HELP!! My Rat is sick!

[itssinnett]

Hi everyone! I have three pet rats, two dumbo rats (poppy and Rosie) which I bought from a pet shop and a younger fancy rat called Betty. I’ve had the Dumbo rats for a year now and got Betty in Feb. Unfortunately Rosie had always sneezed from the moment I picked her up and brought her home. For the past few days Rosie has preferred to stay at the bottom of the cage. I thought it was unusual but not out of the question as she seemed fine when I had all three out In their playpen to clean their cage 3 days ago.

Today I noticed that Rosie is cold to the touch, lethargic and skinny. She can hardly balance when she’s walking, sometimes stumbles or slowly reclines into a sitting position, and also cannot grip food in her front paws. She is still eating albeit slowly. I’ve moved all three into a single tier cage as I’m worried about her balance issues. We have a vet appointment booked for tomorrow but I was just wondering if anyone had any idea what this could be? Has the respiratory issues caught up with her? Could it be something else? This seems to of come on so suddenly and it’s heartbreaking to see her this way.
Thank you,

 

[Big Schpog]

How did she get skinny in 3 days?

 

[lilspaz68]

Can you get a video of Rosie? You said you got her a year ago so how old was she when you first got her (trying to determine an age to rule in or out pituitary tumour). Can you hold her sides to your ear and listen to her breathing?

 

[itssinnett]

How did she get skinny in 3 days?

I don’t think she has, I think she has been slowly losing weight over a period of time and I’m not sure how long. She’s always been the smallest of the three, but she is visibly skinnier to eye

 

[itssinnett]

Can you get a video of Rosie? You said you got her a year ago so how old was she when you first got her (trying to determine an age to rule in or out pituitary tumour). Can you hold her sides to your ear and listen to her breathing?

Here is a video of her eating showing how she cannot use her hands. I’m pretty sure she was around 8 weeks old when we got her although unsure as she was from a pet shop. We visited the vets today and they said they couldn’t hear any wheezing or anything to say it’s a progressed respiratory issue although they did say something about fluid on the lungs which I thought was contradictory?

The vet also said she was dehydrated and so gave her an injection of fluid under the skin. This must be because she couldn’t climb to the water bottle and stayed at the bottom of the cage which breaks my heart to know! I’ve been advised to syringe feed water although I’m really scared about it going into the lungs? The vet also said it could be heart disease and she has a review on Friday to see how she’s getting on

They prescribed Frusol 40mg/5ml 0.16ml every 12 hours and Baytril 2.5% 0.1ml every 12 hours. She has had her first doses now and I’m hoping it helps her as she’s really struggling.


do the doses and everything sound right? She prescribed my other rat the Baytril and also Metacam but it’s Rosie I am more concerned about. Thank you.

 

[Dena]

I always keep at least one water source on each level. I have a bottle and cup up top, and a bottle on the bottom. If I see my rat that's having issues on a certain level more, I'll move the cup to where he is as well. That way in case the bottle fails, he can still drink. Since he's been sick, he prefers the cup. The others can get around well, and so if need be, they can move to the cup. Hope your baby gets better soon!

 

[itssinnett]

I always keep at least one water source on each level. I have a bottle and cup up top, and a bottle on the bottom. If I see my rat that's having issues on a certain level more, I'll move the cup to where he is as well. That way in case the bottle fails, he can still drink. Since he's been sick, he prefers the cup. The others can get around well, and so if need be, they can move to the cup. Hope your baby gets better soon!

They have a bottle on the top level and also a bowl up there too but I know now to have them on different levels she’s really dehydrated. Just had another injection under the skin to get some fluids into her. It’s not looking good unfortunately and the price for all of the tests they want to do is coming out at over £1,000!