Is Lulla in pain?

[Ichigo]

He didn't find it alarming :S But I didn't especially ask what it meant. He is amazing with rat behavior he was describing how the way she looked now meant that she was searching for contact and courious about her enviroment. The yawning calms both her and her flock. She seems VERY talkative because she hardly ever stops, but some of her sisters also do that.
They had lice btw, but that's a small matter, it might have caused an irritation though. They will be treated for that, and maybe I will see a change.
I only had to spend like 100$ worth of money (550nok) (In Norway that is enough to buy you half an ipod )

 

[Maple]

Good news for Ichigo & Lulla. If nothing else, your visit to the vet has given you piece of mind.
Between the pain meds and the lice treatment I'm sure you will be a big change.

 

[Ichigo]

I have been on vacation for a week now, and tomorrow I will start with the pain medicine. I hope that she doesn't change at all, as that would mean she is indeed not in pain... She hasn't changed the week I have been away, she still puffs up and talks alot. I think she is acting very strange, but she has always been a weird rat

 

[SQ]

Rats may become puffy when introed to new rats ... it is a sign of aggression

 

[Ichigo]

But there are no threaths here... She is completely safe, and very curious, and Amy who was her mortal enemy is suddenly her best-friend so that couldn't be it.

 

[Ichigo]

Hi Long time since I've posted anything here. Just thought I'd update on what was wrong with Lulla.

She has heart failure poor thing :sad3: The vet said she probably had just a feew weeks, maybe months to live...
I give her a medicine that makes the liquid from the lungs go away so she won't choke in her own blood.
My poor baby, she is just the most wonderful rat, and then she goes and gets heart failure :cry3:

Does anyone have suggestions to make her feel more comfortable? Any experience with heart failure?

Aurora

 

[victoria]

I am so sorry Aurora :hugs: I don't have any experience with heart failure but my heart goes out to you, Lulla, and your other babies. I know it's hard but try to stay positive and focus on the time you have left together... rats are incredibly emphatic and it will help her make the most of whatever time she has left. In terms of making her comfortable, what are her symptoms?

 

[Rattus]

:hugs: Just keep her comfortable and happy.

 

[Rachael]

The weight gain could well have been fluid, and her tum looks a bit rounded in the video. Your poor girl.

What meds does she have? Is it Frusemide?

 

[Ichigo]

Yes it's Diural - furosemid, after she started taking the meds she has lost 30g.

I am focusing on the positives and spending as much time with her as possible. She is very weak and loves to lie on my lap with her feet sticking out to the sides. It looks so adorable! But she still has fight in her, and yesterday she jumped from the lower part of the bookshelf to my bed and then she climbed onto my lap... She is just so loveable... :heart: I must admit that I thought yesterday might be her last day she was so tired and laid for hours on my lap, but she made it through and now she is sleeping in her little house with Amy

Her sympomts are: easily tired, heavy breathing, less controll of the bladder (pga meds) a bit colder than an average rat, the other rats tend to nibble on her fur and I found an old wound that had scabbed over yesterday

Thank you for the sympathy it really helps boost my spirits! :cuddle:

 

[SQ]

Rats with heart failure are put on a beta blocker such as atenolol (1 mg/Ib twice a day), an ACE inhibitor such as enalapril (0.25 mg/Ib twice a day) or lisinopril (0.125 to 2 mg/Ib twice a day) and furosemide (brand: lasix, beginning dose 1 - 2 mg/Ib twice a day).
If the rat has an enlarged heart as seen in an xray, then the rat is also put on digoxin (0.0025 mg/Ib twice a day).
(Info taken from the Rat Health Care book, http://www.ratfanclub.org)

These medications can give a rat good quality time .... perhaps a month or more depending upon their condition.
Burrell had a seriously enlarged heart and was on these meds from December of one year until he was put to sleep in August of the following year.
Esther has an enlarged heart and has been on these drugs since September.
Other rats I have had on heart meds usually had one to several months of good quality time.

The heart disease will continue to progress and my experience has been that when the meds stopped helping enough I have always had my rats with heart problems humanely put to sleep so that they would not die horrible deaths gasping for air.
When Lulla starts to get bad and the meds no longer help enough, you will want to have your vet humanely put her to sleep.
(see viewtopic.php?f=20&t=9582&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=put+to+sleep)

I have found that rats with advanced respiratory disease often have congestive heart failure as well. The recommended treatment for heart failure is a low sodium diet, enalapril (dose 0.25 mg/lb twice a day), which lowers the blood pressure and makes it easier for the heart to beat, and atenolol (1 mg/lb twice a day), an beta-blocker that slows the heartbeat to make it more effective. (The American Heart Association recently announced it was recommending the use of beta-blockers for most patients with congestive heart failure.) Enalapril is so safe it can be used as a diagnostic tool. If giving enalapril makes the rat feel better, then you know he has congestive heart failure. If enalapril is going to help you should see improvement in the rat’s symptoms within 5 days. A diuretic can also help in some cases. For more information about congestive heart failure, see my Rat Health Care booklet.

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

 

[Ichigo]

I do not think she has more than a feew weeks really, cause it has been going on since November. So I don't think I'll take her to the vet unless it is to give her the final gift I can, rest. (Or call it killing her, much the same)

 

[mamarat]

:hugs:

 

[Ichigo]

I rarely I have time to post anyhting herer, but as an update for people with rats who get heart failure:

Lulla died May 7th 2010 in my lap at the vets. She was 1 year and 6 or 7 months old. The last 24 hours she spent in my bed breathing hard and looking like a little porcupine. She loved to cuddle up in my t-shirt and pop her eyes and grinding her teeth adorably. She was horribly thin, and didn't fight the sleeping drugs. She had a good life, and I'm glad I got to know her. I don't think I'll ever meet a rat like Lulla, she was special.

Her friend Amy died a week later of pneumonia/ respiratorial infection. The two left are really depressed, but at least Lavendel is cheering up. Ichigo has just become asosial and tired

 

[Rachael]

I'm so sorry to hear this.

 

[mamarat]

I'm so so sorry. :hugs: