Oh God Here We Go Again...

[vitaldose]

Two days ago I noticed my other rat Sniffles has an excess of poly on her nose and eyes, there wasn't much the day before no, then the next day red everywhere, it was too late to call the vet so I left a message. Yesterday I noticed her hands were crusted with it from trying to wash herself, I immediately made an appointment at the vet, but the closest thing I can get is Monday, because I will never EVER go back to my old vet, not after what he did to my bird (he cut her toe off after she broke it and never said a thing about it) as well as misdiagnosing Delilah twice.

She's eating yes, but for one reason or another she's tearing apart her food. When before she'd simply hold her carrots to eat it, she sits it on the floor and tears it apart, she's weak and not holding on to things along with sneezing.

I have doxy and baytril at my house right now for Delilah, and I was wondering if in this situation would either of those help? I figured it couldn't hurt her to start her on it at the same amounts I'm giving Delilah (2x a day doxy, 1x baytril at night).

Would that be a smart move?

I'll be calling the vet tomorrow as well to see if any spots open up.

 

[jorats]

How old is she?
I don't think it would hurt to start her on those meds now. Make sure though that you do have enough for Delilah.
It almost seems like you might be describing a start to pituitary tumour with Sniffles. But just in case she's actually has some type of infection, starting the meds asap is certainly better than waiting till Monday.

 

[vitaldose]

She's barely a year and a half, I only have two, her and Delilah and there only a few weeks apart, Sniffles is the older one.

I don't have a lot of baytril, but I have enough until monday and plenty of the doxy.

If it's a tumor... how do I say something to the vet, is there a way I can check?

 

[jorats]

No, the vet can't feel or see if it's pituitary. He can try a couple of neuro tests but even those don't really work on rats. It will be a progression of symptoms.
If the vets thinks it might be neuro then he might want to prescribe prednisone.

 

[Moon]

PT often shows up at the 1.5 y.o mark, unfortunately. Hopefully that's not what she's dealing with!

 

[SQ]

If it is a pituitary tumor and if it is slow growing, aggressive treatment with predisone and an antibiotic may give her months of good quality time.

Symptoms of pt may include: the curling of the hands, difficulity holding food, head butting when her head is stroked, confusion, loss of coordination, front legs being held out stiffly, some loss of function of the arms, legs and mouth, hyperactivity, head tilt, circling, etc.

 

[vitaldose]

I'm afraid we had to put her down today, again I couldn't wait until her appointment.,

She was basically falling apart, everything you mentioned she was doing, and instead of trying to hold on, as much as I wanted to, we knew that it would have been better, as bad as she was, to simply let her rest.

It all happened within a few days, like I said, the vet explained everything to me and after a few minutes, I knew what had to be done. I couldn't make her suffer, I just couldn't.

 

[mamarat]

:hugs:

 

[Godmother]

I am so sorry. PT can sometimes hit so fast.

 

[vitaldose]

:cry:

Thanks Guys :hugs:

 

oh, I'm so sorry! you did the best thing :heart:

 

[jorats]

I'm so sorry...

 

[MomRat]

Gosh that sounds so like how our Jacob went last Christmas, but he went so fast we couldn't even have him put down... Sigh. PT is so insidious and hits them so young...

Feeling for you and yours. *hugs* Sniffles is free from the pain now... and playing at the bridge.