Frankie’s World Rescue

03/14/2025

Can everyone HELP US in wishing Elena the HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS! 🥳🥳🥳

Elena joined us in running our Burlington location and our rescue could not function without all she does for us and most importantly for the rats! She is a GEM and deserves all the love on her birthday 🎂🎉🎁🎊

03/06/2025

Meet moms Tofu(beige), and Nori (black), and their daughters Unagi(brown), and Soba(brown). Fostered in Guelph, looking for their forever home! Mamma’s are sweet and friendly, around 9 months old. Babies are friendly, a bit skittish and don’t like being handled much yet(they may be half wild 🤷🏻‍♀️), but crawl on their foster mom for treats 😋 . They were born in October, where they were living in a hamster cage,” rescued” by a lady who found them in a dumpster, but wouldn’t take proper care of them. 20 rats living in. HAMSTER CAGE?! 😡. Luckily we got them out in time that the babies didn’t start having babies, but because they weren’t handled for the first five weeks of their lives, that’s why the little ones are a bit of a work in progress 🙏. Fill out an application on our website (link in bio) if you’re interested in bringing some, or all of these ladies into your life 🐀🏡

03/02/2025

🌈 My sweet Sparrow ❤️‍🩹. I tried so very hard to save you my little one. I’ve never had to work so hard for so many hours straight, essentially being your “life support “as my partner describes it. It’s hard when you’re the one having to play ALL the roles. The doctor(human, trying my best to use what I’ve learned from previous Rats and vets, and applying my knowledge from another species the best I can), trying to figure out what’s going on, the nurse administering medication and monitoring them almost constantly, and the life support machines. Constantly adjusting the O2 flow rate, the ventilation rate to control the CO2 levels, etc. etc. With humans, and with other species of animals, either they’re in hospital in an ICU with dedicated staff who only work up to 12 hours at a time, and machines that can do a lot of of these things, that’s just not available for Rats, but doesn’t mean there are any less deserving. If a human develops pneumonia, you take them to the hospital and somebody fixes them. If a rat develops pneumonia, either they die, euthanasia is suggested, or people like me have to work their butts off to DIY things at home, to give them the care they need, for a condition that should not be a death sentence, and isn’t if treated properly. I suspected Sparrow had a severe sinus infection, that progressed to pneumonia. The initial postmortem results confirm that. She had a defect in her nasal bones, a fistula allowing passage of material from her mouth into her sinuses. Probably the result of a tooth root infection, secondary to her lifetime of severe malocclusion 🦷. I’m anxious to see what the rest of the results show. I learned a lot from you Sparrow, and along with the help of ChatGPT teaching me the physics/chemistry of oxygen and carbon dioxide properties, and principles of gas exchange, I will be able to better manage Rats on oxygen in the future. You always have to be careful the information you get, but in my experience so far, ChatGPT has been a lifesaver! Use it as an initial tool to give you ideas, and suggest things for you to ask your vet team ❤️‍🩹.

02/26/2025

How cute are these girls!!!

We can't get over how adorable these girls from our recent hoarding rescue are! They will be available to adopt from March 5th! They're already super friendly and outgoing! They can be reserved anytime by filling out an adoption application on our website 🥰 (link in bio)

02/20/2025

These boys have been waiting a long time for a forever home! Please give them a chance 🥰

🚨 URGENT 🚨
Deadline: March 1st
Location: Vaughan

HELP! Omar and Bill are looking for a quiet, patient, rat experienced home. These two were rescued from a horrible abusive situation. They came in with over 50 rats and watched their brothers and sisters get adopted while they got passed over. They are shy, and prefer each other’s company. After all they have been through, can you blame them?

They may not be cuddly, but they always show their foster mom gratitude for every treat, toy and cage cleaning.

Through no fault of their own they are losing their foster home due to a move. We really don’t want them to end up in another temporary situation. So, we are offering a ✨ SPECIAL ADOPTION FEE OF $25 ✨for all of February. We are also suggesting anyone applying to participate in our foster to adopt program.

We are looking for a rat experienced home that is prepared to help the boys with their socialization or a family that understands they are the type of cuties that will forever require space and love on their own terms.

For more info please check out: https://allcreaturesrescue.ca/rats-1 #/omarandbill/

Please share them so they can get the second chance they deserve! ❤️

^my

02/18/2025

🌈Parlsey, my sweet girl. Such a fighter, but the brain tumor and severe dehydration was too much in the end. Parsley and Basil were surrendered Dec 2023, their human had to go back to his home country for a while and didn’t know if/when he would be back. The girls stayed with us, and have been wonderful little companions. Around xmas time, I noticed the pituitary tumor symptoms. A bit off balance, hesitant with things, and choking. Rats almost NEVER choke, unless they have a brain tumor. So she was started on Bromocriptine, and had intermittent doses of dexamethasone, and she started to improve initially, but then worsened again. We switched to Cabergoline instead, but she REFUSED it. I couldn’t even get her to take it by syringe, and I consider myself an expert at syringe feeding rats. So I did some research and determined that there actually is NO MAXIMUM dose of Bromocriptine for PTs. Toxicity studied failed because even at the MAX dose that could physically possibly be administered to rats, 80% were alive 2 years later. So I started increasing her dose daily, until there was a desired effect…. AND SHE IMPROVED!! She was steadily improving as I increased (she was up to 40mg/kg. The typical dose prescribed is 3mg/kg!). Sadly though, she developed malocclusion of her teeth, and wouldn’t eat for a day or two. I was feeding her as much as I could, and tried to trim her teeth, eventually successful at it, but by then she was SEVERELY dehydrated. I started rehydrating her with frequent subcutaneous fluid injections, and she started wanting to eat more, but she then passed peacefully. Dehydration is very dangerous, and I didn’t realize just how dehydrated she was unfortunately. Brain tumors can also worsen dehydration and change fluid requirements, so that didn’t help. We LEARNED a lot from her. About the degrees of dehydration in rats, AND about the approach to using Bromocriptine for PT management! This is a GAME CHANGER! So many rats who will get to live much longer by using doses as high as they need, instead of sticking to the arbitrary 3mg/kg. ASK YOUR VET if you have a rat who isn’t responding, and ask they they look it up! Will post study on website soon!

01/31/2025

Clove, a very special girl💔🌈. The FIRST rat to enter AND leave this world here. Born here to a pregnant mom surrender. Due to her cleft lip & suspected dental issues, she was a permanent resident & joined “the crazy ladies” (Panzer, Penny, Pistachio, Prue, Hope, Aloe, Vera) as their littlest crazy sister 🥰. She was ALWAYS full of energy & s***k, ALWAYS wanted out of the cage to play 💕. Sadly she developed a mammary tumour about 5mo ago, and it grew so fast that by the time we were able to book her appointments, it was quite large and a risky procedure. We were planning to take her to an exotic specialist in Toronto after we had the unfortunate surgical losses of Prue and Panzer, because they have more resources even though our local vet is FANTASTIC and we’ve had lots of successful surgeries with her. The day before her consultation though, she displayed obvious pituitary tumour symptoms 😭. She had been acting a bit odd for a couple weeks, skittish & afraid of me. I didn’t suspect PT initially, but then when she suddenly couldn’t walk or hold food, it was obvious. PTs can be so subtle initially, have a high index of suspicion if there’s an obvious personality change! We got her on Bromocriptine & dexamethasoneASAP, and she initially responded quite well, back to normal. Unfortunately though, about 2 weeks ago she stopped responding to the meds as well, and her symptoms progressed. I increased the dose of her bromocriptine, and it did help initially, as it has been helping with Parsley also. As far as I know there’s no documented evidence/recommendations for increasing the dose, it’s usually prescribed as 3mg/kg daily, there’s no listed dose range. BUT, when rats are dying anyway, sometimes you try things. I did research in consult with our vet, and found that human studies on rats trying to find the lethal dose of Bromo, essentially failed because even at 1000x the “normal” dose, there were no major side effects and 80% of the rats were alive after 2 years! Sadly though, we lost Clove suddenly 3 days ago:( With brain tumors, even if they appear “well” they are always at risk of sudden death💔. So young, so special, always with us. Always Always Clove💕🐀.

01/30/2025

Nelson, a LEGEND, always ALWAYS💔🌈. The FIRST surrender to Frankie’s World when we opened in Sept 2021(we “officially” founded our organization April 2022, but started prior to that) along with brother Freddie. They were 9 mo old at the time, surrendered from a family who had young kids and not enough time for them as they’d hoped. We FELL IN LOVE and decided pretty quick that they’d be permanent residents. Typically we mostly keep ones that have to stay for medical reasons, but dwarfs aren’t common in rescue so we wanted the experience. They were crowd pleasers from the start with their always photogenic baby faces 🥰. Nel spent 3yr and 5mo at FW, our longest resident by far. Freddie passed 1.5yr ago, and Nel had various other buddies thereafter. First it was Dewey, Louis, and Stewey, who we integrated as babies when they were the same size, hoping they’d be ok once they were full grown standard sized rats. It did NOT turn out ok, but it was because Nelson was beating up the big guys!! So scrappy!! He was alone for a bit, and started showing his age and slowing down. Then Peanut and Patch came along, babies surrendered who we thought were dwarfs, but turned out to be regular as well. Nelson LOVED them though, and they brought out the young man in him and he had a new spice for life these last 7 months 😃. Perfectly healthy his whole life, until last month when he was diagnosed with a Pituitary Tumor 💔😭. We hoped he would get 6+ months like Annabelle did, but sadly he didn’t respond to the meds like he should have, so he left us too soon, last night, surrounded by his family, not in any pain or suffering. You’ll be greatly missed little old man, by everyone who you shared your life with. I will always be grateful for your presence and companionship in my life and in Frankie’s World. Love you Nellie, Always Always 💕.

01/23/2025

My beautiful little boy 💕. Taken last May when Scoobs and I really started developing a very deep bond, after he lost his brother, and while he fought for his life for the next couple months. I slept beside him, beside his incubator on the bed in the rat room. I spent most of my waking hours next to him, watching him like a hawk, giving him buffet upon buffet, making sure he knew he was loved and supported and not at all alone. I truly believe that our presence matters in their lives, especially when they are unwell. Knowing they’re not alone and that they have you fighting and pulling for them makes a huge difference in their outcomes. They know when you’re the ones that have saved their life, and they spend the rest of their life showing you how grateful they are. I was Scoobs favourite creature from then on. He was a huge mama‘s boy, who would tolerate some of the other people in my life, had zero interest in strangers, and hated it when I went away even for a night (which is super rare for me to begin with). We had our special bond in our special daily routines and habits that I will miss dearly and cherish the memories of forever 💕. Love you always always Scooby Scoobs 💕🐀

01/20/2025

My heart and my home has a Scoobs sized hole in it that neither of us were ready for 💔. My first male heart rat, and the most resilient, strong, brave man I know. I have a phone FULL of amazing moments and memories with you little man, and I can’t wait to make some videos that showcase the amazing life you had, and the amazing soul you are. For now I will say that I miss you so much, I’m sorry you left too soon (what felt like too soon, you were around 3 years old which is incredible given your story), I’m sorry if I should or could have done something sooner, I’m proud of you for everything you went through this last week, fighting until the very end, wanting more than anything to live and get your life back, and for being brave when the time came to join your brother Scraggles. You’ll always have an extra special place in my heart and in Frankie’s World. My first naked rat, my amazing little mamma’s boy, I LOVE YOU, ALWAYS ALWAYS 💕.

01/07/2025

Clove ❤️‍🩹. After a really rough month, and couple months of losing all of her sisters, and being the last of the 10 “crazy ladies”, now she has a pituitary tumour as well. These are so incredibly common in Rats, it’s devastating. Typically they’re more common the older they get, Clove is only 19 mo old, so this really sucks. We had just been making plans to get her mammary tumour removed, I had an appointment booked at the exotic specialist in the city on Thursday, and then had to cancel it today after discovering that she indeed has a PT. She had been acting super weird for a couple days, but she wasn’t showing any balance or coordination issues really, just shy, skittish, staying in her cage when normally she is running all over. Then last night she was not able to walk very well, could not hold her head up, grab anything, hands stuck in fists, not able to eat unless syringe fed puréed food. I gave her a dose of dexamethasone(1mg/kg) as well as Bromocriptine(3mg/kg), and this morning she was running again. It’s so important to try these medications on any Rat that has anything remotely neurological going on, or any odd behaviour that you can’t figure out, because it’s pretty low risk, and you only need a couple days to know if it’ll work. If it works, then you know it was a PT, if it doesn’t, then you know at least you’ve ruled out something treatable ❤️‍🩹. Clove wasn’t even as bad as Penny was when she first showed symptoms and could barely move at all. Most people would think that’s the point to consider euthanasia. If I took her to a vet that would likely be the recommendation if they didn’t have a lot of experience with PTs, and know how quickly they can respond to medications with frankly miraculous outcomes. We’re thankful for the experience we have, to know that even the most severe symptoms can be reversed, quite quickly, if you know to suspect a PT. If your rat fits this description, ask your vet about PTs and treating with Dexamethasone and Bromocriptine, because it can extend quality life for many months ❤️‍🩹. Love you Clove 🫂🐀.

01/04/2025

We could not have asked for better brothers for Nelson! No one can replace Freddie and Tommy but these boys have taken the job of big (little) brother seriously!

When we came across Peanut, Patch and a couple other boys, we thought they were all dwarf rats like Nelson because they were sooooo tiny for their age! Although they're not full grown male rats, they're definitely not Nelson sized but they make the absolute best cuddlers for both Nelson and us!

Scroll to see them all curled up together! With Nelson not feeling himself lately, Patch and Peanut have been glued to his side giving him snuggles wherever he goes and making sure he's not alone 🥰

01/03/2025

Time for some of our year end stats! We love looking back at the end of each year to reflect on all of our experiences, both positive and negative, the lessons we’ve learned, as well as the accomplishments we’ve made. This year we are proud to say that it’s the first time ever that we’ve broken, even in terms of our expenses vs donations coming in 🎉! We are absolutely over the moon with the incredible support we received this year. That’s allowed us to help so many rats. We try to post about the major situations, and some of our more medically active Rats as well as the permanent residents, but there’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes, and so many more critters that are benefitting greatly from your generous support. Whether it’s one time donations to help us with surgeries, or monthly sponsorships, we appreciate it all, and you all 💕. We’re going to take this month to do some more reflection posts, get caught up on some memorial reels and videos for those special ones that we’ve lost, especially more recently, as well as some highlight reels to recap the amazing stories of 2024, like our naked man Scoobs and his miracle recovery from deaths door. Let’s see what we can accomplish in 2025! You can also look forward to more frequent, educational content and resources as we hope to have more time on our hands than we have in the recent past. It’s been a hard time recently with the losses of all but one (Cleft lip Clove) of our special group of permanent residents who we named “the crazy ladies” (Penny, Panzer, Prue, Pistachio, Hope, Aloe, Vera, Papaya, Poptart), and we appreciate all the messages of love and support that we’ve received. We also appreciate your patience and ongoing support, as well as understanding during this time when we haven’t been posting much on our page or stories. We will get back to showing you the daily adventures of our wonderful world of critters very soon: ) No matter what’s going on with us though, we’re still always happy to help Rats in any way we can, so keep the questions and messages coming, they are never a burden 😊.

12/23/2024

Shadow, Turbo and Tank are looking for their furever home!

Shadow (white dumbo, 1.5yr), Turbo (black hooded, 1.5yr), Tank (Grey, 1 yr) are brothers who are looking for a furever home together!

This trio of boys are very friendly, curious, and love free roaming. Shadow has a partial tail amputation due to necrotic wounds from injuries sustained in his former home. He is healing up nicely and ready for his forever home with his brothers!

If you can give them a home, please fill out an adoption application on our website frankiesworld.ca or follow our linktree.

Please share if you know anyone 🐀❤️🐀❤️🐀

12/16/2024

🥳 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIAH 🥳

Elena and I (Celina) wanted to take today to say our praises about the amazing human behind Frankie's world and wish her a very happy birthday!!!

Mariah founded Frankie's world a few years ago and since then has helped who knows how many rats (we've lost count - hundreds if not thousands) find loving homes and live their best lives! She has dedicated her whole life to helping these misunderstood animals and will stop at nothing to make sure our world is kinder to rats. She is the most dedicated human I have ever seen and is constantly answering your questions or offering help with rats - literally it's 24/7 (even giving out her personal number for emergencies!).

Please join us in wishing Mariah a happy birthday and if you can, it would be amazing if everyone could donate $1 to the rescue to help with all the emergencies we've been dealing with these last few weeks!

12/11/2024

12/06/2024

**ADOPT BABY RATS FROM OUR URGENT RESCUE**

Here's some of the youngsters from our most recent hoarding rescue!! This is still an ongoing situation with multiple rescues and organizations trying to do their best for these rats and we are asking for anyone who can help to offer driving around the gta, fostering, monetary donations and most importantly adopting! These rats, hundreds of rats need forever homes and we can't possibly take in all of them to our already full rescues! If you can adopt groups or add solo rats to your current mischiefs so they can live out happy lives please fill out our adoption application! All adoption fees are waived for adoptions from this rescue mission 🫶🐀❤️

Please share or tag anyone who is looking to adopt rats!