Buck going downhill, please help.

[alawr]

My rat has stopped eating now except sometimes he will eat cream of wheat with straw ensure off of a spoon and usually he will lick it off my finger. He won't eat anything other than that. Not rat food, not dog treats, he isn't drinking much either. He still climbs out of cage and is alert but moves slower and sleeps alot more. He's been sneezing and shaking his head and was on both baytril and amoxy, but neither helped. Vet took him off amoxy when he started having diarrhea to see if antibiotics was causing it, but he is still having it. He is losing weight and I need help to get him to eat so he can last until Thursday for the vet again. Any suggestions as to whats wrong with him?
thanks

 

[lilspaz68]

give us all his particulars and symptoms?

How old is he? When did this start? Did your vet think it was respiratory? Did you try doxy/baytril or why the amoxicillin?

How exactly is he acting? Wobbling around slowly, able to sit up, forelegs stuck stiffly out in front of him? I am throwing out random symptoms so you see what we are looking for.

 

[jorats]

Baytril can be the one causing the diarrhea as well.
Why was he put on meds, ear infection? respiratory infection?

 

[alawr]

The vet figured it was respiratory because of the symptoms, and porphorin (spelling?) staining on his nose. He doesn't wobble or anything, but he seems to be avoiding hard food and if i reach in to pet him he will turn to face the corner, when usually he will come up to me. He is 21 months old. The Baytril was by itself, and I suppose the amoxicillin was another antibiotic since baytril didn't seem to work. Just started sneezing maybe a few weeks ago, started declining last few days and today is the worst he's been. The vet looked in his ears and didn't see any kind of infection, she said he may be shaking his head because he has sinus pressure. He has been of the baytril for a few weeks now, so I don't think that was causing diarrhea.

 

[alawr]

He did seem to be moving slower, but his eyes were bright. He isn't acting like himself at all, I just figured he might be moving slower because he hasn't been eating much. Also when he eats now most of the time he just eats the food from the floor, doesnt really pick it up, sometimes will touch it to maneuver it.

 

[mamarat]

Did he start the diarrhea when he was switched to Amoxicillin? Could he be allergic to it? Those could also be signs of PT.

 

[alawr]

He had it before, and it didn't go away when we took him off of it.. Bene-bac didn't help either.

 

[alawr]

And since i got him from the humane society in january his right eye was always bigger than his left. I don't know if that has anything to do with him being sick now since he was fine before.

 

[jorats]

It's starting to sound more like PT.

 

[alawr]

Okay, so if it is Pt, how long do I have, what should I tell the vet? What medicines should I suggest? I just feel like theres more I can do, he isn't that old yet...

 

[lj]

Is his eye bulging? Or just sized different?

Shelagh is the PT expert. Need to look at her posts, or wait until she's home from work and able to look over this.

 

[lj]

Sorry Shelagh, didn't mean you were an expert....Just meant you've seen this more than most of us. :hugs:

 

[alawr]

This is a pic from when he was normal, but you can see the size difference. it does look like it bulges out further, but he can still blink.

 

[alawr]

My mom was able to get him to the vet today, (I'm at school 12 hours) and she says hes on 2 meds .. Ill let you guys know which when I get home, she also said she gave him a cat treat at the vet and he devoured it, so she bought a whole bag. I feel happy knowing he is at least eating something! What other symptoms should I look for with the PT?

 

[alawr]

Okay hes on baytril again for ten days and prednisone.

 

[DadRat]

That would be a standard combo if the vet expects a PT.

 

[Godmother]

OK, sounds like the vet suspects PT or inner ear infection. Either would be treated the same way. Hope he feels better soon. PT is nasty; yesterday alone the Shackers lost at least three rats to PT.

But, if he was holding the cat treat to eat it, then he may not have PT. Usually it is a sign when they can't hold food in their front paws.

Healing vibes to him! 21 months is still young.

 

[alawr]

She said he had it on the floor(her lap) still not holding it up, but it does mean he is eating again, which was my most immediate worry. Hopefully I can get some more months with him. But I have another question, I adopted baby rats who are now 61/2 weeks old to keep him company and were still in quarantine when this started happening, but now that it has been determined to be something that can't be passed on, can I introduce them? I just hate the fact that he is alone when I go to work or school.

Thanks for all the knowledge and help! It feels better knowing what is happening to him at least.

 

[alawr]

5 mg/ 5 ml
.1 cc every 24 hours
this sound like correct dosage?
For some reason the pharmacist said it sounded low to him for rat, so just doubting a bit

 

[victoria]

Is that the Prednisone dose? How much does Buck weigh?