Mr. H, HED - One Tooth Down

[M0onkist]

I noticed one thing while I was playing with Mr. Honeycomb today - his ears are rather full of earwax (ear-rat-wax?). I imagine that's because he can't get his feet up into his ears to clean them, and the side with his better foot was cleaner than the other.

What's the best thing to do when that's the case? I don't want to cause him any damage, but I imagine ears full of wax would be rather uncomfortable.

 

[M0onkist]

Any thoughts on helping him clean his ears?

 

[mamarat]

Hope this helps

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=18829

 

[MissGuardian]

I just used a tiny bit of cotton and gently cleaned the ear when my HED rat Zitka needed help cleaning his ears.

 

[rat.charmer]

Cottonball is getting HED so I've been helping her with her ears. She doesn't like the Q-tip so...gross but necessary - I've been using my pinky fingers. She seems to understand what I'm doing because she'll wiggle her head around my finger until she gets the relief she's looking for. That way too I don't risk poking too far into her ear canal - I let her dictate what is comfortable for her.

 

[M0onkist]

Perhaps icky (not really), but definitely necessary - like checking for plugs down there for the gentlement rats with HED. I always reassure Mr. H. that I know it isn't very dignified, but it's far better than being uncomfortable!

I did the ear thing, and he did look a lot happier - he kept sort of rubbing his ear up against my finger as I was doing it. Now he's back lounging with his 3 girls in the rat mansion, lol

 

[rat.charmer]

Cotton's gotten to a point where she goes into a licking/kissing frenzy when you rub her ears. I guess not being able to scratch an itch is very very annoying! Boo's been good about about helping to groom her as well so she still looks...well...like a Cottonball.

 

[M0onkist]

I'm keeping all my questions about Mr. H. to one thread, just so stuff doesn't clutter.

I'm calling Dr. Munn tomorrow to see if I can get him in tomorrow (ideally) or this week. I think it's a URI, but truth be told, I've never had a rat as old as Mr. Honeycomb, so I don't know what the similarities are between CHF and URIs. Some of the symptoms for URIs don't quite match what he has, which is why I'm asking.

He's not sneezing excessively, but he is making little musical notes whenever he's doing stuff (like eating, especially when drinking, and whenever I take him out of the cage or he's disturbed). So the quietest time is when he's resting in the CN. It doesn't seem to change with location (I brought him up to my room in the travel cage to see if a different room would be better, and there's absolutely no change).

The noise seems to get significantly louder when he's drinking his meds (in Ensure) - he usually has to stop once or twice to sneeze and clean his nose (his nose always has more porph after than before). He also looks like he kind of has to choke after drinking the meds, but he never gets to a full choking motion, and usually winds up trying to sneeze.

Last couple of days he's been looking more huffed and fluffed (the whole I'm-not-feeling-great-fluff), and doesn't seem to have as much energy.

 

[M0onkist]

Got an appointment for him at 10:20, so I'm heading out the door - fingers crossed that all's well!

 

[mamarat]

Good thoughts for your sweetie.

 

[lilspaz68]

It does sound like a URI. Hopefully some meds and Dr Munn loving will make him all better

 

[jorats]

I've seen that a couple of times in my rats but couldn't quite put a finger on it. It's like something is making them having a harder time to swallow so they sort of choke. The sound he's making is definitely not normal.
Maybe you could mention throat obstruction, I wonder if that could make a noise as well?

 

[mamarat]

I had two little brothers who had a hard time swallowing, vet thought it could be a sign of PT.

 

[M0onkist]

Well, we're back from the vet - I think this was Dr. Munn's day off (or surgery day?), so it was incredibly sweet that he was able to take Mr. Honeycomb in.

It's a bad URI - but just to be sure, he listened carefully to the lungs, probed for any type of tumor, and listened to the heart. The heart was the only issue he couldn't be sure about, largely because the noise from Mr. H's lungs was so loud it would have been impossible to detect a murmur. The vet tech was totally charmed by Mr. Honeycomb, and so was Dr. Munn - even when he feels terrible, he loves hamming it up!

So, bay/doxy for a month or thereabouts, metacam and theophylline (oral bronchodilator) indefinitely, and Ensure and baby cereal for at least a few days (to make sure he gets enough food, he lost 30ish grams since December). I gave him his first dose of all of them as soon as I got home, and I think he's sounding better (at least the noise he's making isn't giving me heart attacks like it did all last night).

He's going to stay up in my room because I have a humidifier up there, and he'll have regular one-on-one visits with the girls. I'm sorry if I'm rambling, I'm severely sleep deprived - I kept waking up whenever he'd honk particularly loudly (or sneeze or anything) - I gave up on sleep around 5AM, which for me is equivalent to pulling an all-nighter. >.<

Edit: Unless there's a heart murmur or something that shows up once the URI is cleared, it isn't likely CHF, as he's pink in all his extremities.

 

[lilspaz68]

the theophylline should really open up those lungs so he'll feel better

Glad its just a URI

Now go to sleep!!!

 

[mamarat]

Fingers crossed for Mr. H. Hope he heals real fast. Did you ask about the "choking"?

 

[M0onkist]

I didn't think to, to be honest - should have, definitely, and certainly if he isn't doing well then I'll ask.

He's sounding a lot better, to be honest - that theophylline is a godsend, I'll tell you that. He went from honking (sorta) to softer whistling noises, which is about what he's making now, but it's hard to hear him when he's not stressed out or eating. That's a definite improvement over a ton of noises even at rest.

 

[crumbilina]

Glad he's feeling better with some meds

Give him cuddles from my gang! And healing vibes are coming your way too!

 

[mamarat]

So glad he's doing better. :joy:

 

[M0onkist]

I'm kind of perplexed. For the first day or two, he sounded a lot better. But today he's almost as bad as he was before, albeit with a lot more energy. He's not looking fluffed, more annoyed that he has to keep to the hospital cage with visits from the girls - he's taking it out by angrily rearranging his whole hospital cage (I'm tired just watching him...).

He's still trying to clean himself well, and stuff. I've been giving him all his meds exactly as prescribed (bay/doxy twice a day, theophylline and metacam once a day).

Any thoughts, suggestions, worst case scenarios?