ideas for weight gain are needed

[leonor]

hello, my Rita is very sick.
she got mycos and the vet injected her baytril. Rita had an allergic reaction, lost fur and has a nasty wound where the injection was given. she is being treated whith a ointment for the wound. now my biggest problem is that she is loosing a lot of weight. She is very very weak, her appetite is very low.
i'm giving her a warm pasty mixture i'm making with baby food (no lactose and no glutem), boild rice and chicken (no salt), coconut every 2-3 hours. she is snacking kornflakes, bugs, vegetables, boild eggs and everything i can think of. she is eating Nutriplus Gel 5-6 times a day.
Can you help me thinking ways to get her weight up?
the vet also thinks the reaction area may be infected under the skin (on the surface, the wound is healing very well), that's why she is loosing weight. but because she is so weak, the vet thinks she can't handle meds right know.
I've asked on the chat and i was told to try avocato, gatorade, ensure and peanut butter. I'll buy them tomorrow ( it's the midle of the night in my countrie right now)
I need ideas please,

 

[lilspaz68]

How old is Rita?

Baytril often causes serious issues where it is injected as you have found, its very caustic and unless heavily diluted should never be injected. Your girl is probably sick from a URI (how is her breathing?) and she needs oral antibiotics. You can give injectable baytril orally, but did your vet send you home with any antibiotics at all?

 

[leonor]

rita is almost 1year old.
the vet stopped the med when she had the reaction. he prescribed an ointment for the wound (Panolog). and today, because she is soooooo weak, he gave me Nutri-plus for extra food. i've mixed it with her baby past i made for her.
he said her body tempetarure is low, so i set on the cage a rubber bottle with hot whater on it.
should i start the baytril again, but this time orally? is it really safe now? he thinks she may have an infection underneath the necrotic skin but he says he is not sure she can handle baytril again.
i'm setting my alarm clock for 4h from now to reheat the rubber bottle and the baby paste.
we don´t know what to do, please tell us what would you do if you were us.

 

[leonor]

whats a URI?

 

[SQ]

upper respitory infection

See if the vet will give you doxycycline or azithromycin (childrens med by perscription from the pharmacy, dose is 10 mg/Ib to 15 mg/Ib twice a day for 6 weeks).
baytril + doxycycline and baytril + azithromycin are good combos to try.

When giving baytril orally, you will want to dilute it and make it taste good especially if it is the injectable type.

I measure out meds into a tiny dish, add a couple of drops of strawberry nesquic to sweetnen it, add a couple of drops of water, mix and thicken it with baby cereal. Sometimes I also add a couple of drops of olive oil. The rats think it is a wonderful treat and eat their meds happily.

If your ratties inproves on the antibiotics you will want to keep her on them for at least 4 to 6 weeks. If she does not start to improve within a couple of days, you will want to try her on a different combo of antibiotics.

This chart may help ... http://www.rmca.org/Articles/dchart.htm

 

[lilspaz68]

Your girl had a reaction tot he injection of baytril not the baytril itself.

http://ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobial_ ... aytril.php

Skin: Can cause tissue damage when given undiluted in IM or SQ injections in pet rats.

A UK rat site http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/information ... ct=baytril

It is not recommended that Baytril be injected - some rats can develop painful blistering at the injection site, resulting in a large hard scab, which is often pulled off, leaving an open wound. Baldness can occur at the injection site though the wound will heal and the fur will grow back eventually. However, there are rare occurrences of rats bleeding to death where the ulcer erodes a major blood vessel.

She needs another respiratory antibiotic or she needs to have the baytril diluted and given orally in something tasty. She's too young to die untreated.

 

[maria-mar]

Maybe it's time to ask another vet a second opinion...

 

[leonor]

I've been Reading about meds in this article, and maybe Clavamox is a good choice. What do you think? The lungs don't seem to be wet and the main problem now is the infection under the skin. Do you still think that baytril is the best choice? I'm going to the vet again today so rita can start her meds.

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/dchart.htm

 

[lilspaz68]

Clavamox on its own is only good for certain respiratory infections not myco, and most likely that is why your girl is sick.

What does her breathing sound like or look like?

 

[leonor]

There is no sound in the lungs. The vet said that they're clean and dry. Thats why he thinks the problem is in the infection now. If her lung are dry, why is she not eating well and why the wieght lost?

 

[hopefloats]

How old is she?

Weight loss is usually a sign of a bad heart as well. How is her breathing?

 

[leonor]

Hey guys,
I have really bad news, my heart is broken. Rita didn't make it. ;( ;(
I took her to the vet this morning and we made an avocato peanut butter and nutriplus paste and started the feeding buy seringe (1ml per h +0.5 ml of water).
She had a little diarrhea so he called another vet (one that works in a shelter of exotic animals) and the 2º vet confirmed that baytril or doxcy would be fatal in her condition. She needed to get some weight first.
A few hours later, my mom was nearby the vet where she was and went there for an update on her condition. She saw her and she was really weak. She died with my mom petting her and singing to her. I was not there on time.
We are so sad... Our little baby girl left us and we were not ready to leave her... ;( ;( ;(

 

[hopefloats]

I am sorry for your loss. The doxy and baytril would help not make them worse. Sometimes those meds are the only thing that saves them. I would personally find a new vet to go to. I never heard of a vet saying antibiotics would make it worse. They are the reason they survive the whole ordeal.

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

Im so sorry for ur loss!

 

[jorats]

I'm so very sorry. ((hugs))

But, for next time, your vets are really not experienced in rats. Baytril and Doxy could not have made her worse unless they suspected severe kidney damage which there's no way to know with Rita.
The reason Rita reacted to the shot is because it was a shot. She should have been given it orally.

 

[leonor]

The vet made an autopsy, he said the scab from the injection was clean and already making a good scrar. The problem was the lungs, they were very dark and dry.
Rita had been sick when she was about 2 months old (she was treated and spent the next 7 months whithout any symtoms), could that infeccion be the reason for her death ?