LA
Well-Known Member
Olivia is the cagemate of Pearl who passed two months ago from PT. We got both of them from Mumsy after she rescued them from a family with no time for them. They got them at a pet store in Barrie. Both dumbos, one black self and one siamese. We have no clue if they are sisters or just cage sisters. Olivia 26 months now.
Olivia has always been a stoic girl. Never one to show affection, Pearl did that for her. The only time I ever had kisses from Olivia was when I stuck my finger through the bars as she was grooming and she just included my finger in that. She would sulk if someone got something she didn't. I often would give her a little baby food if one rat was getting a med treatment. Only time she cuddled would be when she freaked out. She only did that a few times, once when we moved to my parents for a bit and we had to stick them in the small cage to clean their big one. It was just too much for her to handle. The second time was when we were vacuuming too close to the cage and she panicked. You could cuddle with her then, she'd just sit there. Hazel was her favourite 'playmate'. I think she always tried to be one above Hazel.
Why am I telling you all this. It's to explain how she was, and show you how she is now. After dealing with my first case of PT with Pearl. This is different but not.
Olivia has definately changed, she doesn't have as much coordination, but for the most part we see it in her where no one else could. She's different, but unless you know her well you can't see it. She can eat a cheerio, but it's not easy. She can hold it, but she rests it on the table instead of holding it up. She would bite off a big piece and turn her head to the right trying to eat it and dropping it. She'd leave pieces, which she didn't do before. We weighed her and noticed she'd lost weight. Her weight loss is in line with what Pearl lost. I noticed she wasn't eating lab blocks which I would see her eat all the time before. She's not bugging Hazel, she climbs down the side of the cage but she will end up falling because she doesn't have the coordination. She's obviously not herself.
So obviously I thought of PT, I've only dealt with one case, so it's not as if I know all the symptoms and such. She's also getting older, she could just be slowing down. Stroke? What else? So I decided that since I had some pred left from when Pearl was on it I decided to put Olivia on it. I started it on Wed. night I think. I was going to take her off of it this AM because I hadn't seen any improvement. Until she climbed down the side of the cage without falling this morning. I have a little more left so I will keep her on it and see if she improves more. I'm going to take her to the vet once I'm nearing the end of my pred and hope my vet takes my suggestion.
Anyone else have any other suggestions?
One thing I forgot to add is this. When Pearl was sick, right before she got sick the first time with the PT we noticed the food pile had been moved. It normally resides on the top level of the martins. They don't like it in the bowl. When it moved it was put on the main level in a corner. We didn't realize at the time what was going on. We put Pearl on meds and she got better and the food pile moved back to the top level. A day before she went downhill again, the food pile moved back to the main level. It was thing we realized what was happening. The cagemates knew before we did.
So I noticed just before I noticed Olivia off that the food pile had moved. Of course I had forgotten about it. Then Olivia had issues, and it struck me one night and Wayne and I agreed, the girls knew. The food pile had been moved overnight last night from the main level to the top level again and Olivia improved overnight. Interesting huh?? I really have to remember that next time.
Olivia has always been a stoic girl. Never one to show affection, Pearl did that for her. The only time I ever had kisses from Olivia was when I stuck my finger through the bars as she was grooming and she just included my finger in that. She would sulk if someone got something she didn't. I often would give her a little baby food if one rat was getting a med treatment. Only time she cuddled would be when she freaked out. She only did that a few times, once when we moved to my parents for a bit and we had to stick them in the small cage to clean their big one. It was just too much for her to handle. The second time was when we were vacuuming too close to the cage and she panicked. You could cuddle with her then, she'd just sit there. Hazel was her favourite 'playmate'. I think she always tried to be one above Hazel.
Why am I telling you all this. It's to explain how she was, and show you how she is now. After dealing with my first case of PT with Pearl. This is different but not.
Olivia has definately changed, she doesn't have as much coordination, but for the most part we see it in her where no one else could. She's different, but unless you know her well you can't see it. She can eat a cheerio, but it's not easy. She can hold it, but she rests it on the table instead of holding it up. She would bite off a big piece and turn her head to the right trying to eat it and dropping it. She'd leave pieces, which she didn't do before. We weighed her and noticed she'd lost weight. Her weight loss is in line with what Pearl lost. I noticed she wasn't eating lab blocks which I would see her eat all the time before. She's not bugging Hazel, she climbs down the side of the cage but she will end up falling because she doesn't have the coordination. She's obviously not herself.
So obviously I thought of PT, I've only dealt with one case, so it's not as if I know all the symptoms and such. She's also getting older, she could just be slowing down. Stroke? What else? So I decided that since I had some pred left from when Pearl was on it I decided to put Olivia on it. I started it on Wed. night I think. I was going to take her off of it this AM because I hadn't seen any improvement. Until she climbed down the side of the cage without falling this morning. I have a little more left so I will keep her on it and see if she improves more. I'm going to take her to the vet once I'm nearing the end of my pred and hope my vet takes my suggestion.
Anyone else have any other suggestions?
One thing I forgot to add is this. When Pearl was sick, right before she got sick the first time with the PT we noticed the food pile had been moved. It normally resides on the top level of the martins. They don't like it in the bowl. When it moved it was put on the main level in a corner. We didn't realize at the time what was going on. We put Pearl on meds and she got better and the food pile moved back to the top level. A day before she went downhill again, the food pile moved back to the main level. It was thing we realized what was happening. The cagemates knew before we did.
So I noticed just before I noticed Olivia off that the food pile had moved. Of course I had forgotten about it. Then Olivia had issues, and it struck me one night and Wayne and I agreed, the girls knew. The food pile had been moved overnight last night from the main level to the top level again and Olivia improved overnight. Interesting huh?? I really have to remember that next time.