Peter--Worst signs of respiratory infection I've seen yet!

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hprats

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I am super worried about Peter. I'll be calling the vet tomorrow, and I hope I can get him in for Friday (if not sometime tomorrow).

I've never heard a rat sound like this. I would just love suggestions for anything I could do to make him more comfortable until he can get in to see the vet.

I have their cage right next to my desk now, and I hadn't heard any sneezing or any breathing noises from any of them. I last had them all out as a group on Monday...I've been really busy and have just taken out the boys who seemed to want to come out (Fred, Harry, and Ron) alone or in pairs. I'd noticed Peter was a little more lethargic than usual, and now it's like "duh!" but I didn't *really* notice, and like I said, I didn't hear anything, and he would climb out of the hammock to get his veggie treats from me every time, and accepted little scritches.

Today I grabbed him though, and he was making really loud cracking noises. It's in his lungs too. :sad3: :sad3: I have no idea where this came from and I just burst into tears. So far I've only dealt with the kind of infections you can't hear in the lungs. I don't see his sides pulling in, but I feel the crackling when I hold him.

I gave him some metacam, because it's all I have. I got really worried because I couldn't get him to eat any of his favourite high calorie treats that I only give for special occasions (like intros)...almond, chocolate chip, breakfast cereal. I took him into the steamy bathroom and he got worse while in there, but he definitely seems better now. He's watching me type and munching an almond.

He'll be 20 months old later this month. He's been the healthiest guy up until now. He was on abs twice mostly because he was sneezing a bit and I was giving it to his cagemates anyway, so it seemed better/safer to just do the courses of it all at once.

Oh, also, he's not puffy or anything. Or visibly gasping for breath. He'll probably be okay right? :cry:

I did an extra check of all the other boys, and they're all perfect.
 
Respiratory infections are serious buisness, but I've seen goobers come back from extreme cases - fluffy, sides sinking in, weight loss. It's amazing what daily baytril/doxy can do.

Our rat Badger was pretty bad and we would wake up in the middle of the night from her wheezing. After a bit of meds (we kept her on them for the rest of her life) we never heard it at all.

There's definitely hope for Peter. I hope they're able to get in there soon! :cuddle:
 
Thanks everyone. I was lucky enough to get him in to see Dr. Munn yesterday. He agreed that he sounded awful and his lungs sounded really bad. He gave him sub cutaneous fluids, an injection of some kind of anti-inflammatory (I don't remember), and 10 minutes in an oxygen enriched tank (plus the usual baytril and doxy combo to go home with).

He doesn't *sound* better, but he looks better...more energetic and a better appetite for sure.
 
the injection would be dexamethasone...it will reduce the inflammation in his lungs and open them up until the antibiotics kick in...the fluids always make them feel better when they are ill...a sick rat that gets dehydrated will feel much worse.
 

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