victoria
Well-Known Member
There have been a lot of changes and losses in my oldies' cage recently, so I didn't notice the changes in Annabelle as early as I should have.
She is almost 26 months old but she gradually slowed down months ago. She and Ava would usually not come out of the cage right away at playtime (as opposed to all the other rats in that group that bolt out the second the door is opened) but would eventually venture out for 15-30 minutes before going back to sleep on their own. When Ava passed (April 27th) she started test biting me - I assumed she was depressed and confused so I let it pass. Since around the time she started nipping (she doesn't do it anymore) she also stopped coming out of the cage on her own at all and then I noticed she was not participating in the nightly stashing of the blocks.
She's had a chronic pneumonia (her only symptom was rasping until we added Metacam but she has needed antibiotics to keep her from getting worse) since September/October but it hasn't affected her energy or overall well-being. She also has a growing mammary tumour and an implant but she has not been healthy enough for surgery since I found the lump. We recently switched meds yet again and they seemed to help her more than the previous combos, but then I noticed one eye was much bigger than the other. I examined her a little closer and noticed she does an involuntary head bump when I stroke her head a certain way. Thinking back, I realized the previous night she had had trouble eating a block but I had just assumed she wasn't hungry and just nibbling at it because I put it in front of her.
We went to the vet the next day and he noticed a head tilt in addition to the other symptoms - she doesn't walk around on her own very much anymore so it's hard to see. She hadn't lost any weight since her last appointment a month earlier, in fact she had gained 9 g. He wasn't convinced it was PT and not an ear infection (he hasn't seen cases of PT before with only one bulging eye but I'm pretty sure quite a few people here have had that experience) but the treatment is the same so we decided to try Pred plus the antibiotics she's already on. I thought about trying Bromo (I forgot to even ask the vet for his opinion on it when I went though) but because she needs Metacam or Pred to help with her lungs I decided against it because they all carry a risk of GI bleeding. Vet also suggested trying Lupron, but when he realized she was already implanted, he said it would be pointless.
She's been on Pred for a week and I'm not sure there has been any improvement. She never comes out of the cage on her own and this week I noticed she is afraid of strangers - so much so she trembles when she smelled my friends that I was showing the rats to. She only comes out when I take her out and she's only comfortable huddled beside one of us. I suspect she may be blind, at least at some times. She does not react when my finger approaches her eye unless I brush her whiskers, and then she gets startled. Her head tilt has not improved (it's mild though) and she does not seem interested in food. (She has started to lose some weight, but she is still a chubby girl.)
The only thing that explains all the symptoms (to me at least) is a PT but I'm worried maybe I'm missing something. Should I see about getting ear drops just in case?
She is almost 26 months old but she gradually slowed down months ago. She and Ava would usually not come out of the cage right away at playtime (as opposed to all the other rats in that group that bolt out the second the door is opened) but would eventually venture out for 15-30 minutes before going back to sleep on their own. When Ava passed (April 27th) she started test biting me - I assumed she was depressed and confused so I let it pass. Since around the time she started nipping (she doesn't do it anymore) she also stopped coming out of the cage on her own at all and then I noticed she was not participating in the nightly stashing of the blocks.
She's had a chronic pneumonia (her only symptom was rasping until we added Metacam but she has needed antibiotics to keep her from getting worse) since September/October but it hasn't affected her energy or overall well-being. She also has a growing mammary tumour and an implant but she has not been healthy enough for surgery since I found the lump. We recently switched meds yet again and they seemed to help her more than the previous combos, but then I noticed one eye was much bigger than the other. I examined her a little closer and noticed she does an involuntary head bump when I stroke her head a certain way. Thinking back, I realized the previous night she had had trouble eating a block but I had just assumed she wasn't hungry and just nibbling at it because I put it in front of her.
We went to the vet the next day and he noticed a head tilt in addition to the other symptoms - she doesn't walk around on her own very much anymore so it's hard to see. She hadn't lost any weight since her last appointment a month earlier, in fact she had gained 9 g. He wasn't convinced it was PT and not an ear infection (he hasn't seen cases of PT before with only one bulging eye but I'm pretty sure quite a few people here have had that experience) but the treatment is the same so we decided to try Pred plus the antibiotics she's already on. I thought about trying Bromo (I forgot to even ask the vet for his opinion on it when I went though) but because she needs Metacam or Pred to help with her lungs I decided against it because they all carry a risk of GI bleeding. Vet also suggested trying Lupron, but when he realized she was already implanted, he said it would be pointless.
She's been on Pred for a week and I'm not sure there has been any improvement. She never comes out of the cage on her own and this week I noticed she is afraid of strangers - so much so she trembles when she smelled my friends that I was showing the rats to. She only comes out when I take her out and she's only comfortable huddled beside one of us. I suspect she may be blind, at least at some times. She does not react when my finger approaches her eye unless I brush her whiskers, and then she gets startled. Her head tilt has not improved (it's mild though) and she does not seem interested in food. (She has started to lose some weight, but she is still a chubby girl.)
The only thing that explains all the symptoms (to me at least) is a PT but I'm worried maybe I'm missing something. Should I see about getting ear drops just in case?
