my Sisters Rat is Sick

mews2much

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She said he is wobbly and breathing fast.
Here is part of teh Im with my Sister.
bad_kitty2001: oscar breaths weird
mews2much: not good
bad_kitty2001: picky on eating too
mews2much: sounds sick
bad_kitty2001: k
bad_kitty2001: yeah
bad_kitty2001: he goes to scratch and he falls over sometimes
mews2much: will you call vet
bad_kitty2001: weak
mews2much: then he needs a vet
bad_kitty2001: he is washing his face
bad_kitty2001: just a little wobbly
bad_kitty2001: yeah hes falling
She called a Vet and they said next Tues.
Does anyone know of any Vet in the Turlock area that takes Rats?
My Vet here in Modesto dosent take Rats.
 

forensic

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Definitely needs a vet. It's probably myco, so it's treatable, but you need to get to it before it scars the lungs and such.

Can't help with the vet. Tuesday as in tomorrow or next week? Edit: oh, next week... Ech. Can she just call about?
 

bad_kitty2001

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He isnt breathing fast. He is breathing kinda slow. He lives in a 10 gallon tank with the two story adapter. He hardly goes to the bottom now and stays on the top. He is eating now so that's good. I am going to call tomorrow to see if there are any cancellations. I will keep you updated.
 

forensic

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My rats always stay in the top of the cage if at all possible. Plus if he's lacking coordination he won't want to move much. Eating is Very Good though!


With all due respect though, a tank isn't really the best thing for him... it can hold in ammonia, even with a topper...
 
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mews2much

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My Sister went to the Vet today and they gave her two choices. One was to try antibiotics and see if they help or to have him pts. She is trying the antibiotics. If the do not work by Thurs they sauid to have him Pts. He either has a tumor in his lungs or a infection.
 

wishiwas

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They want to put him to sleep if the meds aren't working by Thursday? That seems strange to me. That's not a lot of time, and there's no mention of trying different meds if the first ones don't work. What did they put him on? When my first girls had upper respiratory infections, they had to be on two antibiotics at once for a month. But after, they were perfectly fine.
 

bad_kitty2001

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They gave him some sort of antibiotic shot and then on the receipt it says baytil and the bottle says enrofloxacin. It is an antibiotic. Although he is still kinda blah, his appetite has already increased. I think that is a good sign! I don't think I will have an answer by Thursday. It seems too rushed. I am hoping the meds work. She felt him and didnt feel any lumps.

He had a lump in neck which he had surgery for and it was a cyst. He had a second lump which I didn't have removed but it went away. He lost 3 oz since Feb when I last took him. I just hope that everything will turn out ok.
 

nekochan

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Originally Posted by wishiwas

They want to put him to sleep if the meds aren't working by Thursday? That seems strange to me. That's not a lot of time, and there's no mention of trying different meds if the first ones don't work.
That seems strange to me too! When my rat Cara had pneumonia, when the first meds didn't work my vet tried another one. When that didn't work she tried another combination... Cara was on antibiotics and bronchodilators for something over 6 months (she had chronic pneumonia which just wouldn't give up), then finally nebulization plus oral meds...
 

wishiwas

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Baytril is enrofloxacin. That's one of the two my girls were on. Hopefully it will do the trick! I hate to see little rattys get sick.
 

bad_kitty2001

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Thanks. I guess the only reason she said to put him down was that she didn't like the way he was breathing. Does she really think I will abandon him that easily. I got teary when she even brought it up. I said he was approaching 2 years old and shes like yeah they don't get that old. No excuse to me though! He does seem more active and goes up and down the stairs more when I call his name.
 

wishiwas

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I'm really glad he seems to be feeling a little better.


Some rats live well past 2 years, though I haven't been that lucky with mine so far. I'm hoping my current pair manage it! One has a small tumor though, that I need to get removed if it gets any bigger. And they freaked me out sounding awfully sniffley when I took them out once, but they haven't continued that, so I'm just watching them. Stressful little critters to have sometimes!
 

bad_kitty2001

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Yeah. He had a lump in his neck and I took him in for surgery and it turned out to be a cyst which was good news. He went back in sometime in Feb because of a lump on his chest. She again mentioned surgery but I waited it out and it went away. Now this! I don't know what's going on. I took him out and let him spend several hours with me on the couch. He just cuddled and slept a lot. Poor little guy. Not sure what to expect. He is really good with the meds though. He loves to drink it right off the syringe. What a good boy!
 

bad_kitty2001

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So last night I had Oscar out on my bed and I heard something and it was his food. It was covered with weevils. I threw it in a bag and outside. Do you think that could have made him sick?
 
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