Ivan, Yuri & Dmitri

Top: Dmitri - black irish rex
Right: Yuri - standard black berkshire
Bottom: Ivan - black hooded rex

In June 2003 I adopted three 4-month-old boys from a rattery in Northwestern Ontario.  They were an extremely affectionate and outgoing bunch and always wanted to explore everything all the time!  The boys always really enjoyed playing with toys in their rattie playpen and their toys included a Fisher Price barn and a large plastic igloo.

Yuri:

Yuri: February 7, 2003 - December 13, 2004

Yuri was the largest and most photogenic of the three.  I have to admit that for the first several days I had the boys I thought they all looked a bit 'goofy' because they are all dumbos and have large ears on the sides of their heads.  I quickly got used to their ears though. Yuri was the mischief-maker of the group, always the first to try and get into the couch, explore a new area or jump to places he wasn't supposed to be.  Yuri developed a pituitary tumour with all the classic symptoms including loss of coordination.  He passed away peacefully at home in December.

Ivan:

Ivan: February 7, 2003 - August 16, 2003

Ivan was the smallest of the group.  Indeed, he was picked on a bit by his dad with resulted in some bite marks on his back.  Unfortunately one of these bites turned into a small abscess within a day of me adopting the boys.  Fortunately I was able to successfully treat it myself (more on treating abscesses here) and it cleared up within a week.  Ivan and his 2 brothers got along extremely well though for which I am glad.  I think this might have had something to do with Ivan's special karate-kicking technique during wrestling/boxing matches.  Ivan was the 'squishiest' rattie of the bunch and was the most relaxed.  He developed respiratory problems early in life and unfortunately had an ongoing battle with infections.  He was still a happy boy though and is very missed.

Dmitri:

Dmitri: February 7, 2003 - February 15, 2005

Dmitri was a real cutie who always had a grumpy just-woke-up look about him because of his rex fur.  His whiskers were curly too which I thought was adorable. :)  He really liked the orange hammock that used to hang in the cage.

Speaking of the cage, I bought a Martin's R-695 from martinscages.com - a company in the States.  I have to say that it was worth every penny even though it was pretty expensive and I had to save up for it.  It is a beautiful 4-story powder-coated cage with a top that flips open.  Two large doors are a bonus, as is the plastic tray at the bottom.  I'm thrilled with it.  Below is a photo.

The 3 boys at 4-months old

Ivan and Yuri Dancing

Yuri and 4 months old

Yuri at 5 months old

All 3 boys at 9 months old

Video of  boys (Quicktime)