Sawyer's sudden breathing problems: Doxy/Baytril win again!

[Godmother]

anic: I am worried about him. He is one of my sweet dumbo black berk brothers, probably 23 months old. He was lively last night, he was a little slow to come out for his before-work morning treat. This evening I found him lying in the hanging ball, all puffy and with noisy "drain pipe" breathing. I gave him Doxy & Baytril three hours ago, and it took him a while to lick it up. He was very lethargic and not moving very easily, so I was scared he'd had a stroke or was getting PT. But he can grasp with both paws, and a piece of banana and a kamut puff gave him the motivation to eat. He refused lab block mush, so he is probably not very hungry. He is not dehydrated.

Three hours after the meds, and he is already more alert but still breathing noisily. Having learned from Joanne in NS that giving lasix for pneumonia is a bad thing, I am not going to risk that. Odds favour a myco infection over a heart problem at this point.

He ate some baby cereal and two small banana bits, so I am going to let him sleep for the night and re-evaluate in the morning. It is terrifying how fast he got sick. His brother Jack looks bewildered at not seeing his buddy active.

 

[SQ]

:hugs: to you and Sawyer and Jack
hope Sawyer is soon feeling much better

 

[mamarat]

Sending good thoughts for Sawyer.

 

[Dahlas]

Oh no...I hope he is better soon Godmother.

 

[jorats]

It's the ones that are sudden that scare me. My Sawyer is going through something similar.
Sending you healing vibes.

 

[lilspaz68]

Why is lasix for pneumonia a bad thing? The only worry I would have in your boy's case is making sure he drank enough fluids to replace what the diuretic took from him.

I am sorry that beautiful boy is not feeling well.

 

[Asheka]

:hugs: I hope he's feeling better soon!

 

[M0onkist]

Rooting for Sawyer!

 

[Godmother]

Sorry I could not post sooner. Tried from work today, but the system froze and I had to abandon the effort.

Sawyer was doing much better this morning. Breathing still audible, but he came out of hiding spontaneously to take his meds.

Bad news is that he takes forever to lap up the meds and that he doesn't seem to know what to do with a piece of hard pasta. I can't help think that there is more than a URI going on with him.

Good news is that he was even livelier when I got home this evening. My husband had checked on him and given him his meds and some Pediasure earlier in the evening. So I am hoping for more progress over the next couple of days. SQ has volunteered to take him to the vet tomorrow morning if I think it is necessary.

Lilspaz68, Joanne (NS) said that lasix would dry out the lungs of a rat with pneumonia, making it harder for the body to fight the infection. I looked at the online medical literature and I found articles warning ER doctors not to give lasix to kids unless they were sure it was not pneumonia. Last night Sawyer was so listless that I didn't trust him to drink water to replace what he might lose. It was really hard not to give him Lasix, though. Very tempted. I will have to get him checked out to make sure that he doesn't have a heart problem, but he was running down the ramp this evening not looking lethargic any more.

 

[Maple]

It sounds like Sawyer is doing much better. Here's hoping for 100% recovery.

 

[lilspaz68]

Sorry I could not post sooner. Tried from work today, but the system froze and I had to abandon the effort.

Sawyer was doing much better this morning. Breathing still audible, but he came out of hiding spontaneously to take his meds.

Bad news is that he takes forever to lap up the meds and that he doesn't seem to know what to do with a piece of hard pasta. I can't help think that there is more than a URI going on with him.

Good news is that he was even livelier when I got home this evening. My husband had checked on him and given him his meds and some Pediasure earlier in the evening. So I am hoping for more progress over the next couple of days. SQ has volunteered to take him to the vet tomorrow morning if I think it is necessary.

Lilspaz68, Joanne (NS) said that lasix would dry out the lungs of a rat with pneumonia, making it harder for the body to fight the infection. I looked at the online medical literature and I found articles warning ER doctors not to give lasix to kids unless they were sure it was not pneumonia. Last night Sawyer was so listless that I didn't trust him to drink water to replace what he might lose. It was really hard not to give him Lasix, though. Very tempted. I will have to get him checked out to make sure that he doesn't have a heart problem, but he was running down the ramp this evening not looking lethargic any more.

Interesting. I always assumed fluid filled lungs would be helped with lasix but when I check "pneumonia" under ratguide.com, there's no mention of furosemide/lasix but when I go to Lasix, there's this...

Indications
For use in CHF (congestive heart failure), acute pulmonary edema, nephrotic syndrome, hepatic cirrhosis, and ascites. Adjunctive therapy in hyperkalemia (high blood levels of potassium) in small animals. May be helpful in rats with severe cases of pneumonia.

I am going to have to ask around. I know my vet doesn't use lasix much at all, and prefers benazepril or enalapril to test diagnose for heart issues.

 

[jorats]

My vet won't give lasix for pneumonia as well. She said it's counterproductive. Not sure what she means.

 

[SQ]

My vet uses lasix when a rat's lungs are full of fluid in order to allow the rat to breath easier.

 

[Godmother]

Sawyer was very lively this morning when I went in with his meds, and he ate them at almost-normal speed. It was such a relief to see him feeling like his old self, bouncing around the cage and eagerly hanging out looking for a treat.

I just went in to see him now, and ... :joy: he and Jack raced to the front of the cage to see me. I had a little piece of chicken for each rat, so the eagerness factor went even higher. Sawyer grabbed his piece, gobbled it down with alacrity, and came bounding back to beg for seconds.

He is on a good combo of Baytril & Doxy. Thank heavens I had been able to buy an "in case" supply last month.

 

[mamarat]

That's fantastic news. Yayy

 

[Asheka]

:joy:

 

[jorats]

Great news. I should give that a try again.