Pneumonia help needed! - Post Closed

[maxdevine00]

My 2 y.o female rat developed classic signs of mycoplasma about 1 week ago. I began baytril when no improvement was seen after 2 days. She progressively has gotten worse and we took her to an exotic vet yesterday. I was under the impression that the vet would choose to euthanize her but to my surprise they advised to keep treating. They gave her fluids in the office and prescribed a nebulizer mix with antibiotics/ bronchodilator as well as PO azithromycin and PO prednisone. We came home and administered the meds / nebulizer treatment but sadly she has not improved and even declined slightly. I am asking for ideas about what I should do next ... the vet is 1.5 hrs away and I do not have unlimited funds to give critical care treatment. Should we give her a longer chance to fight it off or should we end her suffering. I am very conflicted because she is so tough but she is not eating or drinking ANYTHING and forceful syringe feedings are stressful for her. She is using her abdominal muscles to breathe and you can hear wheezing / squeaking/ sniffling with every breath... she is not blue or cold but I do not want to prolong this unless she has a chance. Has anyone had a similar situation? Does this tend to get worse before improving? I'm open to any ideas and just need people to talk to about this. Thank you!

 

[lilspaz68]

can you take a video of her? Right now there is a contagious rat virus called SDA running through the USA, and it can be fatal so we and others are tracking it and trying to let people know what they might be dealing with.

Some questions are
Have you brought in a new rat in the past few weeks (sick or not), or been to a petstore or the vet a week before she got sick?

 

[maxdevine00]

yes let me find out how to get a video attached... i have not brought in any new rats and i have been to a pet sore in the past few weeks but just to grab some food for them... the other 2 rats in the cage are not showing any symptoms whatsoever.

 

[maxdevine00]

I cannot figure out how to get this video to insert... it must not be in the right format or something because I can select images but not videos... am I missing something ?

 

[lilspaz68]

It doesn't upload videos here, you need to upload it to somewhere like youtube then paste the link here.

 

[maxdevine00]

How do I know when to make the euthanasia decision... she still has not improved and refuses all foods / liquids and cannot get comfortable. We have even given saline subQ and still no perk up...the nebulizer treatments make her freak out and appear to pass out which negates any benefits it may have. I’m just torn between letting her fight it and making sure she goes peacefully. Thank you.

 

[lilspaz68]

if she's suffering, and refuses to eat and drink, then its best to just let her go

I'm very sorry.

 

[maxdevine00]

We had her euthanized last night... they did the oxygen + iso and then IP injection ... I hope we made the right decision I just could not imagine her suffering from respiratory distress and not being able to help at the end. Thank y’all for your help! I appreciate having a community that cares!

 

[lilspaz68]

I'm sorry. I'm going to add Post Closed to your title. People can still post condolences but will realize you don't need any more advice.

 

[shaunavalon]

 

[Sabz]

I am so sorry, I know how hard it is, these little guy sadly when they start gasping for air there's not much we can do unless we have home equipment for oxygen and such. The health of these poor babies spiral so fast, even 12 hours ( I had a recent baby I was going to take to the vet) 12 hours no joke.. The poor guy was less than a month, and was suppose to be adopted 2 weeks later, sad sad sad.