Odd Behaviour - Possible Stroke *Update Oct 25/10-Grieving

[Joanne]

Taffy's story starts the end of June:
She was looking 'off' and had lots of porphyrin around her face so I started her on antibiotics. In preparation for a vet visit, I weighed her. To my shock and dismay, she had lost 74g in 6 weeks! I tried to medicate her, but after a week or so she started refusing her meds, and no matter what I put them in, she wouldn't take them anymore. She hadn't been wheezing or sneezing. She kept losing weight - another 16 grams in 9 days. She circled a bit, and was lethargic. She isolated herself from the group, moving to the bottom level of the double Critter Nation. I concentrated on getting her to eat. The end of July I noticed that her teeth were overgrown - her bite was off and her bottom jaw was deviating to the left. I started trimming her teeth every week, and feeding her baby food and soaked blocks. She started to gain weight again. I still didn't know what had caused her odd behaviour or put her bite off, but I am fairly sure it was a stroke as that seems to be the only thing that really fit. She continued to improve, got more coordinated and continued to gain weight. My big girl Mimi started sleeping with her and I think that really helped. Her bite seemed to be back on after several weeks of trimming. Then Mimi died a week ago. Now Taffy has been going downhill again and has lost weight. She seems unable to focus on one thing for more than 5 seconds. She seems a bit less coordinated, and always seems to be running around, up and down the levels, and around in circles. I wouldn't describe her as frantic, but definitely restless and unable to settle down. She is a year and a half old. So my question is, what can I do for her? A couple of weeks ago, if I gave her a little bowl of baby food she would eat until she was full. Now she will only eat for a few seconds. I think this lack of focus has dramatically decreased the amount of food she is eating and, combined with the constant movement, is causing her weight loss. (She was 364g yesterday - her maximum weight before all this was 464g.) Is there anything I can give her that might calm her down? When I hold her, she will only sit still for a few seconds. Is this part of her grieving process? Or a neurological problem, brought on by stress? or coincidence?

 

[jorats]

Poor thing. I'm so sorry for your loss. She might very well be grieving hard too.
Have you tried prednisone? It can also help give her back her appetite.

 

[Joanne]

I haven't tried that yet as I understand with rats you need antibiotics concurrently, and she would not be a reliable patient (ie I probably wouldn't be able to get the antibiotics into her.)

 

[jorats]

You could try metacam instead.

 

[Fidget]

Seems like there's too many possiblities.. hard to say if Mimi's passing was part of her renewal of bad times or a coincidence. Hard to think it's a PT since she got better for a while tho. Stroke seems likely. But still, one thing doesn't rule out another thing occuring, could be she had a stroke or was just ill and recovered and now she had a stroke or has a PT beginning. It's not impossible that a kid could have an emotional or psychological problem either that affects them physically, is it? Just cause vets don't recognize it doesn't mean it never happens undiagnosed. I'd try prednisone too at this point if you can to rule out what sounds life PT behaviour... I'm so sorry, it's so much easier to nurse a kid even thru even a terminal illness than it is to not know what to do for them.

 

[Joanne]

Thanks for the suggestions - I think I'm going to look into Metacam.

 

[SQ]

Hope she is soon doing better.
Are you hand feeding her so she gets some food at least?
Wish I had something to suggest.

 

[Joanne]

I try to feed her baby food, etc by hand, even by dipping my finger and offering it to her, but usually after a few licks, she's off and running again. I gave her her first dose of Metacam tonight to see if maybe she's in pain, but it didn't seem to make a difference.
Another thing I have noticed about her is a definite increase in ranging behavior. Before, she, like everyone else, would not leave the immediate area around the cage. Tonight she was all over the room, which no rattie has done before. And her gait is a little weird.
It may be that she has a brain tumor or had a second stroke. Her behaviour has definitely changed. Maybe she'll just have to be my mentally handicapped rattie. Do they have rattie special olympics?

 

[jorats]

lol... rattie olympics.
Metacam can help by reducing inflammation in the brain if it is indeed a stroke or tumour. You really wouldn't see much of a difference other than it's not progressing.

 

[Joanne]

So Taffy settled down a bit and has stopped running around. Her weight has stabilized and she is eating better. BUT, tonight I had her out for an extended snuggle, and she had a seizure. This is the first seizure I have seen her have. So, I dunno. Maybe she has a brain tumor... Anyway, I don't really know what to do for her except just keep taking care of her until she decides she doesn't want to be here anymore. Hmph.

 

[jorats]

She could be having something neurological going on. Not sure what can be done at this point, except like you said, love her, make her comfortable until it gets way worse.

 

[lilspaz68]

It definitely sounds more like she is having strokes now. I am sorry. How bad was the seizure? How long did it last, and how fast did she come out of it?

 

[henry's_mum]

((hugs)) it's a painful thing to watch, but I agree with Jo, keep her comfy, and love her as much as you can right now....

 

[Joanne]

It definitely sounds more like she is having strokes now. I am sorry. How bad was the seizure? How long did it last, and how fast did she come out of it?

She had a grand mal seizure, twitching and wiggling and then trying to run away (total panic?), frothing at the mouth. It didn't seem to last too long, maybe a couple of minutes. She has been strange for a while now, so it's hard to say when she came out of it, but she was just tired again, and wanted to snuggle and sleep. I'm surprised she didn't pee/poop on me. I assumed she would have. She seems the same today, which is not normal, but is normal for her these days. I wish I had more time to snuggle her. She's not content unless I squish her against me, so everything has to be one-handed. Silly girl! She does get the most attention of all the ratties though. Time to give her a quick snuggie before heading back to work...

 

[Joanne]

Well, Taffy lost her brother on Thursday night. He was in the cage for the night, so the crew spent a long time with him before I got him in the morning. All the ratties seemed sad and out of sorts. Taffy was just lying in her hut, not moving. When I picked her up, she was basically non-responsive. I kept her with me all night Friday, sleeping with her tucked in next to me. I kept checking her, expecting her to die that night. She wouldn't eat, nothing. Well, when I got up Saturday, she was still with me. I had had her out of the cage for 12 hours, so I put her back in near the food and water, hoping she would have something. She just didn't see interested. I kept at her, offering her oatmeal and baby food. Eventually she started trying to eat again. Now she is wrestling with a piece of grape, thankfully working on eating. She can't eat very well, can't hold the food with her right paw, and her 'aim' is off. I guess I have to assume that grief is what is affecting her the most, as she had a big setback when Mimi died too. Thankfully she seems to be bouncing back, and is more her odd and handicapped self. I had no idea that rat grief can be so all encompassing. I thought I would be burying her with her brother. Go figure!
Oh, and no more seizures that I have witnessed since the first one.

 

[henry's_mum]

((hugs))
you're certainly going through the wringer huh?

healing and light to you and your girl....

 

[jorats]

I'm so sorry Joanne. It's really a hard time when our rats are leaving us or starting their journey.
((hugss))