was-syringe feeding- She's looking better =) video 12/19

[Petunia]

just checking, cuz i'm often covered in baby cereal and ensure :roll: :lol:

is it usually hard to feed a rat with a pituitary tumor?
sometimes we seem to hit a good rhythm and i'm syringing at just the right speed and she's able to keep her mouth in the general direction of where the syringe is,
but other times,I'm going to slow or too fast and she seems to be having trouble locating the syringe

is there a way to make it easier for her?

this is for Paige for anyone who hasnt' seen the other posts about her having a PT

i put her in the cage with her buddies when i can be there with her; sometimes Evie or Brenna will come and groom her =)

she can't climb and can't eat or drink by herself any more, so she's in the cat carrier the rest of the time where i can keep an eye on her and feed her when she's awake etc

she likes being held and having her cheeks stroked or her whole face sometimes but then other times she prefers to be in the carrier

if anyone's wondering the cat carrier hasn't been used for cats in over a year, it's only used for the rats now, they've had it to play in (with door removed) and Paige and Hope aren't afraid of cats anyway, only the newbie rats are afraid of my cats

ok where was i, i am so scattered

oh yes, any tips for syringe feeding? best place to have rat, best syringe to use (i tried a couple of different ones)

any tips at all
thanks

 

[lilspaz68]

Each rat has their own preferred way to feed from a syringe...some want it in front so they can lick it off, some prefer you actually put it in the side of their mouth on an angle and they just have to swallow...then there's rats like Finley, who deep throats the syringe, clamps his teeth down and swallows all at the same time LOL

Just keep an eye on their swallowing, stop when they stop. With Ensure feeding, when a syringe is finished, I pull it away slowly and if the rat continues to reach for it, they want more. But its always best to put a towel in your lap for any feedings LOL

 

[hopefloats]

I can back to see how to do it, always good to learn but your choice of words, well totally made my day!

 

[Petunia]

Each rat has their own preferred way to feed from a syringe...some want it in front so they can lick it off, some prefer you actually put it in the side of their mouth on an angle and they just have to swallow...then there's rats like Finley, who deep throats the syringe, clamps his teeth down and swallows all at the same time LOL

LOL well she's not wanting to do it Finley's way, that would kinda freak me out lol

Just keep an eye on their swallowing, stop when they stop.

was having a hard time keeping an eye on that when she was in my lap and i was looking down at her, i couldnt' tell from that angle if she was swallowing ok so i was going very slow and she seemed to get fed up wiht that. Paige loves her noms!!

With Ensure feeding, when a syringe is finished, I pull it away slowly and if the rat continues to reach for it, they want more.

sometimes I can't tell cuz she lunges around in different directions, cuz she can't get her body to cooperate, so I'm not sure if she's trying to turn away or trying to get more.
I just wait and then offer again, but if I waited too long, she gets impatient and wants me to syringe faster.
I'm giving her a mixture of very thin baby cereal, lab block dust and warmed up ensure (vanilla)
with a bit of baby food bananas in it.

But its always best to put a towel in your lap for any feedings LOL

yeh I guess :lol: I've got baby food and ensure on my sleeve, my pj bottoms and the towel she was sitting on

I just found a way that worked well, although it seemed a bit strange- I had her in the cage to hang out with her buddies, and she got inside the little wooden hut.
i lifted up the side of it, and then put the syringe out and she chomped down on it and we went from there- i could see her better, and she was confined so her head stayed in one place for the most part, instead of going off in all directions. it's so sad to see her TRY to do something and have her body not cooperate.
and i'm not always sure if she's headed in a certain direction becuase she really WANTS to go that way, or if she's just confused and can't will her body to go where she wants to go

she's holding steady though! she slept for about 4 1/2 hrs, longest sleep she's had, and was very hungry when she woke up!
she's still awake now and i'm offering her food every so often and except for the most recent time, she'll take a bit more.

is there any chance she'll continue to eat past being full? just because she doesnt' know to stop?

thanks for all the advice, and for keeping me company thru this
it's really hard to keep from crying when i see her like this, and my throat hurts from holding back the tears

 

[hopefloats]

:hugs: I am sorry! I hear the horror stories and I dread seeing this here one day.

 

[mamarat]

All of my rats stop eating when they've had enough, I don't think they binge like we do.

 

[Petunia]

All of my rats stop eating when they've had enough, I don't think they binge like we do.

thanks that's good to know.

she did finally turn away from more food but i think mainly because she's tired. :?

oh when she's sleeping she looks so worn out, and so fragile. and she's still so young! inside my head i'm screaming, she's too young, she's too young, this isnt' fair.



i know, life isn't fair. but damn, she so completely enjoyed life, she deserved to have many more good days.

 

[lilspaz68]

She is young and it is unfair, but between your rage and sorrow, enjoy your girl as much as you can. ((hugs))
She sounds like she's eating well...I think the most I fed in one sitting was 16 cc's of Ensure.

 

[Petunia]

could it be, a delayed reaction to the pred? or all the high calorie foods? I dont know but she's a bit stronger today
sometime while i was sleeping she managed to drag herself up into the low hanging hammock in the cat carrier!

:joy:

she finally pooped too, i was worried cuz i hadn't seen any poop from her and i wasn't sure if she was pooping, or might have been eating it, :sick2: or what (when she was in the cage, she ate a small stray poop before i could stop her- another reason I"m afraid to leave her in the cage unless I"m there with her)

I havent' counted how many cc's she's eating but i'll try to do that next time she's up for food.
I offer her the choice to lap up some ensure from a bowl lid, i put just a tiny bit on it so she can't get it up her nose if she doesn't aim right. but she prefers the syringe now! :giggle:

this morning she was eating so fast, i had to have two syringes loaded at the same time to keep up with her, but i guess she just needed to "top off" because she stopped after about six-seven syringes full, then climbed up into the hammock and groomed herself!

ok so she does still roll over on her back when she loses her balance, but she gets right back up and tries again. I try to reach in and support her when I can but i'm not always fast enough.


she won't use a low hanging double decker, that's what i was giving her before in the cage but she wanted that cube that Spork made instead. She really does look more comfortable in the cat carrier, i can also keep her warmer in there and have it where i can see if she wakes up and offer her food/drink.

Yeh the anger and sadness come in little waves, I'm doing ok most of the time suppressing it, it's mostly when she's sleeping and I see how tired she looks.

So different from the girl who would race out the cage as soon as it was open and then hide when i said it was "time to go home"
I would let her stay out a bit longer and then sometimes she'd get hungry/thirsty and realize the food was in the cage, and she'd sheepishly go and sit in front of the door waiting for me to let her in.

 

[mamarat]

Can you put a small box in the carrier? The low "ceiling" helps them not to roll. I know they seem like they're starving when they're on Pred. Also for the poop, mmm.. they need some of the nutrients sometimes that's in there. Maybe someone else can explain it better. Sorry, I know it sounds gross but that's what my vet told me.

 

[Petunia]

Can you put a small box in the carrier? The low "ceiling" helps them not to roll. I know they seem like they're starving when they're on Pred. Also for the poop, mmm.. they need some of the nutrients sometimes that's in there. Maybe someone else can explain it better. Sorry, I know it sounds gross but that's what my vet told me.

I dont know if a box would fit, this is a small cat carrier, i can try
I have a couple of thick double fleece cage pads in there so what she was doing before was sitting in a corner and propping herself up on the corner of the cage, I may have a photo of that somewhere

but i'll see if a box will fit

i read about eating poop too but i think that's fresh poop that they actually eat straight from their butt- ewww but I"m pretty sure it's different from poop that's dried out and has been sitting around for a bit
I'll see if i can find the link about it, there's a name for it too, corprophagia or something like that? I'm pretty sure i'm not spelling that correctly but that's sorta close to what it is i think lol

 

[Petunia]

http://ratguide.com/care/behavior/coprophagy.php


thanks for posting and glad that i re read this, you're supposed to allow them to eat poop, even if it's the dried ones

still, :sick2: :lol:

I just try not to watch

 

[Joanne]

Great link! :thumbup:

 

[lilspaz68]

Something is happening which is great! Can you get another video of her?

 

[Petunia]

after my shower i'm gonna see if i can get another video
i should probably eat something myself, i keep forgetting to feed me :lol:

she is definitely stronger and brighter looking today

:dance:

I put her in the cage with her buddies

 

[Petunia]

Video is on it's way, uploading to YouTube now :thumbup:

she is definitely better, she doesn't club her front paws as much nor cross them over as much either

she's not cured, of course, but she looks brighter, is def stronger and her wt is holding steady.

I think she can go up to a bit thicker food, gonna run down to the drugstore and see what else they have for fruits and veggies to mix with her cereal


will post video as soon as it's up
:bliss:

 

[mamarat]

So happy for you and your girl.

 

[lilspaz68]

YAYAYAYAYAY!!!

 

[Petunia]

http://youtu.be/qC-Jp3jbfOs

you may need to turn the volume up a bit, and i'm sorry for the sniffling, still got a titch of the cold (almost gone!)

i tried to keep the camera as steady as i could but i was feeding her with my left hand (i'm right handed) and trying to concentrate mostly on Paige so i lost track of the camera in a few spots

this is the 3rd in a series of videos, she had already eaten about 6 ccs or so while she was out in the open, over the by the stairs that go the cage.

this is a very short video of her running around- you can see she's still not "all there" but she's so much better!

http://youtu.be/MP866BOCGwo

will get the others up in a bit, she's awake and hungry again =)

 

[jorats]

Oh I can definitely see improvements! She's looking way better. I know that pred helped my Flea so much get through her PT, slowed it right down for about 3 months.