Head Tilt - which abs should I ask for?

[Bundyrats]

Hi, well it's been a month today since I lost Rosie. There are NO rescues in this town (it's a snake town ), so I just happened to go past the new pet shop (I hate pet shops that sell animals) and there was this gorgeous girl with severe head tilt in a horrible environment. The pet shop lady said she'd been there for 3-4 months, no-one wanted her. She told me that she had a brain tumor and wouldn't live for much longer :wallbang:

I took her on the spot.

I've looked up head tilt on The Shack and I am making sure to handle her correctly so she feels secure. I have a cereal box in her cage so she can feel a roof and as I type this single-handedly she is snuggled in the crook of my arm. I am in love. The strange thing was that as I pulled up out the front of the pet shop at 11.32am this morning, I thought of Rose and felt so sad because I knew that exactly one month ago at that time, I was at the vets having my precious Rose pts. I think it's too much of a co-incidence that I walked in today and this girl was waiting there for me.

So I have an appt at the vet tomorrow at 11am, what should I ask for : Baytril AND clav? or just Baytril? And how long will I need to dose for and how often? Is Clorpalm better? The lady said she's been like this for a while...maybe a couple of months? I asked her if she'd tried abs, and she said she'd tried Tetracycline but it didn't work, that is how she knows she has a brain tumor :gaah: ....the woman thought she knew all about rats but she had NFI.

Edit: and how long on abs before I see an improvement? I'm hoping there's not permanent damage. And should I ask for an anti-inflammatory? Which one?

 

[eagle]

Bless you for taking her in. I would def ask for Baytril, but will let the experts answer on if needing a combo of any kind. If she has been like that for a couple months then there very well may be some damage. My guess is you will need meds for at least 3 weeks to try and undo some of the damage. The infection has had a long time to fester inside. And you are right she had no clue on the meds she was using. That one has no punch for rats, great for fish, but not rats. Good luck

 

[victoria]

Baytril plus Chlorpalm is probably the best for an ear infection, if not Baytril plus Clavamox. Be warned Chlorpalm is really harsh on digestive flora, as is Clavamox I think, so be prepared for diarrhea. I'm not completely certain how long you should treat but I would do 6 weeks at a minimum.

If she's been like that for months, the head tilt is permanent and will improve very little, if at all unfortunately. We got a very tilty girl at the shelter I volunteer at (crumbilina adopted her, you can search her posts for Dizzy) and the poor thing runs in circles for hours on end but she's very happy and she seems to be over the infection itself.

 

[lilspaz68]

I would just stick with baytril (maybe with clavamox if your vet is okay with it) and treat for 3 weeks. If she seems more lively and bouncy and agile while doing this you are fighting an active infection, if not she may just have a residual tilt from a previous infection but the only way to know is to try

I second what eagle says...bless you for taking her!

 

[Bundyrats]

Thank you so much for your advices. She was so active and happy and inquisitive when I first saw her. She's full of life, so that's a good thing. It's just so sad that this could be permanent.

 

[lilspaz68]

Thank you so much for your advices. She was so active and happy and inquisitive when I first saw her. She's full of life, so that's a good thing. It's just so sad that this could be permanent.

Being a tilty won't affect her that much...she can be a very agile, happy, healthy girl with it She looks tilted but not extremely, and sometimes the tilt can lessen on antibiotics just don't expect completely back to normal. Do you have a name for her yet?

 

[mamarat]

Congrats! So glad you took her home. I just lost my tilty girl, she was 32 months and had been tilty since I got her. Good luck with your sweetie. Vet did try Baytril for 3 weeks and then Baytril and Pred for another 4 weeks but nothing worked. Tails was a happy girl all her life.

 

[SQ]

Baytril (5 mg/Ib or 10 mg/Ib) and clavamox (10 mg/Ib) given orally. Also, an anti-inflamatory such as medacam or predisone for awhile to decrease the swelling and prevent further permanant damange. She will need to be on the antibiotics for 4 weeks or possibly longer.
If the antibiotics are working, her head tilt will not become worse and will hopefully improve.
There are other antibiotics to try if baytril + clavamox doesn't clear up the infection.

If you give her predisone, it needs to be given with an antibiotic as it lowers the immune system. You can not just stop giving predisone if the ratties has been on it for longer then 2 weeks. If given for longer then 2 weeks, the dose needs to be gradually reduced by cut it in half every 3 days.

Wonderful that you were able to rescue her.
She will likely have a permanent head tilt but as others said, rats with a head tilt can have a good life.

 

[crumbilina]

My combo of choice is baytril and clavamox and the only time there have been issues with diarrhea is after they have been on it for over 3 weeks. Victoria is right though, it is hard on their stomachs - you can tell by the struggle they put up after a couple days. To prevent this, what I usually did was gave them their meds and made up some baby cereal with water (use only the dairy free and pro/prebiotic free baby cereals) and gave it to them right after their meds. It helped keep their stomachs full, reducing the effect it can have on their stomachs.

I don't know a lot about the effects of chlorpalm, the only rat I have ever had on it passed after 3 doses. But one of the annoying things about chlorpalm (maybe this was specific for the stuff that I got) is that you have to give it 3 times a day because it is metabolized so quickly. This makes it difficult to supplement them with pro/prebiotics to restore gut flora, especially if you work. For that reason I will only ever use chlorpalm as a last resort. So if you work, you might want to consider the clavamox (2x/day), unless the chlorpalm the you get can be given according to your schedule. I also would use a combo and not just baytril.

As for duration, no idea. Hopefully your vet will be able to suggest a good time course.

How is she besides the tilt? Still happy and curious?
My tilty (victoria mentioned her earlier) is happy as can be. They adjust surprisingly well. I mean, she will run in circles for HOURS and be fine - I would expect some nausea but nope! No signs of discomfort, chows down on food and acts normal. Even if your girl is tilty forever, she will adjust and be happy with you

Glad you were able to help her!

 

[Bundyrats]

If the abs don't help much then it sounds like it's probably me who's going to have to adapt to being tilty rather than her! She's just lovely, I held her again this morning and whispered to her that she's found her forever home, she started bruxing and totally relaxed in my arms. I don't think she would have ever been held so carefully in the past, especially the way that WOMAN was holding her.

I do work so it sounds like Chlorpalm is not an option at this stage.

Do you have a name for her yet?

Oh don't ask me that! I'm terrible with names, they have to be just perfect and so it takes me ages. I'm thinking Chloe though.

Another question, how does one wash a tilty rat? She needs a bath but I can't imagine it's going to be easy?

Here she is cuddling this morning.

Check out her tongue!

 

[Bundyrats]

We're back from the vet with a jumbo sized supply of Baytril! I've given her her first dose and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be! :joy: With that little head movin' and groovin' all over the place I thought I'd have a tough time but she's a good girl :nod:

Fingers crossed I see some improvement but even the vet is not too confident if she's been like this for so long.

She weights 204 grams!

 

[SQ]

Hopefully the baytril will soon clear up the infection and stop her from getting worse.

 

[mamarat]

Sending healing vibes to your sweetie.