Seamus is kind of a freak lol video at the end

[handmeafish]

The past few days Seamus has seemed sluggish and tired. I don't know if its the heat, or if something has him spooked. He doesn't seem sick, but the night before Neville got seriously sick I noticed a change in his behavior, he was just way more snuggly, he just wanted to sit in my lap, and thats kind of what i'm getting from Seamus. He's wanting to be hidden under blankets constantly, and he doesn't run to the cage door when I open it any more. I've had to reach in and get him and he seems to be protesting. Right now he seems better than last night, but he's usually got so much energy.
He's eating and drinking fine, and his eyes are clear and his ears are perky. Last night it seemed almost like he was panting, but closed mouth. His breath was shallow and fast, like he was sniffing, but he didn't have his nose up in the air. He was also tucking his head down like he was hiding.
Its been like 90 degrees out, but he's hiding under blankets. I've been doing what I can to keep them cool, using refrigerated water and replacing the water in the bottles through out the day to keep it cool. I've been using the ceramic tiles, but none of the rats seem interested. No one else seems to lethargic though.

Should I be worried? or should I just keep any eye? I noticed it last night, and he's a little perkier this morning.

PS: I put girly rat in the super pet exotics cage, and se went nuts... it was the funniest things I've ever seen, watching her search the cage for either a way out to find the boys or the boys int he cage. All over the place, she was like, OMG OMG OMG. and some of the other boys perked up a bit (especially Cedric, whose a daddy of many already)

Edit: he is 9 or 10 months old.

 

[victoria]

I find rats sometimes get very clingy when sick. This sounds like what happened to one of my first rats when she got sick and I didn't trust my instincts soon enough.

 

[handmeafish]

He's perking up as I watch him actually... I wonder if he was depressed cause he hasn't been getting as much out time sense little girl has been here and i've been parinoid about having the boys in the same room at all. But now that everyone is in actual cages, I'm not as worried about someone getting into her cage, or her getting out. He's running around, and even tried jumping off my bed a second ago, which I think means he's ready to run around.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

If you feel like something is off with him then it probably is. The way you described his breathing makes me think he could have a resp infection. I would take him to the vet so you can put your mind at ease.

 

[jorats]

Has there been a loss lately? If not, I would think illness. But some rats have "off" days. If he`s like that for a while, i`d probably get him checked over.
Oh also a change in routine can be upsetting to rats.

 

[temblabamomo]

I've known a couple boys whose first symptom of illness is spooked behaviour, e.g. the always wanting to be hidden under a blanket, suddenly reluctant to come out of the cage, etc. The few times I've seen that, they eventually showed symptoms of URI and perked up within a day or two of started meds.

 

[handmeafish]

I'm gonna try to get an appointment for him in the morning. It seems like it will be best to be safe rather than sorry. I still feel like if I'd payed more attention to Nevilles slow down in the beginning he might be ok... Plus I think its probably time to get Cedric in to get his lump looked at... Its been a while and its not done anything so i'm guessing its not an abscess. I'll keep everyone updated.

 

[handmeafish]

I just got back from the vet. He agreed that if I felt Seamus was a little off, then he probably didn't feel good, and it was better to be safe than sorry, so he's on baytril for a few weeks.

The vet looked at Cedrics lump and thought at first it was a hernia, so they did an xray to be sure, and it was not. So he poked it with a needle, and was able to get something out if it too look at, and he said "Its full of lymphocytes" Which means either a really deep abscess that isn't near ready to pop, or lymphoma.... Obviously we're hoping for the first. I don't even know what I'd do with a rat with lymphoma... So he is also on baytril for a few weeks to see if that helps clear it up any. He said that when he poked it, it had a really hard core like an abscess.
Thanks for the help. I'm such a hypochondriac with my self, i'm always afraid that i'm doing the same thing with the rats... but the more I look at Seamus the more I do think he really isn't feeling good.

 

[jorats]

Keeping my fingers crossed it's an abscess... it's a popular spot for an abscess.

 

[handmeafish]

I was planning on dosing everyone with Advantage (The orange cat box) because the vet was willing to sell it to me, but not revo because they have some sort of policy about not selling revo without a heart worm test... Should I wait on Seamus and Cedric sense they are both on ABS or do you think they'd be ok

I also am praying for an abscess... I don't know what I would be able to do if it was lymphoma... thats just a scary thought. He said not to soak him because if it is an abscess its no where near ready to pop, and it will probably just stress him unnecessarily.

Also, Seamus is crazy and LOVES the baytril. He's always tried to get some when I was dosing the others, and now he's just like, "finally, my turn!" hopefully it lasts lol.

 

[handmeafish]

So I'm going over every little thing that happened when Neville got sick.
First he was more cuddly than normal, which is what made me stress about Seamus' sudden change in behavior. He's suddenly much more cuddly and not as playful. He's still eating though.
Then Neville got puffy. Now Seamus is at this point too. I came home from work, and its gotten cold, and I accidentally left my windows open, so I guess he could be cold, but He's got all his fur puffed out (like he's in pain).
Shortly after I noticed the puffiness from Neville is when I noticed he started to having trouble walking, and I thought he was in pain. and less than 48 hours later he was gone... so I'm freaking.

The vet put him on .2ml baytril, but thats it. I have doxy, should I add some of that? I wish they'd have told me that I wasn't going to see my normal vet, the one who saw Neville, because I think he may have been more proactive but I don't really know. He was 414 grams this morning, I also have meloxicam, but I don't know if he's really in pain. I guess Neville wasn't so much in pain, but he was dizzy... but if its a brain infection kind of thing, then I'd guess that the Meloxicam might help with inflammation... I just don't know what to do... I'm worried that the baytirl alone isn't enought.

 

[jorats]

Let me first say that not all rats will "act" the same when when dying. They all have their symptoms and react differently to each one as well. Unless of course it's something by like SV where you know exactly what to expect in succession.
Let Seamus do his baytril only for now. I would also do the mite treatment. I don't know if Advantage is safe or effective on rats, I only know about Revo. As a side note, wow...that's just silly that they won't give out revo without a heartworm test, that's gouging in my opinion.

 

[victoria]

Let me first say that not all rats will "act" the same when when dying. They all have their symptoms and react differently to each one as well. Unless of course it's something by like SV where you know exactly what to expect in succession.
Let Seamus do his baytril only for now. I would also do the mite treatment. I don't know if Advantage is safe or effective on rats, I only know about Revo. As a side note, wow...that's just silly that they won't give out revo without a heartworm test, that's gouging in my opinion.

It sounds like the clinic handmeafish goes to extrapolates a lot of dog and cat processes to rats. I know they insist on doing blood work on any animal going under anesthesia but with rats that's silly since they need to be under anesthesia to take blood. Rat Guide has dosage recommendations for Advantage here, it's not as effective as Revo but some varieties can be safely used on rats. You can also get Revo from http://www.pets-megastore.com.au/index. ... h=2_214_69 without a prescription but it takes about a week or two because they are Australia based.

I'm a big believer in trusting your instinct. If I were you I would call or email the clinic and explain your concerns and ask if they can ask your regular vet for a second opinion. They likely will not charge you for that. In the meantime make sure he is eating and drinking and keep him as comfortable as possible.

 

[handmeafish]

He seems a bit more like him self today, still running when I open the cage door, but more willing to come out, and running around more when I've got him out...
His face is still kind of poofy too... I'm only worried because things happened so fast with Neville, I know in my brain that rats don't usually have the same progression of symptoms like that, and I'm also a bit of a hypochondriac... so I do feel like maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there too... But I'm really thinking better safe than sorry. I'm going to stick with just the baytril incase I see that he is really not doing well, then I will call the vet back. I know they wont charge me for follow ups, but I think you're right vic, they do over charge for a lot of stuff.

 

[victoria]

I don't even think it's necessarily meant to overcharge, it's just misguided. You cannot use a one size fits all policy when carrying for more than one species.

 

[handmeafish]

Seamus likes his baytril...


He's kind of a freak lol. Not that I'm complaining.

 

[hprats]

Haha, I wish my rat loved his baytril like that! He's a cutie.

 

[jorats]

That's exactly how all my rats take their meds.

 

[fenshae]

Most of mine take their meds with the same enthusiasm, too. ANd then I've got a couple that glare at me and just flat-out refuse.

Also, I totally didn't know Advantage was safe for rats. *files away that nugget for future use* That's way easier for me to get than Revo (none of the vets carry Revo down here, something about the kind of fleas we have or something) and would be less complicated than using ivermectin.

 

[handmeafish]

Ratguide just says be sure to get Advantage, not Advantix, there is a difference... I don't know what exactly it is.
I got the orange box for small cats and kittens, its got a picture of a brown cat on the front.