# Help!



## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

I need some help to identify a problem with one of my babys! she is roughly a year old and I can id. that she has that lung problem (I forgot what it's called) but she is losing wieght and has this yellow goo coming out of her "pee hole".Anyone know anything??


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Oops I should've put this in rat health.Sorry


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## hjkaga (Dec 27, 2006)

I would take her to a vet asap!


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

I can't afford vet help....


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

if she's sick and losing weight and you can't afford medications then at least take in to be put down. she's dieing and it doesn't sound like she's going easy. if you really can't afford even that then you need to do some research online and find a humane way to let her pass on that you can do yourself.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

twitch said:


> if she's sick and losing weight and you can't afford medications then at least take in to be put down. she's dieing and it doesn't sound like she's going easy.


She is NOT dieing!!! I know,I've owned over a hundered rats in my 7-8 years of being a rat owner. (I did some breeding) She's just sick... I put her in a cage by herself and she started pigging out,so I think she was being bullied and just wasn't getting her fair share of food and the lack of vitamins is what's mak'in her sick. I think.... Anyway she's as alert as a fuzzy (2 month old) and almost as active so I really don't think she's going to die for at least another year.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

if she has a respiratory illness and you can't get her medications then she is dieing. she may live a few months on her own so long as she can keep her weight up but the illness will kill her if left untreated. the respiratory illness can also lead to other illnesses such as an ear infection which can greatly inhibit her balance to the point that she won't be able to eat or walk right if left untreated as well. if there is no way for you to gather the money to take her to get treated then the humane thing is to let her go. its really not easy, i know, i had to do it once myself. you feel absolutely terrible that you hadn't saved more money, that you could afford to get her the treatment she needed but its what best for her not you that matters. i would not want to suffer through the pain of slow suffication as my way to die and i would never make any of my charges suffer such pain either. 

having said that, you can wait and see how she's hanging on while gathering together the money but watch for signs of an ear infection developing and keep a close eye on her weight and fluid intake. you don't need a dehydrated rat on top of everything else. 

i really hope she makes it through. but don't make her suffer if she decides she doesn't want to fight it anymore or there's no chance of getting her the medication she needs. i wish you and her the best of luck.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Her respiratory problem is getting better since I put her in a cage with just news paper as her bedding. I guess the stuff I was using was agravating her lungs. It was a type of wood shaving. She's been steadily gaining wieght as well.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

I thought you'd like to know that my baby Bajha is nice and healthy. Her respiratory is just a murmer and she is a good wieght for her size.


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## reachthestars (Feb 27, 2007)

Glad to hear she bounced back, you were very lucky. Did you ever find out what the yellow discharge was? 

You should start to set aside some money just incase something like this happens again. Alot of us have a vet fund that we add some money to from each paycheck so when something comes up we don't have to break the bank to get them help. It's hard to see one of you furkids suffering, and even worse to know you can't afford help.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

I know....


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

twitch said:


> if you really can't afford even that then you need to do some research online and find a humane way to let her pass on that you can do yourself.


Are you advocating home euthanasia? 8O


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## Rodere (Feb 26, 2007)

Home euthanasia is often cruel, dangerous, illegal, and unsuccessful. Using certain methods, you risk burying your animal alive,t hinking it is dead. You shouldn't do home euthanasia. Ever. And just because she has a respiratory infection doesn't mean she's dieing. I assume she has myco or something of the sort. Myco will often react to bedding and environment changes. It isn't always fatal. Sometimes yes, if it gets very very bad or pneumonia developes, but not always.

You should never be so quick to tell someone their rat is dieing and they should kill it or have it killed. It's unsensitive. You didn't find out all that was going on, nor are you likely to have the qualifications to make such a judgement from 1 post.. A vet couldn't make a distinction with 1 post like that.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

from the details given on the original post it sounded very serious and in need of medications (more then just a myco flare from the lost weight and "goo"). if she could not get medications i said that the rat would die as would be the case. i also said to take the rat to the vet to be put down if she could. home ethunazia is not good. i know. but if you have absolutely no other alternative (including borrowing the money) it is better to let them pass on as painlessly as possbile then wait for the illness to slowly sufficate them. there are MANY different ways to preform home euthnaisa (some are effective others aren't) and i said that she should look it up if that was the way things were heading. i ALSO said that the rat could live on for a few months without treatment so she had time to gather money together for it. if you were to read my second post you would see all this. 

however all that seems to be a moot point as the rat has turned around with an environment changing. though the "goo" doesn't seemed to have been explained. what happened about that anyway sky14?


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

I don't know. 

I sorta neglected to watch it but I do know it's gone and my baby Bajha is as healthy as can be. (with a slight respiratory)


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Twitch, its never a good idea to even let people know about home euthanaisa. You know there's a lot of rat owners out there who can't be bothered to take "just a rat" to the vet to be pts, this would give them ideas that they could save the money and do it at home. It could start an awful trend. Btw Debbie D used to promote one type of home euthanasia (CO2)but since then has recanted that suggestion and says there is NO humane home method.


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## twitch (Jan 4, 2007)

well that's just silly. there are terrible ways to do home euthanaisa that any lazy owner could easily think of on their own. my mother, in one of her less tactful times, told me to take my dieing rat out in the yard and drop a big rock on her head. she even went so far as saying it would be quick. it would have gotten the job done certainly so long as i didn't miss and could have actually done such a thing to my poor baby (dad ended up taking me into the clinic). but my point is this is just something she thought of on her own, sper of the momment. any person could think of the same thing or perhaps something even worse. letting them know that there are HUMANE ways out there is they are really stuck (can't afford taking them to vet, can't borrow the money or whatever other legitimate reason) is better then them coming up with their own ideas. besides, if the owner is one that cannot be "bothered" to spend 20 bucks to have their dieing rat put to sleep is unlikely to be bothered to look something up anyway. its easist to just take the rat to the vet to have them pts.this doesn't make an advocate for home euthanaisa. i perfer to have the vet do it as they KNOW what they are doing and i just don't think i could bring myself to hold my own baby girls in a CO2 chamber myself. taking the rat to the vet is certainly the better option but not offering the information is not a good thing. information is power. and with this sort of thing especailly its better to have the information then make your own guesses.


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## Sky14 (Aug 18, 2006)

Ok I've read enough about you two arguing over a stupid thing like this when you both abveusly know it's wrong and mean to try killing your rat on your own. 

In my upineun if your rat is dieing let it die on it's own if you can't get it pts. Just give it as much tlc as you can and be happy you had such a sweet animal as your friend.

So please stop talking about death and start being happy that my baby Bajha is good and healthy and will most likely live for anther six+ months.


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## JulesMichy (Apr 8, 2007)

Sky14 said:


> Ok I've read enough about you two arguing over a stupid thing like this when you both *abveusly* know it's wrong and mean to try killing your rat on your own.
> 
> In my *upineun* if your rat is dieing let it die on it's own if you can't get it pts. Just give it as much tlc as you can and be happy you had such a sweet animal as your friend.


You just aren't too bright, are you?

Yes, let's allow a rat that's in pain and suffering to die a slow, horrible death. Any clinic, exotic or not, will euthanize a suffering animal. There is no excuse not to.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

I think he's just too young to own a rat since his parents and him can't afford the proper vet care. It's why this one died, and it's why future rats will as well.

I'm sorry if it seems lots of people are picking on you, I know your lack of funds is not your fault but perhaps you can learn to rehome your current rats and wait until you are old enough and have your own job to care for your rats. It's very sad you lied to us about Bajha's health telling us she was doing horrible then a couple post later lieing that she bounced back. It may of made you feel better about yourself but didn't help your rats situation. The truth is you're young, and aparently your family isn't helping you pay for vet bills or can't pay for vet bills. Not totally your fault but still it should become aparent that maybe you just shouldn't own animals right now. It's nothing to be ashamed of, in fact it would make you a better person to take the responsibility to see that fact.

But you're old enough to see that you can't afford the health care they need and there are rescues out there that CAN HELP. It may be heart wrenching but please don't be selfish here, rehome your rats and wait until you can have your own job then you would be safe to give them the care they deserve.


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## Night (Feb 23, 2007)

If you can't afford to properly care for an animal, you shouldn't have any. Regardless of your age and situation.


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## ladylady (Apr 5, 2007)

Nice one Poppyseed, Ive been reading this and thinking, "surely if your Rat is ill and you can't pay for vets bills there is a charity that will take it on and assess its needs then treat it, manage its comfort levles or put it to sleep?". Neglect is abuse and not following every avenue to get the best for an amimal who has come to depend on you for there almost every need, well...
Imagine you had a dependent relative at home very ill and you couldent afford to treat them, so you kept them at home, not exploring free clinics or anything, giving them soup and cuddles-people go to prison for that sort of thing, if I advocated that kind of thing I could never get my registration.
Alot of people come up againts these kind of problems...its how you react to them.


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## Night (Feb 23, 2007)

The thing that bothers me, is she's not a new owner. Sky, you should be well aware of the health issues that rats have, and *PREPARE* for them! They shouldn't be anything new to you. Even as an experienced rat owner who has been owned by and loved rats for over 7 years, I never stop researching health problems, since even if you have an amazing vet, you need to know exactly what's happening and the course of treatment to take.

As much as we'd like to think that feeding them correctly, cleaning often, and helping them at home is enough, it isn't. Rats need vet care, just like any dog or cat does. And they should NEVER be denied it.


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## ladylady (Apr 5, 2007)

"...It was not until the 19th century that children were granted the same legal status as domesticated animals with regard to protection against cruelty and/or neglect...

.. this form of abuse is defined as the failure to provide for the shelter, safety, supervision and nutritional needs...

...Physical neglect includes refusal of or delay in seeking health care..."

http://www.answers.com/topic/child-abuse


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