Baby Rat in Resp. Distress

[MadamBelladonna]

My roommate decided to get a baby rat yesterday and this afternoon the little girl went into respiratory distress. The soonest I can get her to a vet is tomorrow, she does a little better when I take her in the bathroom and steam her but then as soon as I take her back to the cage it starts again. She has been mouth breathing on and off all day long, I really need to know what to do, it's getting worse...

 

[victoria]

Sometimes arbuterol inhalers (often prescribed for asthma) can help, but I'd be hesitant because I don't know that they're safe for baby rats. Keep her warm and hydrated and continue steaming when you can and hope she makes it through the night.

 

[Dazzle87]

Good luck with her :?

If you can find an emergency vet I'd really try to get her in tonight.

 

[MadamBelladonna]

I've already looked through the emergency vets, there isn't one around here that will see rats. Already gave her a puff of an inhaler, helped a tiny amount but not significantly and it freaked her out so I don't really wanna do it again...

 

[Dazzle87]

If you have any dark chocolate, it can't hurt to try giving her a little bit. Other than that, what victoria said is pretty much all you can do.

 

[MadamBelladonna]

Yeah, we tried dark chocolate too. It helped significantly, but still breathing pretty hard. I think we've exercised all of our options...

 

[Sharlees rattakisses]

:hugs: Poor little girlie!!
Sending her healing vibes. :heart:

 

[AlexP]

Where in Missouri do you live? Sending hugs and prayers for the little one.

 

[MadamBelladonna]

It's Gladstone, suburb of Kansas City. I went around to all of the emergency vets when I was looking for a vet for one of my other girls and they all say nay...

 

[AlexP]

Hmm, even this place? http://www.gladvets.com/emergency Or rather, the emergency clinic they use and have listed on that link. That practice sees exotics, so I'd assume the emergency clinic (Animal Emergency Center) they work with would also, or else they'd say otherwise.

 

[lilspaz68]

Dr Munn's recommended E-clinic is really just for cats/dogs. I think once a week they have a vet on who does exotics/rats, so unfortunately we don't have a Toronto E-vet for rats. There is one in Guelph but for people without a car you cannot get there.

 

[lilspaz68]

I pray she made it through the night and can make it to your vet this morning. Make sure to insist on a combo of meds, and strong ones...this baby is going to need some serious help. Gasping babies are a terrible thing, and you need to go in guns a'blazing. I have had 2 here... they both got steroids to reduce the inflammation in those poor lungs for a few days until the antibiotics were able to kick in.

Goliath lived a nice long life, and Pinta sadly only lived to 5 months with her mom Moon.

How old is this baby? Is she crackling, urgling, wheezing? Is the open mouth gasping, big open mouth rying to get in air with possibly a clicking sound? Or just medium-open? How is her body condition, chunky, or thin and maybe bony?

 

[jennifervb]

My roommate decided to get a baby rat yesterday and this afternoon the little girl went into respiratory distress. The soonest I can get her to a vet is tomorrow, she does a little better when I take her in the bathroom and steam her but then as soon as I take her back to the cage it starts again. She has been mouth breathing on and off all day long, I really need to know what to do, it's getting worse...

Praying hard that the little thing made it through the night. :sad3:

Was she like this when she arrived in your home? What kind of bedding is being used?

 

[jennifervb]

I pray she made it through the night and can make it to your vet this morning. Make sure to insist on a combo of meds, and strong ones...this baby is going to need some serious help. Gasping babies are a terrible thing, and you need to go in guns a'blazing. I have had 2 here... they both got steroids to reduce the inflammation in those poor lungs for a few days until the antibiotics were able to kick in.

Goliath lived a nice long life, and Pinta sadly only lived to 5 months with her mom Moon.

How old is this baby? Is she crackling, urgling, wheezing? Is the open mouth gasping, big open mouth rying to get in air with possibly a clicking sound? Or just medium-open? How is her body condition, chunky, or thin and maybe bony?

:heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: Goli :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart:

 

[Dazzle87]

Update? I hope she's okay.

 

[MadamBelladonna]

Little girlie is doing splendidly! We were not able to get her to the vet yesterday: my car keys have miraculously disappeared (still MIA) and her boyfriend wouldn't take us, as he is of the mindset that she can just go spend $3 for another rat rather than $40 for a vet visit. Still going to try to get her in asap, just to be sure, but as of right now she is breathing normally, no gasping or wheezing whatsoever :thumbup:

Actually this kind of confuses me...I was expecting her to be in pretty rough shape (or not even there :shock: ) when we woke up that morning, she was still pretty bad when we went to bed...Anyone know anything that could cause such severe respiratory distress and then appear to go away completely the next day?

PS, she's still eating and drinking and everything. I was worried for a while because I didn't see her doing either but then last night I saw her chewing on a lab block and this morning she was drinking.

 

[MadamBelladonna]

My roommate decided to get a baby rat yesterday and this afternoon the little girl went into respiratory distress. The soonest I can get her to a vet is tomorrow, she does a little better when I take her in the bathroom and steam her but then as soon as I take her back to the cage it starts again. She has been mouth breathing on and off all day long, I really need to know what to do, it's getting worse...

Praying hard that the little thing made it through the night. :sad3:

Was she like this when she arrived in your home? What kind of bedding is being used?

No, not at all. I think she sneezed once or twice when we got her home, but I figured she was just adjusting to the bedding or something, it was nothing serious...

Edit: using Carefresh for the bottom (the aquarium part) and fabric scraps and liners for the top (wire cage topper)

 

[xio]

Care fresh is dusty, might want to look into changing it. Also aquariums really aren't great, even with cage toppers.

Glad she is feeling better though! Give roommates bf a kick for me

 

[MadamBelladonna]

Care fresh is dusty, might want to look into changing it. Also aquariums really aren't great, even with cage toppers.

Glad she is feeling better though! Give roommates bf a kick for me

Yeah, I'm working on getting a bigger cage (or building one). She seems to like the Carefresh though, she carries it around all over the place lol I agree though, think I'm gonna switch to fleece scraps for the whole cage, I've got plenty so it wouldn't be hard.

"Give roommates bf a kick for me"

WILL DO!

 

[xio]

I thought carefresh was good stuff until the vet told me to switch haha. I hate those moments where you think somethings good and everyone's like "uhm no" Sneezing here has reduced a little since the switch

Haha my bf is well aware that if he ever made such a comment to me about my rats he'd be very lonely very quick Luckily he agrees with me on most animal related things and would never dream of saying such a thing. It's a shame so many people only think of animals worth in relation to their initial cost