# My Vet didn't seem very hopeful



## clawofiron (May 23, 2008)

Bella, my rat, seemed to get very sick overnight. Before going to bed the other day, she seemed bright and happy, and then the next morning she seemed to be at death's door with heavy congestion, coughing, and tipping over.

We took her to the vet and the trip seemed to stress Bella into a worse state. The vet gave her some oxygen, but didn't seem very hopeful that she's going to survive. She prescribed Trimeth.Sulfa Suspension, which I am having trouble getting Bella to take.

Bella's weak and tipping over a lot and it seems to be difficult to eat or drink. She does lick water off of my finger in small doses and has eaten little bits that I've given her. I tried the peanut butter ball trick to get the medicine in her and she seemed to like it, but only ate a little bit before lying down again.

My husband thinks he gave her his cold. We read somewhere that Rats are one of the few species that can get a human cold. My husband gave his cold to me, too. And we all seem to have the same symptoms. We think Bella might have thick mucus making it difficult to breathe and swallow. When My husband and I took Mucinex, it really helped to clear our congestion and made us feel a lot better. 

Can we give Bella a tiny amount of mucinex? She's really not doing well. I don't want to give her medications she shouldn't have, but if this has a chance of clearing her congestion, I want to give her as much of a fighting chance as possible. 

It seems like she's really trying to do her best to be normal, but she's just not well at all. She wants to climb on her cage or crawl up our arm and eat, but she's just too weak and wobbly.

Any thoughts or suggestion? I'm not ready to give up hope yet. 

She and her sister were both really sick when we adopted them. We didn't think we'd have them long, but they eventually got better, so I hope Bella will get better again.


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

Rat's can't catch a human cold. They can, howeve, develop URIs (upper respiratory infections) which can produce cold like symtoms.

Trimeth-Sulfa is a good antibitoic, however if this infection is a secondary infection caused by mycoplasma (which all rats have) then it may not be very effective. Give it two or three days on the trimeth-sulfa, but if she gets worse or you see no improvement, take her back to the vets. The main antibioitcs used for URIs is baytril (which can be combined with doxycycline to make it a stronger combo). Baytril is also a good choice as for the sicker rats, the first loading dose can be given via injection so it gets into their system and starts working straight away.

For the congestion - you can try holding her in the bathroom while the shower is running. The key is to try and stream up the room which helps to dilate the airways so it's easier to breathe. You should usually keep them in there for 10 minutes, 15 max. Another thing you can try is Bisolvon which you can get at your vets. A small pinch of it can really help decongest their chests in situations like this.

It may also be worthwhile picking up some Complan (UK) or Ensure (USA/Canada) for her. If she's not eating much, this is a perfect way of getting fluids and nutrients into her. You can also mix her meds with it, too


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## JulesMichy (Apr 8, 2007)

Actually... with the sudden onset, and the description, it almost sounds as if she's choking. Especially the bit about it getting worse when she was disturbed. How long has it been going on? I doubt a rat could have a piece of food stuck in their esophagus for this long, but **** if that wasn't the first place my mind went.

Anyway, yes, you can give Mucinex. But only if it's the kind with just guaifenesin in it, and not dextromethorphan added. If yours does, you can buy Robitussin labeled to treat congestion, the one that has "guaifenesin" in bold letters on the front. I had a vet once explain that the dose is just a few drops off of the tip of your finger.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

When you say tipping over, is her head tilted? Is she falling only to one side or is she that weak?

I am not fond of Trimeth-S/Bactrim/Septra for URI's...I much prefer baytril


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## clawofiron (May 23, 2008)

I've put her in the bathroom with steam. I can't tell if that helps or not, but will do so every time one of us takes a shower.

Ensure is a good idea. I made some oatmeal this morning and crushed a vitamin pellet into it, to hopefully get some nutrients into her, but she only ate a little bit of it.

For the tipping... I don't really know how to describe it. Yes, I think her head tilts first. And she seems to sometimes rub her head into the bedding. At first I thought that maybe she was trying to get off some of the mucus. The vet seemed to think she wasn't getting enough oxygen and almost passing out. Then, I thought if she's congested it could be effecting her inner ear and throwing her balance off. And now she's just really exhausted and probably weak, I don't really know what she's doing.


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## RoRo (Mar 10, 2008)

I agree it sounds like choking, take your hand hold her chin up and rub her thraot see if you can feel anything. Just rub her thraot gently for awhile see if it helps.

IS her mouth kinda foamy?


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## JulesMichy (Apr 8, 2007)

It definitely sounds like she has something stuck in her throat. The rubbing is probably to try and get some of the saliva off of her chin, and also to stretch her throat.

Try and offer her some olive oil on the tip of your finger to help lubricate whatever it is and help it down. Offer lots of fluids, but don't move or bother her too much. She needs time and to be calm in order to work whatever it is down on her own.

If all else fails, call your vet, tell them you believe that she has a piece of food stuck in her esophagus, and has exhausted herself trying to work it down. Ask if they have any gavage instruments. It's a long, hollow tube with a bulb on the head used for force-feeding small animals like mice, rats and birds. Ask if they have any experience gavaging rats. If not, I wouldn't risk it, because you can pierce the esophagus very easily. If they have experience, though, I'd say at this point (nearly 24 hours of choking, right?), I would definitely consider using it to try and slowly force the blockage down into her stomach.


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## clawofiron (May 23, 2008)

I'm on the phone with the vet now.

I just discovered something very important. What we thought were just tiny flecks of scabbing from the two rats wrestling - actually appears to be some sort of parasite. So that may be what is actually causing the problems.

I'm going to go clean out her cage and throw out all of the bedding we bought and put in new stuff. Get some samples of the parasite for the vet to identify. 

And they told me to get some puppy flea powder to gently brush on her.

Thank you so much for everyone's help and input. I'm so glad to find people who love rats, too.


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## JulesMichy (Apr 8, 2007)

Tell them you'd rather have kitten Revolution! She could accidentally ingest the flea powder during grooming. One drop of kitten Revolution between the shoulder blades is much safer and more effective.


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## clawofiron (May 23, 2008)

Strange, I tried to write last night, but it looks like the post never got up.

I asked the vet about Kitten Revolution, but she thought it was too strong for the condition Bella's in. They vet did switch Bella to Baytril and I managed to get 2 doses into her so far. 

She's still doing very poorly, but she's still hanging on. 

The vet identified the parasites I found on Bella (and her sister has them too) as lice - and we're working on treating her for that, too. We cleaned her cage and got rid of all of the old bedding and food - and did the same for her sister's cage.

We're still trying to nurse Bella back to health. Poor thing.


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## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

Let us know how you make out. I'm so sorry to hear she's so ill.

Good luck
-Mary


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## clawofiron (May 23, 2008)

I'm sorry to say that Bella passed away early this afternoon.


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## Marysmuse (Apr 28, 2008)

Oh, Honey, I'm so sorry to hear that! May she rest in peace.

-Mary


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## collisiontheory89 (Apr 16, 2008)

That's awful...but it sounds like you did a lot to try and improve her condition. Sometimes these things just happen...


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