Agnes is tumbling.

[Kibble]

Hullo, long time reader, first time poster. I've got a pair of sisters, a little over a year old, and one of them probably had meningitis five days ago. We've got a marvellous vet, and I'm 80% positive Agnes is going to live, but she's very thin, very clumsy, very sleepy, and seems to have been mentally reduced to an infant. She's gobbling salmon and peas from her food bowl, gnawing determinedly at lab block, and drinking honeyed water as if there's no tomorrow. But she keeps walking off ledges, and if Kiki wasn't grooming her, she wouldn't be able to wash her hindquarters. She's still on baytril, which I think is mostly for keeping the rat-flu she had two weeks ago at bay. She's had red rat-snot on her forepaws and wrists, so at least she's grooming it off her face.

But she seems to have forgotten everything. I had to hand-feed her for a few days, and guide her back to her food bowl after that. She's wobbling around the cage as if she's never seen it before, playing with toys she'd not given a second look for months. Kiki knows her, but she's only just started to tentatively groom Kiki back after several days. And she's become deeply fond of extended human contact. Once she's stopped trying to blunder off my arm, she'll lie on my chest, a fold of cloth in her mouth, boggling her eyes until she falls asleep. I'm thrilled that it looks like she's going to make it, even more so that she seems so happy all the time, but what happened to the old, cunning, suspicious Agnes?

Most troubling of all, she tumbles over backwards when she sits up to groom herself or savour food. She has no trouble getting up again, and her tail is still strong. Is she just weak from the illness, or has her brain been properly fritzed?

The vet really is very good, and doing all she can, but she doesn't know if Agnes will get her memory back. Has anyone seen anything like this before? Is Agnes in there somewhere, or should I treat her like a new baby rat?

 

[Exodog]

I don't have a whole lot of medical advice, but I would say that she's still your Agnes inside there, even if she's a little bumblier now.

 

[lilspaz68]

I have never heard of both meningitis or rat-flu in pet rats :scratch:. From her symptoms it sounds like a stroke, PT or inner ear infection, since she is showing neuro symptoms. All of these are treated with antibiotics, and a steroid to reduce any inflammation on her brain. If it is PT, there may be excessive bruxxing, a stiffness in the front legs that are often roughly shoved up in front of them, an inability to grasp with the front paws that is marked. Offer her a small treat she could normally hold easily, sit up and eat...see if she has to rest her paws on the floor or is unable to grasp the treat at all. The falling over backwards is also a bad sign and is a sign of weakness. I take it the "rat flu" was a URI (upper respiratory infection)? How long was she on baytril for?
With a stroke she would have a weakness on one side of her body, they can recover from this slowly but are often prone to more strokes, one of which may take your girl's life.

Inner ear infection (any head tilt, smell from ear (not always since its a deep infection), circling?) is actually the best thing she could have, as it needs aggressive antibiotic treatment but is quite curable.

 

[Kibble]

I'm pretty sure it wasn't a URI. She was sleepy and weak, had a fever, and her nose was dry, but her breathing was and is beautifully quiet and even, and there was no rat-snot. She gave every appearence of recovering quickly when treated. I think the vet called it rat flu because she didn't want to say, "I dunno. Some kind of illness? Let's give her some medicine and see if she gets better." Agnes had been healthy all her life and was still acting very rat-like at that point. She's still on baytril now, so it's been about a ten days.

I know meningitis is usually limited to laboratory rats, but she has had the unfortunate opportunity to be infected (no human casualties, don't worry). It probably can't be a stroke, because both hind limbs are stiff, but her tail is strong. When I open the bottom cage door, she'll clamber out and start poddling about with a strange rocking-from-side-to-side gait, as though her hind knees won't bend. When she runs, she moves her hind legs together. After ten minutes, she'll get tired, lie on something soft and fall asleep, no matter how exposed it is. Hand grip is definately down.

It could well be PT, after reading about the symptoms. I know the vet gave her a steroid, and has been requesting updates every few days. Urgh, I really hoped she was getting better now. I shall continue to keep a close eye on her, and consult with the vet. Thanks.

And thanks, Exodog. She seems to like me, and she seems to be happy, and that's the main thing.

 

[jorats]

I agree, never have I heard of meningitis in pet rats or rat flu, no such thing. But your girl is indeed showing signs of PT or stroke. There are all kinds of symptoms for stroke and very similar to PT since PTs can be bleeders as well.

 

[PitLuvs]

Anyone suggest the cherio trick? Give her a cherio and see if she can sit and hold it up to her mouth to eat, if she holds in on the floor to eat, it sounds like PT. Everything mentioned sounds like PT

 

[Kimber]

It depends what type of meningitis you are talking about. Meningitis only means an inflammation of the meninges (the membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord). I know that it has been found that people can suffer meningitis after being bitten by a rat, etc (including meningitis brought on by listeria, etc).

I am not sure if the rat suffers symptoms or is just the host to these illnesses. Your rat may have picked up a virus which has caused meningitis to occur.

 

[Kibble]

Kimber, it was bacteria. Perhaps bacterial meningitis is more common in rats in the UK? Teenagers started being immunised against meningitis C about ten years ago, so it's possible I could have quite a lot of the bacteria swimming about in my sinuses without knowing about it. Kiki has a pretty gross habit of getting into dustbins and eating snotty tissues, and during Agnes' "rat flu" she made a bid for dominance and chomped her on the shoulder.

I'm really hoping it's not PT. She last had a steroid injection a week ago, and she seems a little better and more much energetic now than five days ago. She just spent an hour eagerly drinking horlicks on my lap. The vet was pretty certain it was meningitis. I'm going to consult her again tomorrow.

 

[handmeafish]

Steroids would make any bacterial infection worse, because they suppress the immune system.
If she has gotten better on the steroids, then it seems more likely that some sort of inflamation was present (this could be caused by a virus) steroids are a common treatment for stroke and PT in rats.