Something... off with Plumeria

[Fidget]

Ahhh, that's your Plumeria? What a sweet thing! I hope she's just a little neurotic, but is just fine physically. Feel better kiddo, don't stress your mommy who loves you. :heart:

 

[M0onkist]

Yeah, that's my girly.

I go to Dr. Regan at the High Park Animal Hospital - do any of the Toronto people go there? She's definitely an expert - all of the vets at the clinic are, so on occasion I've seen a different one when she isn't available. They're very generous with getting second opinions - they take the rat into the back to see what the other vets think, or to have them listen to their chest etc. just to make absolutely sure.

She does surgeries as well - she did a stellar job with neutering both girlies, fixing Princess' umbilical hernia, and also removing two tricky tumors - one had milk in it, because the tumor was stimulating milk production.

It is quite a hike for me though. I dunno... does anyone else have a vet they absolutely swear by? When Princess had her hernia and it had gotten worse, I phoned just about every vet in the GTA, but only Dr. Regan did rat surgeries.

I'm going to take her in tomorrow or Tuesday, whenever I can get an appointment. She's really worrying me.

Besides pee'ing again last night on the bed (instead of me), her poopies are *very* strange. Very pale, very odd shapes - she slept on a few, and dangled her rear end off the edge of the sleep cube to poop a bit onto the ground. There's something indefinably wrong...

 

[ryelle]

Have you seen her eating and drinking the past few days? Is she eating normally? Can you check to make sure shes hydrated enough

Looking at the picture you wouldnt guess there was anything wrong with her, but she does sound really lethargic from what your saying :?

 

[SQ]

I'd take her in for a vet check up asap

 

[M0onkist]

Not going downstairs to eat or drink - absolutely no interest in lab blocks. She did eat some sweet potato baby food - I'm gonna run out to grab some ensure and apple juice shortly.

I just wish I could figure out what was going on.

 

[jorats]

Oh! That's the first time I hear someone say something good about High Park Animal Hospital.

But from what I've heard in the past... I would never bring my rats there.

 

[M0onkist]

... Jo, can you PM me with details? If there're problems with them, I need to know - for Plumeria's sake, if no one else's.

Bless my parents. I told them about the Ensure that you guys recommended - my mother picked up a six-pack, and my Dad drove her down with it - then they both came up to see her and help me feed her.

She hates the syringe. But if I put the tip of the syringe against my thumb and squirt it out slowly, she drinks it up like nobody's business - she actually got FIVE ML into her before she stopped!!

I'm not saying this'll fix anything, but it's one step towards combating the dehydration and not-eating thing.

 

[jorats]

Keeping her fed is very important and the Ensure will help with hydration too.
You've got a wonderful mom and dad.
I'll get Shelagh to PM you, she had first hand experience with the High Park crew.

 

[M0onkist]

Yeah - stuff's been... difficult to say the least with them over the past few years. But they adored Princess, and even gradually came to love Plumeria (especially since Princess passed). They know I'm frantic over her, although they're still making light of whatever's wrong (oh well, she's eating, she'll be fine).

I'm gonna try feeding her again - she's clinging to my shoulder right now (utterly prefers my shoulder above anywhere else right now).

 

[ryelle]

Im glad she ate/drank some Ensure. Keep trying it with her. She needs SOMETHING in her, and its good that shes trying to eat. Poor thing

 

[M0onkist]

She moved from the top of the sleep cube to her second level tonight - slept on the bare metal from what I could tell. She was all puffed up (the way rats do when they're sleeping alone sometimes).

I gave her a little piece of bread around 7:30 - she took it and nibbled on it a bit, but her right paw was holding it straight (not curled around the bread) while her left paw was. She bobbled the bread and it fell off the level, but she had no interest in it after that (it fell in her litter box no less).

She's still very lethargic but seems... a tiny bit brighter-eyed, I guess? The Ensure is definitely a godsend - she ate 7.5mL in one sitting just now - now she's pancaked out on my lap, just digesting I guess.

The one odd thing I noticed today... her ribcage seems to be abnormally large right now - while her tummy (when seen from above) puffs in and out, but when she breathes out, it looks almost like she's wearing a Victorian corset (hourglass shape). Does this mean anything to y'all?

Oh, I have an appointment tomorrow with Dr. Munn - he's double-booking me at 9 AM!

 

[ryelle]

Ugh!! Roll on tomorrow morning!! I woulda rushed into an emergency vet by now. The chest thing sounds very very bad!

 

[jorats]

I sure hope Dr. Munn can help her.

 

[M0onkist]

Yeah... me too.

She just had another 5mL, so 12.5mL in total today. I'll do another feeding when I get back from class this evening.

She wasn't at all interested in the apple juice I offered, only the Ensure. But she DID eat a very small piece of bread!!

 

[Moon]

Ugh, sounds like she's not feeling great at all

Yay for Dr Munn!

 

[M0onkist]

I'm adding this to the vet list of symptoms or whatever.

When I picked up Plumeria to cuddle her, I found she had a smear of dried fecal matter on her tail right near her bum - I imagine it's diarrhea or soft poops, but haven't found any matching stuff just yet in the cage - I'm gonna look more closely when I get back, because I have to run out and get some milk.

I guess that's another solid sign that something's wrong - Princess didn't do that until she was *really* sick.

Not happy right now. More like worried sick.

Does Ensure cause diarrhea?

I don't have anything for 'wet tail' (I saw some random hamster med for wet tail in the pet store).

 

[ryelle]

If all she is eating is liquids then maybe she will just have a bit of diarrhea, if there is no solids in her tummy. Is there anything you could mix it with to try thicken it a bit, like baby cereal (the powdery stuff) and see if she will eat that too out of the syringe?

Ugh, hurry up 9am!!! im starting to pace

 

[Moon]

Wet tail is a hamster disease, similar to dysentery. Rats do not suffer from it.

I suppose if she's not been eating much solids lately her poops could be considerably softer.

 

[henry's_mum]

i'll be thinking of you guys tomorrow morning, ,and i'll be checking in on this thread for updates
:hugs:

 

[mamarat]

Good luck for your sweetie at the vet.