Lily Update

[September555]

I wished this was a good update but it isnt. Lily had that tumor, they tried Batryl. Didnt shrink, actually got bigger. So they decided to do surgery. It was today....Lily didn't make it. :cry:

they said I could come get her at noon. I work at night and sleeep days. Told them my mom would pick her up. I got up at 1:30 to and realized they left me a message, they called at 12 saying she was bleeding bad they wanted to stop the bleeding it would be a bit to call them. So at 1:30 when I called them, they told me she didnt make it. I said WHAT????? WHAT DO YOU MEAN.

Aparently they gave her mild anastetic, and they removed the tumor, said it went well, she had shallow breath. Gave her some fluids and she kept seeping blood pretty bad. So after it didnt stop they decided to put her under a little more before she fully woke up and make sure they didnt get anything to make her bleed. They found nothing so they put a packing thing in there to stop the bleeding. She started coming around again and it started seeping again and they said as she was waking up her breaths became more and more shallow and she just never came out of it. They tried reviving her with meds etc and nothing worked.

The vet said the mass was packed full of cancer and had alot of palets on it, she said she wouldnt be surprised if she had cancer elswhere and is what caused her to react the way she did to the surgery.

They said it was painless due to her still being under a bit when she passed and she was never alone, someone held her until she passed and never put her down.

The vet also said that if we had of left the mass alone, within a month or two she may of died a slow painful death given the size and mass of that tumor.

:cry: I am at a loss right now, of course this just happened, we just buried her in our flower bed garden. Sorry for the typos and miss spells I am still upset, swollen eyese from crying.

Bailey her cahe mate is 2 yrs and 7 months old now. I worry about her being alone but really do not want to intro a cage mate due to her age and a cage mate being young. I know rats do better in pairs...but I just fear for her with her age...and to be honest...I dont think I can deal with the heartache of losing them. I know Baileys days are short due to her age. Any suggestions for Bailey except lots of love and attention? I really dont want to add a mate at this time.



Why must we have such heavy hearts!
Paula

 

[jorats]

Oh god Paula, I'm so sorry. I remember when you got Lily to be Baily's buddy. This is truly heartbreaking.

 

[mamarat]

I'm so sorry. :hugs:

 

[crumbilina]

I'm so sorry to hear about Lily :hugs:

Maybe just watch Bailey and see if she is OK on her own? I have a lone rattie (similar circumstances) and she seems to be fine - just give her tonnes of kisses.

 

[Rachael]

That is so horrible. I'm truly sorry.

 

[September555]

Thanks everyone. I have kept busy tonight until 8 which is the girls play time. I didnt get bailey out to play....just held her and carried her around some and gave her some love and kisses and some yogurt. She is older and gotten so slim and boney. She is on batryl because has respiratory stuff going on. Vet said its probably perm from the way it sounds. So she will be on baytrl off and on.

I just worried she is missing Lily. They scraped alot...but they slept together. I put a pair of rolled up socks in the cuddle cup hoping that will give her comfort.

How do I tell if she is super depressed and missing Lily? I mean I dont want her upset. I also know adding a baby wouldnt be good with her age....and as I mentioned it before...I need to take a break for a bit...my heart cant take it.

I figured with play time from now on I will just put her on my bed and play with her myself. Any other suggestions for her lonliness would be great...I definately will be giving her alot more attention and kisses now.

Thanks again
Paula

 

[victoria]

I'm so sorry for you loss. :hugs:

When Lizzie died and left me with only her sister, Cloud, I was also unsure if it was best to get her some friends. Within a day Cloud, who had never been terribly fond of humans, would not leave my lap/shoulder and would hold onto me for dear life if I tried to put her back in the cage. I decided to get her 2 friends, that way they would have each other to play with and burn off their youthful energy, but would still be there to keep Cloud company. It did the trick, she went back to being indifferent towards us immediately.

I would try to spend as much time as you can with Bailey, and keep an eye out for any behaviour changes. Obviously her behaviour will change, but if she stops eating or drinking, becomes lethargic, or has drastic personality changes, I would worry. If you don't want to commit to more rats at the moment (totally understandable) maybe you could foster a pair for a local rescue, if possible.

 

[jorats]

At her advanced age, I wouldn't intro her to babies either. She would be glued to my shoulder every waking moment though. Keep her occupied and lots of cuddles... that should help her with the grieving.

 

[SQ]

very sorry
You could look into fostering one or two older ratties if you find she is depressed.

 

[September555]

Thanks for the input everyone. I will check into fostering and see whats around here. You know....the last....maybe month or two, Bailey has done that clingy thing to me when putting her away. I always got the girls out for at least an hour a night and let them run free in my bedroom while I cleaned their cage etc. When playtime is over, I gave them a treat and put them back. As soon as the treat bag would open they would fly over to me. I would give it to them and they would take it and run down in the bottom and eat it. The last month or two when I open the bag, Lily would break mow down an elephant to get to me...haha I am gonna miss that so bad with her..she was soooo chunky and funny when she ran to me like that.....anyways she would hop up and go in her cage and eat...Bailey on the other hand I would pick her up to put her in the cage and she would fight and nearly claw me up not wanting to go in her cage...I would set her down in there and try and give her a treat...she would refuse and run to the door and try her dangest to get back out, she was so fast at it, she would actually get back out 9 out of 10 times. I found it strange but also figured maybe it had something to do with her age. Its like she hasnt wanted to be in her cage. Maybe it is her age?

I keep doubting myself over Lily. I keep questioning what if I just hadnt of tried to have it removed. She didnt seem to be in any pain or anything or hurt by this tumor, although it was between her front two legs and huge (they showed it to me, it was golf ball size). She still waked okay with it. It did get very large very fast. LIke within a month or less. She gained a ton of weight. Looking back over the last two weeks tho, her behavior did change slightly, she ate and all that okay.....but noticed she slept alot more than normal. The vet seemed to think she had more cancer and just wasnt tumored yet. I just keep sitting here going over and over in my head she was fine last night and played and was being silly and 24 hours later she is gone....I wished now I had of just waited to remove the tumor, is it normal to doubt yourself that much??? The vet did say had we waited, it would have spread fast and hard and she could have probably had a slow painful death over the course of the next month or so.....but how can anyone be sure? Damned if you do and damned if you dont.

I am srue alot of you have been there and done that.

Paula

 

[jorats]

Don't doubt yourself, you did your best. I would have done the same. Who knows, what if she had lived with her tumour which would have started to cause her extreme pain as cancer does so often. You did right by her.

 

[LA]

Oh I am so sorry!!! You did what you thought was best and that's the best you can do.

 

[Zooy]

I'm so sorry for your loss! You did the best that you could do!

 

[Slapdash]

You did the right thing, don't doubt yourself it will only make things harder. So sorry for your loss!

 

[minnow]

Sleeping a lot can be a sign that things are shutting down... even though it wasn't your intent, you gave her a peaceful trip to the Bridge, probably not long before she would have started hurting.

You did the best that anyone could have, given the circumstances.

:hugs:

 

[xxchelle]

Oh no, I'm really sorry for your loss. You did the right thing, even though it was the hardest decision to make. :hugs:

 

[September555]

Thanks everyone. I do know cancer is typical, and the coment Jo made about it being painful, I didnt know that it could be painful...I mean it is obvious it is not a joy to have...but didnt realize in rats it could of turned painful. I work nights and sleep days, I noticed Bailey awake alot more today...I had a hard time sleeping and it was obvious she did too. I got her out a few times and held her, she didnt want to go back. Maybe the next couple of days she will relax some. Her breathing is so hard and wheezey (which it has been, nothing new). I know it wont be long before I may loose her as well. Poor lil gal. She may fool me and live to be 3 or 4 too, who knows.

Thanks again everyone.

Paula

 

[Moon]

If her breathing is really hard, maybe you could talk to your vet about including a steroid added to her med regimen to help open the airway. Also, adding doxy to assist the baytril might help.

I'm so sorry about Lily. Not only can cancer become painful in itself, but the masses can grow in ways to impede the function of organs and that can be very painful as well. You absolutely did the right thing in attempting to remove it.

 

[Godmother]

I am so sorry for your loss of Lily, and it's hard to see you go through the painful process of second-guessing yourself. It seems to be part of the grieving process. Try not to torment yourself. It was cancer, and there would not have been any magic solution.

 

[September555]

Thank you again. Moon....what is Doxy and how is it administered? I always ask here before I go to my vet that sees my rats....because although its not vet advice, sometimes experience is best first hand. I always ask here or Jo before I do anything with them, always have. Right now, she has pill form of baytrl, I take the entire pill, grind it up, and add it to two teaspoons of plain yogurt and just refridge it. I give her 1 cc per dose, twice a day. Vet said she will probably be on that the rest of her life. Is that normal? She said it may work if we do 2 weeks on and 2 off, depends on how she is doing.

Paula.