Possible Stroke??

[16kacha]

I have a girl who was acting weird one day but I couldnt put my finger on it. Throughout the week she was lethargic, had bad balance, cant stand on her hind legs without falling over, the skin behind her ears is super sensitive (she has bad dry skin which was a unrelated issue), has to lean on the food bowl to eat, she cant hold food super well but she tries (her hands stretch out and crossed), and had a slight head tilt. She still eats and drinks. I thought it was an ear infection then a PT, but I sent a video to a medical contributor and she also thought it was a pt till she saw how she held the food and thought it was a possible stroke. I took her to the vet Monday. I said what I thought which is all that ive typed, and he said her quality of life doesnt seem poor and gave us a prescription for prednisone to see if it helps, but if it doesnt we will be taking her back to be put to sleep. I just wanted to see if anyone has experienced anything similar since I couldnt find a single person in a few rat groups.

 

[SQ]

If she is on prednisone then she must also be on an antibiotic. http://ratguide.com/meds/endocrine_hormones/prednisone_prednisolone.php

Is she weak on one side of her body?
How old is she?
Can you post the video to youtube and then put the link on here?
How long has she had a head tilt?

Are you feeding her soft foods (such as he blocks soaked in cool water to make mush, organic soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal, cooked & mashed sweet potato, cooked grains, baby food, etc)
and making sure she is well hydrated?

Prednisone + an antibiotics is the treatment for neurological issues, inner ear infection and pt. Although a med such as cabergoline is also used to treat the most common type of pt as it is estrogen induced

I have had rats recover from inner ear infection, from strokes, and some have had symptom reduction and months of good quality time when treated for a pituitary tumour (pt)

http://ratguide.com/health/neoplasia/pituitary_tumor.php
http://ratguide.com/health/neurological/stroke.php
http://ratguide.com/health/auricle_ear/otitis_media_otitis_interna_labyrinthitis.php

 

[16kacha]

I cant tell if shes weaker on one side.
Shell be 2 in Oct.



about a week but its literally just the most slight one ive seen like I could barely tell.

Yes, Ive been feeding her extra food and liquids, hasn't lost weight.

The vet said it could be either one but I think she has more of the symptoms of the sttroke vs the others even though they are all almost the same. I had another girl pts for a pt but she didnt act how my naked girl is acting.

 

[SQ]

What a sweet little girl!!

She looks like she is doing pretty good - I noticed that she seems to be circling to the right ...… and her symptoms are very mild so I hesitate to say anything - lilspaz68 would have a much better idea

I hope the prednisone and antibiotic help and reduce her symptoms, because that should help with all of the possible causes

Is she on antibiotics?
Which ones, strength, and dose, and her weight?
What is the strength and dose of prednisone she is getting?

 

[16kacha]

Thank you, she really is! Sadly, I wasnt able to have her her whole life but Ive had her since February of this year. I found her old owner and estimated her age by her facebook posts.
Shes actually on prednisolone, I thought it was the other one. what type of antibiotic would she need?

but she gets 0.12 mls every 12 hours.

 

[SQ]

Prednisolone is a steroid and impacts the immune system so it needs to be given with an antibiotic. Also you can't just stop giving prednisolone, if rats are taken off it then it needs to be gradually reduced over time. http://ratguide.com/meds/endocrine_hormones/prednisone_prednisolone.php

She absolutely must be on at least 1 antibiotic - such as enrofloxacin (baytril)
- please get her on an antibiotic immediately

What is her weight?
What is the strength of the prednisolone in mg/ml?

 

[16kacha]

I have baytril on hand so I will start giving her that, but thank you for letting me know that but Im assuming by the time shell be taken off of it itd be time for her to be pts im not sure though

She weighs 356
15mg/5ml after that it says SOLN so Im not sure if you need to know that part or not.

 

[SQ]

If she has a neurological issue then she will stay on the pred for the rest of her life.
If it is an ear infection or a stroke then she will come off it

I hope that she is soon feeling better, and like I said, she seems to be doing pretty good

365 grams I assume?

If so she could be getting 0.135 ml twice a day (1 mg/Ib a day, ratguide.com) ……. (although my vet tells me it is ok to give twice that amount)

 

[jorats]

My guess is PT as well. I'd keep her on prednisone.

 

[16kacha]

365 grams, yes. Shes still acting the same, bit more active. but nothing else has changed :/

 

[SQ]

http://ratguide.com/health/neoplasia/pituitary_tumor.php

 

[16kacha]

Update on my girl:

so like a week ago she wouldnt move much at all and would just fall over. I had a date for her to be pts on tuesday but one Monday she did a 360 and was back to how she was previously. Now shes more active then shes ever been. Shes climbing her cage again, shes eating better, shes responds to kissy noises now. Shes still not 100% but it wasnt her time yet I guess. She still gets her medicine everyday. I also added a dose of CBD oil twice a day. Doesnt make sense to me at all tbh

 

[16kacha]

She has been slower the past 2 days, shes not moving much tonight. Much like how she was when i was planning to have her pts. But i just feel like if it was a pt, shed be gone already. Could this be anything else?? Should i reschedule to have her pts again or wait and see if she perks up again? Im at loss on what else to do for her :,(

 

[jorats]

If it's PT, prednisone would keep it at bay for some time. This does seem to me to be pt. You could try dexamethasone.