Gracie - update

[SQ]

Tonight Gracie is frantically circling and she fell over twice :sad3:
She did eat her meds and some baby cereal while I held her ... and she bruxed when I scritched her head.

Here are a few pics I took tonight ... much worse then a few days ago ... :sad3:

.............................. circling

Gracie is still in the FN with the other 12 members of her colony. Not sure if I should be moving her to a smaller, one level environment. There is 6 feet of horizontal cage space but she does go up the ladders to the balconies.

........................... Gracie getting around, no matter what ...

............................ circling, just before Grace fell over ...

Any sugestions? Hoping the meds will start to help as changed them yesterday.

:sad3: :sad3: :sad3:
please get better Gracie ................

 

[lilspaz68]

I don't think with a tilt like that she can do anything but circle or fall down. Is the trouble eating soft foods because she cannot sort out where the food is in relation to her mouth?

She looks bright, and "active". I am just wondering if that tilt itself is causing all of this?

 

[jorats]

I agree with Shelagh... My Russo had a head tilt and at one point it got so bad, he kept rolling but then he righted himself.
To help Gracie, put lots of empty cereal boxes in the cage. The low ceiling helps her determine that the ceiling is on top and her feet are on the bottom.

 

[mamarat]

Like Jo said she needs to feel a "ceiling" over her head and it will keep her upright. House was like her when I first rescued him. And he preferred to stay in his cereal box. I would place the food and water close to him. He is doing much better now though.

 

[SQ]

Can you tell me more about House, etc.
Shelagh, Gracie is very bright and active .... it is her balance .... she keeps rolling when I pick her up
the head tilt makes it hard for her to get food, hang onto it and to eat.
She does lick food from my finger and will lay her head on the food dish and lick soft food.
She managed to get her head into one of the water dishes on her cage last night and get a good drink ... but most of her fluid is coming from the soft foods I am feeding her.

Did House have an inner ear infection or was/is it something else?

Any other suggestions besides cereal boxes? Going to go buy cereal shortly.

When I pet her on my lap, her spine/body is all twisted.
Vet apt in NB on Friday. Any suggestions for my vet?
Should I try to get her in to see a vet here before then?
She is on clorpalm + baytril + pred ... has been since Monday.
I've been giving the clorpalm 3 times a day, the other two twice a day.

 

[mamarat]

Any type of small box will do as long as she feels her head almost touching the top. House was a rescue, I got him with the head tilt. Tried Dex and Baytril and it helped him a lot. But he still has the tilt but has learned to go with it. He is now climbing and pretty well does everything a normal rat will do only slower. For water he does better from a bottle I noticed. House still rolls when I pick him up, I have to hold one hand over his head all the time and make sure I put his front feet first on the ground before I let him go. Hope that helps.

 

[SQ]

Thanks mamarat, it does help.
How does House manage with other rats in the same cage?

Gracie's cagemates loooove the new boxes, they have swarmed them and are chewing very happily on all that cardboard

 

[SQ]

A few pics of Gracie after getting her meds ... just because I still have her with me ...
Everyone got a piece of cereal, to distract them from eating the boxes :?

...................... Gracie after meds, a bit messy

....................... Gracie grooming

.......................... Gracie eating cereal

I think she ate a bit of the piece of cereal. But she did eat a bit of baby cereal with her meds.
Hope she soon starts to improve like House and Russo did.

(The color on her eye is me trying to get rid of red eye glare from the camera.)

 

[jorats]

House is the alpha in his colony and recently had a neuter too. Some days though he still seems a little neurotic but for the most part he seems quite happy.

You can see House and his mates in this video:

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[SQ]

Thanks Jorats. Nice to see how well House is doing.
So there is still hope for Grace, so good to know.

btw, Gracie has always been the alpha in her colony, although she has mellowed in the last few months and was kind enough to befriend and groom Dandelion.

 

[lilspaz68]

I would say there's a lot of hope for Gracie if you can sort out the food and water issues...they usually take care of the rest Can you crush her lab blocks and moisten it so she can eat it more easily? Or does she possibly need more time to sort it out? Kind of like an HED boy who has to learn to lie on his side to eat things

Fred goes up and down the FN ramps with no issues, I have only seen him fall once and it was because of the rush for their veggie oatmeal...he got bumped LOL

I have noticed my tilties act very "entitled" and will shove and grab things more than the others. :lol:

 

[SQ]

I think you are right, Gracie needs a bit more time to sort it all out ...
I have given her mushy lab blocks but she wasn't interested.
Looks like her cage will now be getting mushy lab blocks (in addition to normal ones) the same as the elderly five in the cage below their colony. Gracie's cagemates are going to be very happy.
So far, Gracie has been happy to take baby cereal from me three times a day.

Hopefully the meds will start to help and she will either not get worse or improve.

Thank you for all the info. please keep it coming if you think of anything else.
This is very frightening for both myself and Gracie ... Gracie squeeks when I pick her up as she rolls for a few minutes, until we get it sorted out.

My only other experience with head tilt/inner ear infection has been Gus.
Although Gus was rolling when he came to me, meds quickly reversed almost all of his head tilt.

 

[mamarat]

House squeeks too, every time I pick him up. I have to make sure I have one hand covering the top of his head and then he doesn't roll.

 

[SQ]

thanks :hugs:

 

[SQ]

Gracie has fallen down the ladder twice this afternoon ... and has had several incidents of rolling for several minutes, rolling and rolling and rolling and being unable to stop. She isn't interested in staying in the boxes ... putting her nose out through the FN bars seems to help her tho.
The vet has no more chlorplam as the company stopped making it, so will be switching her to clavamox + baytril + pred. Maybe that combo will work better ...

:sad3:

 

[Godmother]

Poor Gracie. That is the worst head tilt I have ever seen; no wonder she has trouble with balance. I sure hope that she gets better soon.

 

[lilspaz68]

do you have any way to make a video of Gracie for us?

 

[Dahlas]

I hope she is better soon. My only experience with a head tilt is Dorey's. She rolled a bit when you picked her up when I first got her but never rolled in the cage.........she moves around as if nothing is wrong.

 

[SQ]

do you have any way to make a video of Gracie for us?

Don't think so .... my mother gave me a video camera for school but it doesn't take a USB cord
Have to go to NB tomorrow and Gracie has a vet apt in NB along with the chf girls on Friday am, so maybe godmother will take a video of Gracie and post it.
Going to see if I can find a vet to give Gracie a dex shot in the am before heading for NB.

The car is going to be full of rats currently on meds.

 

[SQ]

Was up until 5 am holding Gracie so she wouldn't roll ... she was having an awful time in the cage.
Trying to find a vet to give her a shot of dex.
If it helps :thumbup: otherwise :sad3: