennifer at Septiembre 22, 2003 01:06 PMJen, the red discharge that one may find coming from a rat's nose or eyes is called porphyrin. You usually see it when your rat is stressed out. I'll post more about it later.
Others on our rat lists have used peanut butter; the gf and I use Coco Lopez Creme de Coconut or Coco Lopez Piņa Colada mix.
Posted by: Victor at Septiembre 22, 2003 01:40 PMWell, just because the rats EAT the peanut butter doesn't mean they LIKE the peanut butter.
Maybe the rat tried the peanut butter once out of curiosity and found himself addicted but doesn't really LIKE the peanut butter. I was more looking for scientific studies Victor did with his rats and peanut butter and other silliness. Perhaps peanut butter incites the rats to dance the hora. I dunno :)
I'd imagine it's more interesting than rat food, at any rate. (The hora and peanut butter).
I should work - my poor brain is on creative overload here, and I'm scaring your readership, Victor.
hln
Posted by: hln at Septiembre 22, 2003 02:41 PMThanks, Victor. And very creative, Heather. :-)
Posted by: Jennifer at Septiembre 22, 2003 02:46 PMIt warms my heart to see that you eventually came to appreciate the true joys of eating peanut butter. Oh, and, by the way -- strange coincidence. Prior to becoming a laweyr, I spent 11 years working with rats (the four legged ones) in a psychopharmacology lab. I can tell you that rats certainly appear to like peanut butter a lot. However, they definitely love cocaine.
Posted by: Parkway Rest Stop at Septiembre 22, 2003 11:12 PM