05/01/01(Updated by Emily)-Today was a fairly uneventful day for the rats. They were measured and cared for in the usual manner. We noticed a slight inflammation and pink color around Err's injection site, but did not notice much differences. He lost approximately 10 g, so we will monitor him closely. Fump, however, had no apparent change. Ironically, she seemed perkier than usual. We will continue to monitor their comditions closely.
04/30/01(Updated by Emily)-Today was the day that we had been waiting for for a several weeks. After many calls to veterinarians and after much brainstorming, Jenn and I felt that we were ready to inject the rats with innoculated samples in order to effectively introduce them to the bacteria. We innoculated test tubes of distilled water with the bacteria gathered from transfers that we had been performing periodically in order to ensure the purity and health of the bacterial colonies. Approximately 6-8 transfers were introduced into the water, which soon became cloudy with the samples. At this point, we mixed the solutions and re-shaved the right hind flanks of both Err and Fump. After the proper sterizilation of the area, 1/2 cc. of each solution was drawn into syringes and injected into the proper rats. Due to the fact that the injection was subcutaneous, we noticed a bubble under the skin of the injected rats, which absorbed thereafter. The procedure went smoothly and quickly, and the rats were returned to their cages shortly after injection. We noticed some discomfort from Err after the injection, and monitored him for a time due to the fact that his skin twitched rapidly after the injection. No changes were noticed. We will continue to monitor their progression for approximately 3-4 days. If no change is noted, we will inject a second time. It is our hope that symptoms develop soon....
04/23/01(Updated by Jenn)-So far we have done nothing else major to the rats. Everyday we take care of them with our normal routine and observe them. The only thing that was really abnormal was a large amount of blood on the inside of Err's cage. We were unable to find the source of this blood and we guess that is could be due to Err licking off the bacteria and have respiratory problems. This is possible, but we have seen no new signs since then. He is gaining weight and appears quite healthy. We also had a couple other problems.
04/09/01(Updated by Emily)-We came into the lab today to find that nothing at all happened to the wounds on the rats. They were completely healed and the skin was unbroken. We are concerned about this, and have decided to inject them with the bacteria subcutaneously. It is our hope that this will allow for more contact with tissue and prevent the rats from licking the bacteria off of the wounds. We hope that this will work because we do not want to inject them IM due to the fact that we will not be able to see any serious physical signs of their infection and will have to post them to discover any problems. Hopefully the subcutaneous will work....
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