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SQ

Senior Member - Vegan for the animals
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
Messages
17,207
Location
central New Brunswick Canada
Debbie was a year old in Aug.
She was treated with baytril in July for uri and it cleared up.

Started treating her with zithro & baytril on Sept 8 as she sounded conjested and was using a lot of effort to breath. Soon after I added lasix twice a day because she sounded like she had fluid in her lungs. She isn't improving, eats little, etc. tho she hasn't lost a great deal of weight - she weighs 315 grams. Added fortekor, and pred Sunday. Took her to the vet on Monday as she was panicked .... over $200 later ... xray showed nothing much ... lungs have some fluid but vet said they looked better than he would have thought after listening to her. Heart didn't look enlarged. He had no suggestions, said I could add clavamox if I want, and said he thinks she has pneumonia.

She seems to be a bit better but ... could be because I am now giving lasix 3 xs/day, the fortekor is starting to work, the pred I increased yesterday, or the fact I am now giving her fluids SQ twice a day.

Any suggestions ???
I am feeling desperate ..... as she isn't getting better ....

Do you think I should add clavamox?
Is there a different antibiotic I should try?
 
How is she acting otherwise? Is she lethargic? How did the heart sound, regular? Lasix will help with pneumonia as well.
Clavamox might be worth a shot. Just the fact that it's something new but I would stop the zithro and baytril.
Meds can bring a rat down, make them tired and feel yucky too. You don't to overload her system either.
 
jorats said:
How is she acting otherwise? Is she lethargic? How did the heart sound, regular? Lasix will help with pneumonia as well.
Clavamox might be worth a shot. Just the fact that it's something new but I would stop the zithro and baytril.
Meds can bring a rat down, make them tired and feel yucky too. You don't to overload her system either.

She is lethargic, not interested in things. She is often by hearself tho there are 11 girls in her cage - 7 of them are her sisters. Debbie likes to be up high with her head hanging down. Her heart seems to be fast, to me. She only eats very very little - if it is on my finger and I keep bugging her, she will lick the food off.
 
I was going to suggest to check her heart, but it seems you've already done that. Sounds like a tricky situation. Are you sure that it's not just scarring in the lungs that's causing the problems now? I would imagine that over time the lungs would weaken due to repeated illnesses. I know my lungs have gotten worse after having pneumonia a couple of times.
 
The lethargy could actually be caused by the meds. It might be time to start over so to speak. Stop the antibiotics but start the Clavamox, but continue with the pred and lasix because those two meds will help either the heart or the lungs, then if you see she's crashing, then start up with the fortekor.
Another thing you can try and that's getting an ultrasound. This will be more specific but very very expensive.
 
What would an ultrasound show?
I don't think they do them around here but ...

If it is pneumonia, wouldn't she need antibiotics - or do you think the clavamox is enough?
 
Clavamox is amoxicillin and clavulanic acid.

An ultrasound will show every detail of the heart. We have one near us but it's $600 for a rat!!! :shock:
 
jorats said:
Clavamox is amoxicillin and clavulanic acid.

An ultrasound will show every detail of the heart. We have one near us but it's $600 for a rat!!! :shock:

Hmmmmm ... I used to have to take Sunshine to the vet school in Charlottetown PEI, three or four times a year for ultrasound to see if the drugs were managing his heart problem or if they needed to be adjusted. The vet bill wasn't that bad ... certainly not $600 ....

That is even worse then paying $75 to a vet for just listening to your rat's breathing :(

Unfortunately, as a student still waiting for my student loan ... ultrasound probably will not happen ... will probably have to go by how she responds to the meds ...
 
I don't blame you... even for me it was too much. I was considering it with my sweet Cado, but my vet basically talked me out of it.
 
Started her on clavamox but kept the baytril ... not helping.

Talked to my NB vet and started her on atenolol as well as fortekor ... somedays she seems better ... still on pred and lasix ...
but very very difficult to get her to eat anything and she is down to 281 g ... down from 315 g :sad3:
 
Just weighed Debbie after giving her her meds. She is down to 255 grams .... :sad3:
Earlier today she ventured out of her cage and ran around the play area with her sisters, even scaling the couch twice to say a quick hi before disappearing again.
Hard to believe that someone so thin has so much energy.

Feeding her baby cereal by hand so she will eat, but she still keeps losing weight.

Taking her to my vet in NB tomorrow.
Hoping that he can think of something we've missed .....
 
I had a girl who started to lose weight at 1 year old....she became painfully thin....lived on ensure, baby ceral and any high fat food I could get into her....She lived to be over two......
 
Can you add olive oil in the ensure?
My Mielle was the skinniest little thing I've ever had, she was just about skin and bones but she lived to 38 months old.
 
Thanks for the info. I am so worried.

I've been giving soy baby formula, baby cereal with olive oil, etc. But baby cereal, peas, banana and multigrain bread are about all she will eat ... and she usually will only eat if I have it in her face on my finger.

She is on meds too ....
 
Debbie doesn't eat the food in her cage although she will sometimes eat a few peas off the dish.
She seems to only eat food I hand to her (but sometimes she puts it down) or food I have on my finger.
I have to keep putting the food in her face to get her to eat.

Presently in NB. Debbie saw my vet who looked at her xray from NS and commented that her heart is quite large ... so now Debbie is on digoxin in addition to her other meds. Hoping it will make a difference ... it did for Burrell.

Heading back to NS shortly.
 
This is what I've noticed with my rats, especially the sick and skinny ones, mine did eat on their own but very little. I always left a couple of blocks even though I thought they weren't eating and they did end up eating it. The finger feeding, I feel like they are doing it to please us, they really aren't hungry but if you put it in their face they will lap it up.
Eating and digestion is very hard on the body and if she already has heart problems, she's trying to conserve all her energy. Does she live alone so you can monitor if any blocks get eaten? or baby cereal?
 
Debbie lives in an FN with 7 of her sisters, as well as Joy, Hope and Faith ...
I could separate her, or just put her in with one of the other 10 girls she lives with ... but I think it would be stressful for her ....
At this point I add soft tastey food two or three times a day to the cage and also take Debbie out to be fed by hand two or three times a day. Lab blocks are aways available as well as several sources of water (water bottles & a water dish).
 
No, you don't want to separate her... the least amount of stress is what she needs. So there's no way of knowing for real if she's eating or not.
 

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