Help! Baby in Major Respiratory Distress! - She's Gone

[Slapdash]

Long story short, I work as a groomer at a petstore and although I don't work in the actual store at all, I had an associate from the store come running into grooming today saying that one of the baby PEW rats was having a lot of trouble breathing and the manager had put her in isolation. When it comes to rats at the pet store, isolation means they are put in a hot tiny back room by themselves to die. Literally, they won't pay for vet care because it costs more that the rat is worth. :redhot:
So this associate asked if I could help cause she knew I loved rats and reluctantly I went into the back to find a roughly 6 week old PEW baby knocking on deaths door. I talked to the manager and said I was taking her home with me because she was dying and she said fine.
So now I need help! We had a rat almost a year ago die that had severe pneumonia and we rushed her to the E-vet and paid almost $400 only to have her pass that night. I need to know what I can do to possibly save this little girl. I'm not trying to sound like I've given up hope on her, but I doubt she'll make it through the night. She is breathing so heavy, her sides are sucken in, when you hold her she just feels gone already :cry4: I have antibiotics, baby motrin, pedialite, baby food, and dark chocolate, which is why I took her home cause I knew I had everything that could potentially save her. She weighs maybe 100g and I need to know how much of the pedialite and motrin to give her and if there are things I should be doing in addition to all the other things to help her? The motrin is 100mg per 5mL.
So far I've syringed her some water because she's so dehydrated but I don't know how much pedialite to give her? Also, she won't eat the dark chocolate so I'm going to tr :cry4: melting it a little. She won't eat or drink so I know it's probably too late but I want to try everything and if all I do is give her a peaceful, safe, and comfortable place to pass then at least I could do that. I also gave her the antibiotics already and I have her in a well ventilated room with three fans going. What else should I be doing. I have access to a nebulizer should I use that? Sorry its a long post with a lot of questions I'd just really appreciate it if someone could give me like a step by step of what I should be doing? I might be able to bring her to my regular vet tomorrow, if she makes it through the night so for now I need to help her pull through till morning. :sad3: Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[Slapdash]

I forgot to add , when I first picked her up she had greenish yellow runny poop. It was almost as thin as water! :sad3:

 

[Cigar]

If she's really congested you could try holding her near a source of steam like running the tub til it's really hot.. Definitely keep her hydrated. I'd personally substitute pedialite for water right now to get some electrolytes into her ASAP. Diarrhea can kill because it dehydrates so quickly. Poor thing..

 

[SQ]

Give her as much peditie as she will take by syringe in the side of her mouth, one drop at a time.
Repeat this frequently.
Pedilite is much better then water and will hydrate her.

Does she still have runny poop? That is why she is dehydrated.

What antibiotics did you give?
Hopefully she will be able to hang in there until the antibiotics are able to make a difference
Does her breathing sound congested or like there is fluid in her lungs?
As previously mentioned, you can try steam ... sometimes it will help, sometimes it makes things worse.

Keep her comfortable and loved.

If her breathing becomes too bad, I hope you will have her humanely pts (http://www.jorats.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... t+to+sleep) as this is a horrible way to die.

 

[SQ]

from: http://ratfanclub.org/firstaid.html

Respiratory Distress

A rat can experience respiratory distress without any warning, whether or not she has had previous respiratory symptoms. The signs of respiratory distress are gasping through the mouth, or dashing about in a panic. The rat may or may not have blue extremities. Respiratory distress is extremely unpleasant—one of the most distressing experiences there is—and must be treated immediately.

One of the first things to try is to get the rat to breathe air moistened by a humidifier or a shower running in the bathroom. You can also boil water on the stove, but do not let the rat inhale the steam directly, as that can burn the lungs. Hold the rat at least 3' away from the steam.

If it seems like the rat might have mucus in the throat that is blocking the free passage of air, see choking (below).


If the rat is still having trouble breathing, and the problem is constricted breathing passages (like asthma) a bronchodilator will help. The best treatment is a subcutaneous (subQ) injection of aminophylline, which will expand the breathing passages. In most cases, this will stop the respiratory distress within a matter of minutes. It is also recommended that the rat be given a subQ injection of dexamethasone to reduce inflammation in the lungs. If dexamethasone isn’t available, you can give ibuprofen at 60 mg/lb twice a day.

If aminophylline isn’t available, you can try an asthma inhaler. You can buy one called Primatene Mist at a drug store without a prescription. Put the rat in a small paper bag, inside a large plastic container or under a blanket and put two or three puffs of the medication in with the rat. Try to keep the rat there for several minutes to make sure she inhales the medicine.

If a bronchodialator doesn’t help within 15 minutes, you can try an injection of furosemide, a diuretic that will quickly flush excess fluid out of the lungs.

If none of these treatments work, the rat must be put in oxygen. If the rat doesn’t improve on oxygen it means her lungs are no longer able to work and she should be euthanized. If the rat does improve on oxygen, then you have some time to wait for other medications to work.

Once you get the rat out of respiratory distress, she should be put on both amoxicillin and Baytril. She may need continued treatment twice a day with aminophylline, an anti-inflammatory (either prednisone or an NSAID), furosemide, and perhaps even enalapril and atenolol.

 

[SQ]

Also see : http://ratfanclub.org/resp.html

If she is getting bloated from swallowing air, you can give a drop or two of ovol (infant med from drug store)

 

[lilspaz68]

you have 20 mg/ml children's motrin?

She's 100 grams? Her dose would be .12 cc's at a high dosage. It should help any discomfort that she is feeling. As Holly said, as much pedialyte as you can get in her.

I wouldn't steam her just in case she has pneumonia.

I also wouldn't bother with abs at this point because if she makes it through the night, you will take her to your regular vet.

I would gently hold her, or if she's uncomfortable with that, be as close to her as possible, so she is not alone. I am so sorry you are both going through this, but glad you are willing to go through this for this wee nameless love. :cuddle:

 

[Slapdash]

Not sure if her poops are still runny because it doesn't really look like she's pooped since we got her.
Her breathing doesn't sound like there's fluid and it doesn't sound congested either? Mostly just hard and labored? She isn't gasping with her mouth open but every 30sec to a min she attempts to take a deep breath sprt of gasping just with her mouth closed. The antibiotics are doxy and baytril.Things don't look good, heres a video just so you can see her breathing and how terrible she looks. I'm going to keep saying my prayers and trying everything I can to save her but it looks to me as though she is beyond the point of help :cry4:

What are your thoughts on the video, you can see how lethargic she is, that jump onto the purple hut is about as much as she moves. I just dosed her with the motrin so she should start feeling more comfortable soon, but her sides are sunken in for now... how will I know if she's in too much distress and should be PTS? She already looks absolutely miserable and it breaks my heart but I haven't had much experience with rats in this much discomfort and so ill except for the one I lost.

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/2332/dscn0025.mp4

 

[lilspaz68]

She looks icky but I have seen and saved worse. Start her on the abs (do you need help with dosages?)

You could try to steam her, and see if it helps at all. Just sit on the toilet with her in your lap...I let the steam build while I am in there so I can judge if its helping or making them worse.

The skinny body is because she is putting so much energy into breathing. She's very very sweet!!!

 

[jorats]

You are already getting some good advice so I'll only say I'm sending her lots of healing vibes.

 

[Cigar]

Thank goodness she at least had enough energy to hop up to the igloo even if it's all the moving around she's doing. She looks a little confused, no doubt from being so dehydrated. I had envisioned her laid out flat, squinty eyed, gasping for air.. Bet you any money she'd be that way right now if you hadn't taken her home. Just keep up what you're doing!

 

[Slapdash]

She passed away a few minutes ago in my arms :cry4: I went in to give her more pedialite and see how she was doing and she was on her side looking terrible. I scooped her up and tried to give her a little pedialite but right away she started gasping open mouthed for air, I knew. I wrapped her up into some fleece in my arms and she started panicing, then relaxed and went peacefully. I wish I could have done more, but part of me knew help came too late. So young and she had it so hard already, I hate people so much sometimes. RIP little one :sad3:

The only picture I had of sweet little Lola...



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[lilspaz68]

I am so sorry SlapDash. At least the wee one knew love in her final hours. ((hugs))

 

[LadyGray]

I'm really sorry :-( You were so good to her

 

[Maple]

This is a blasted crime and sadly goes on every day.
She is comfortable now and bless your kind heart Slapdash :hugs:
RIP little girl. :heart:

 

[Cigar]

At least she didn't spend her final hours alone, that would have been heartbreaking for her.. I'm so sorry you had to try and clean up your store's mess.

 

[mamarat]

I'm so so sorry. RIP little Lola

 

[jorats]

Lola is free again...

 

[Slapdash]

So how worried should I be about my rats possibly catching this? I actually kept Lola at my mother in laws yesterday afternoon and was there with her until she passed. When we first got her I had to go back and forth a few times getting the cage and medications and stuff from my house, and after she passed I came home in the same clothes I was holding her in, and her tiny body wrapped in fleece in a tupperware container which I placed in the bedroom closet until we buried her this morning. Should I be worried about my rats catching anything or am I being paranoid. Sorry just need to know. Thanks again for everyones help and kind words.

 

[RatsForever]

Poor little girl. But at least she wasn't alone when she passed. I'm so sorry.