mamarat
Well-Known Member
Fingers crossed here too for your sweetie.
hard lump in the belly - another super update! 3/17
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it's not looking good atm 
I was up all night with her because she started mouth breathing (and hacking. I legit was worried she wouldn't make it). she stopped long enough for me to get 3 hours sleep, but started again this morning. so I had to drag myself to the vet
this is an incredibly fast set in (nasal noises friday. mouth breathing monday night). so I am worried it's pneumonia or heart issues that are being masked as respiratory issues.
I was up all night with her because she started mouth breathing (and hacking. I legit was worried she wouldn't make it). she stopped long enough for me to get 3 hours sleep, but started again this morning. so I had to drag myself to the vet
this is an incredibly fast set in (nasal noises friday. mouth breathing monday night). so I am worried it's pneumonia or heart issues that are being masked as respiratory issues.
Joanne
Well-Known Member
Sorry about your girlie, I hope she bounces back. Maybe a puffer for immediate respiratory issues would help?
jorats
Loving rats since 2002.
what did the vet say?it seems to be all nasal stuff. her heart and lungs appear to be fine/clear. but she can't breathe through her nose which means she's going to have an uncomfortable day or two trying to clear it all up.
we still have no clue what caused the initial problem. it just came up suddenly Friday afternoon.
so she's getting nebulized 3 times a day in hopes of hitting it hard (also to make it possible to medicate her. she hates her meds so I have to force them on her. with the mouth breathing, that's nearly impossible). I really, really wish I had experience with inject-able medications, as I'd do the baytril that way otherwise. wouldn't solve the doxy issue, but it would at least mean only 1 oral medication.
which means she's going to have an uncomfortable day or two trying to clear it all up.we still have no clue what caused the initial problem. it just came up suddenly Friday afternoon.
so she's getting nebulized 3 times a day in hopes of hitting it hard (also to make it possible to medicate her. she hates her meds so I have to force them on her. with the mouth breathing, that's nearly impossible). I really, really wish I had experience with inject-able medications, as I'd do the baytril that way otherwise. wouldn't solve the doxy issue, but it would at least mean only 1 oral medication.
ATez
Well-Known Member
I have the same problem with forcing meds in my rats' mouth so i mix it with yummy stuff and hope that they eat/lick it all up! After a while Crank became a master at not swallowing his meds, i would shoot them in his mouth and 2 seconds after i saw them all droll down his mouth. Little bugger figured out how to use his tongue to block the meds from dropping down his throat!
Felt like torture too so i mix it now instead. I'm using diet Ensure atm but i think he got bored of the taste, now it's back on bread. Darn!
Best of luck to you and you're little Blue!!!!!!
Keep us posted!!!
Felt like torture too so i mix it now instead. I'm using diet Ensure atm but i think he got bored of the taste, now it's back on bread. Darn!
Best of luck to you and you're little Blue!!!!!!
Keep us posted!!!
I've had so many rats in the last 5 years and at least 3 out of all of them who were/are masters of med avoidance lol.
Blue is a close second to my Sadu I lost last year (in my icon). Sadu used to drool it all out. it didn't matter if you rubbed his throat, whatever. would ALL drool out. Blue "smudges". anything excess will be rubbed off on me, hammocks, carpeting, etc. whatever her face can get to that is soft
it sucks that she's on doxy, because I'd normally break out the last resort stuff (sweet things like ensure or super sweet like cool whip), but all have dairy in it. no go with doxy
but she's also having trouble eating due to the mouth breathing, so not sure food tricks would work anyway my poor girl. probably out to the vet again today for more fluids to act as a back up in case she's not drinking enough.
I also forgot how much I hate the smell of nebulizing stuff when i lift up the towel, the kitchen just smells lol.
Blue is a close second to my Sadu I lost last year (in my icon). Sadu used to drool it all out. it didn't matter if you rubbed his throat, whatever. would ALL drool out. Blue "smudges". anything excess will be rubbed off on me, hammocks, carpeting, etc. whatever her face can get to that is soft
it sucks that she's on doxy, because I'd normally break out the last resort stuff (sweet things like ensure or super sweet like cool whip), but all have dairy in it. no go with doxy
but she's also having trouble eating due to the mouth breathing, so not sure food tricks would work anyway
my poor girl. probably out to the vet again today for more fluids to act as a back up in case she's not drinking enough.I also forgot how much I hate the smell of nebulizing stuff
when i lift up the towel, the kitchen just smells lol.
Joanne
Well-Known Member
How about mixing the meds with Nutella or peanut butter? You just have to be careful to make sure the mixture is runny enough that they won't choke.
i may try that once her breathing is better.
basically atm she cannot breathe through her nose for long periods. she's on purely soft foods and can only eat a few bites before it makes her cough/hack a bit. so unfortunately forcing meds on her is faster than food after another 24 hours of nebulizing her, I'm gonna try peanut butter and the like. crossing my fingers the flavors are strong enough for her to not snub.
basically atm she cannot breathe through her nose for long periods. she's on purely soft foods and can only eat a few bites before it makes her cough/hack a bit. so unfortunately forcing meds on her is faster than food
after another 24 hours of nebulizing her, I'm gonna try peanut butter and the like. crossing my fingers the flavors are strong enough for her to not snub.unfortunately, we are losing Blue.
I am 90% convinced at this point that the infection has spread and is basically shutting down her body. she is not able to keep her nose clear for long periods of time. ie: last night after nebulizing her she sneezed a TON. so much that she had little to no nasal noise and ate a ton of peanut butter off of some lab blocks. but about 3 - 4 hours later (middle of the night) she got congested again and panicked. this morning nebulizing did nearly nothing. she had to go in to the vet to get oxygen.
she lost 20 - 25g between Monday night and Thursday night. which was not shocking initially. but between Thursday night and today, she lost another 15g or so.
I think it is time to let her go she's fighting, but it's not a battle she can win I am afraid. whatever is wrong is really just eating away at her, literally.
my poor little fighter. I've been up until 2 - 4am with her every night this week snuggling. I wish I had been able to get her back in with her girls, but she rejected a lot of intros and then got sick so fast
I am 90% convinced at this point that the infection has spread and is basically shutting down her body. she is not able to keep her nose clear for long periods of time. ie: last night after nebulizing her she sneezed a TON. so much that she had little to no nasal noise and ate a ton of peanut butter off of some lab blocks. but about 3 - 4 hours later (middle of the night) she got congested again and panicked. this morning nebulizing did nearly nothing. she had to go in to the vet to get oxygen.
she lost 20 - 25g between Monday night and Thursday night. which was not shocking initially. but between Thursday night and today, she lost another 15g or so.
I think it is time to let her go
she's fighting, but it's not a battle she can win I am afraid. whatever is wrong is really just eating away at her, literally.my poor little fighter. I've been up until 2 - 4am with her every night this week snuggling. I wish I had been able to get her back in with her girls, but she rejected a lot of intros and then got sick so fast
mamarat
Well-Known Member
You tried so hard for your sweetie. :hugs: I'm so sorry.
so, I wanted to wait awhile before posting to make sure it was 100%, and I think a week later is as close as I will get atm!
Blue basically did a 180 on us. we were miserable all of Saturday, thinking we'd be making the choice Monday or losing her by then.
we woke up Sunday and she had NO nasal noise at all. she barely got congested during the day (a few moments of noise, but nothing that lasted long at all). she scarfed down peanut butter, avacado, ensure, water, everything! she's gone from 217g on Saturday to 268 - 272g now (she was 269 before she started losing weight from being sick. 256 the day she started mouth breathing).
I've been really guarded, worrying that it could turn around at any moment. the only issue I see at the moment is that she does that chirp/hiccup thing a little too often for my liking (maybe a couple times a day? but only when she gets really excited). I'm thinking she may have a little bit of left over damage from this episode OR is still just recovering.
I'm so exhausted! it's been such a rollercoaster since we discovered the mass in her belly. she still has the one on her side, but it's holding steady and not growing much.
she's basically back to our old Blue! I'm going to be able to move her cage back to the rat room and everything this weekend I think. so I can start intros if we decide to either a) not do surgery again (the abscess is in her skin. it would be pretty minor surgery as long as it doesn't have a lot of tendrils) b) only do another aspiration.
Blue basically did a 180 on us. we were miserable all of Saturday, thinking we'd be making the choice Monday or losing her by then.
we woke up Sunday and she had NO nasal noise at all. she barely got congested during the day (a few moments of noise, but nothing that lasted long at all). she scarfed down peanut butter, avacado, ensure, water, everything! she's gone from 217g on Saturday to 268 - 272g now (she was 269 before she started losing weight from being sick. 256 the day she started mouth breathing).
I've been really guarded, worrying that it could turn around at any moment. the only issue I see at the moment is that she does that chirp/hiccup thing a little too often for my liking (maybe a couple times a day? but only when she gets really excited). I'm thinking she may have a little bit of left over damage from this episode OR is still just recovering.
I'm so exhausted! it's been such a rollercoaster since we discovered the mass in her belly. she still has the one on her side, but it's holding steady and not growing much.
she's basically back to our old Blue! I'm going to be able to move her cage back to the rat room and everything this weekend I think. so I can start intros if we decide to either a) not do surgery again (the abscess is in her skin. it would be pretty minor surgery as long as it doesn't have a lot of tendrils) b) only do another aspiration.
Joanne
Well-Known Member
I'm glad to hear she has rebounded and is feeling better! Take a break and recharge your batteries.
mamarat
Well-Known Member
That is great news for your sweetie.
oh my gosh, I looked at the last time I posted and I could cry! (happy!)
Blue is thriving more than you could imagine! she was down to 217g at her lowest and drum roll! her last weigh in was 285g at the vet. she's an absolutely spoiled rotten ratty now :cheeky: we discovered that she adores unsalted popcorn. to the point where she'll find any way to get to your bowl to take a piece lol.
she's doing amazing as a solo rat. she hops around my bed during play time like a bunny rabbit.
oh! also around the end of February she opened up her abscess...and it hasn't come back! there's just a hard lump with a combo of scar tissue and maybe lingering casing from the abscess.
internally she still has some abnormalities. she has some bumps and lumps that a couple weeks ago seemed to be staying the same size (vet won't call it yet, but says if they continue to not grow, prob just scaring from surgeries since they were pretty intense. there were a lot of tendrils, etc. attached to her abscesses. they were very, very aggressive abscesses in that regard). her kidney is also still enlarged, probably from surgery damage. the more i learn about the abscesses, the more I realize how lucky we were to get through this. her abscesses were BIG and aggressive about surviving D:
in the mean time, we are enjoying having our little lady back and so happy <3 she's still solo due to a combo of worrying about her immune system + letting Daisy and Mini have as little stress as possible. (Daisy is still ill, though getting better on Cepha Drops. Mini has a mild uterine infection and goes in Tuesday for a spay).
after things calm down we're going to re-evaluate putting her back in with the other ladies. we'll let Blue decide what she wants at that point since she's doing so well solo.
Blue is thriving more than you could imagine! she was down to 217g at her lowest and drum roll! her last weigh in was 285g at the vet. she's an absolutely spoiled rotten ratty now :cheeky: we discovered that she adores unsalted popcorn. to the point where she'll find any way to get to your bowl to take a piece lol.
she's doing amazing as a solo rat. she hops around my bed during play time like a bunny rabbit.
oh! also around the end of February she opened up her abscess...and it hasn't come back! there's just a hard lump with a combo of scar tissue and maybe lingering casing from the abscess.
internally she still has some abnormalities. she has some bumps and lumps that a couple weeks ago seemed to be staying the same size (vet won't call it yet, but says if they continue to not grow, prob just scaring from surgeries since they were pretty intense. there were a lot of tendrils, etc. attached to her abscesses. they were very, very aggressive abscesses in that regard). her kidney is also still enlarged, probably from surgery damage. the more i learn about the abscesses, the more I realize how lucky we were to get through this. her abscesses were BIG and aggressive about surviving D:
in the mean time, we are enjoying having our little lady back and so happy <3 she's still solo due to a combo of worrying about her immune system + letting Daisy and Mini have as little stress as possible. (Daisy is still ill, though getting better on Cepha Drops. Mini has a mild uterine infection and goes in Tuesday for a spay).
after things calm down we're going to re-evaluate putting her back in with the other ladies. we'll let Blue decide what she wants at that point since she's doing so well solo.
Joanne
Well-Known Member
Wow, what a great 6 weeks! So glad to hear she's bounced back and is doing well.
mamarat
Well-Known Member
That's fantastic news!!
jorats
Loving rats since 2002.
That is good news. May I ask why was she separated from her girls in the first place?
