Post by doctorbob on Sept 7, 2009 15:22:29 GMT -4
Ever been through this? Ever had a rat not fully recover and remain all floppy-headed?
Friday night, Silver (our youngest; the one that's been healthiest so far) behaved normally during dinner and ate normally. An hour later, she was lying on the cage bottom not moving. She is the most energetic rat we've ever had and I've even wondered if she ever sleeps. So this was unusual.
We took her out to look at her and noticed that she had severe swelling about the base of her skull and neck. She was lethargic to the point of being floppy. We were afraid she had a spinal injury and was paralyzed. We had some anti-inflammatory and gave her some. She soon seemed better and went to sleep.
Saturday the swelling was somewhat less but she was still lethargic. We gave her water by syringe. I took her to my rat-friendly vet who graciously worked us in to the busy holiday weekend (that was busy with people dropping off kennel animals along with the regular weekend calamities vets see) and she diagnosed her with a vestibular/inner-ear infection. Everything else looked OK. We were sent home with antibiotics and pain/anti-inflammatory meds.
During the afternoon, I thought the diagnosis was mistaken and that she was seriously ill and/or injured. It seemed to me that her breathing was labored and shallow. Maybe I was just sensitive to that from losing a rat via that disease. By Saturday night, she was breathing better but her head was extremely floppy and she clearly had a balance problem. But she continued to take her meds and sleep.
Questions:
1. Anybody been through this with a rat?
2. If so, have they always fully recovered?
3. How long would we guess the symptom of floppy head last? She's definitely improving but it's still disturbing.
Otherwise, Silver is almost her old self by today. The thing is, she really cannot control her head when she gets excited and walking is still a bit of a problem. I know I should not expect a miracle-fast improvement but dang, as fast as it came on, I was hoping for a fast recovery. She has a good appetite, drinks plenty of water, is able to groom herself, etc.
Anyway, I just wanted to throw that story out there and see if anybody ever had a similarly sick rat.
Thanks,
db
Edited to add: The vet mentioned it was a difficult decision whether or not to dispense steroids to rodents. I was going to look into this via our friend Google but also thought I would ask here for comments on that.
Friday night, Silver (our youngest; the one that's been healthiest so far) behaved normally during dinner and ate normally. An hour later, she was lying on the cage bottom not moving. She is the most energetic rat we've ever had and I've even wondered if she ever sleeps. So this was unusual.
We took her out to look at her and noticed that she had severe swelling about the base of her skull and neck. She was lethargic to the point of being floppy. We were afraid she had a spinal injury and was paralyzed. We had some anti-inflammatory and gave her some. She soon seemed better and went to sleep.
Saturday the swelling was somewhat less but she was still lethargic. We gave her water by syringe. I took her to my rat-friendly vet who graciously worked us in to the busy holiday weekend (that was busy with people dropping off kennel animals along with the regular weekend calamities vets see) and she diagnosed her with a vestibular/inner-ear infection. Everything else looked OK. We were sent home with antibiotics and pain/anti-inflammatory meds.
During the afternoon, I thought the diagnosis was mistaken and that she was seriously ill and/or injured. It seemed to me that her breathing was labored and shallow. Maybe I was just sensitive to that from losing a rat via that disease. By Saturday night, she was breathing better but her head was extremely floppy and she clearly had a balance problem. But she continued to take her meds and sleep.
Questions:
1. Anybody been through this with a rat?
2. If so, have they always fully recovered?
3. How long would we guess the symptom of floppy head last? She's definitely improving but it's still disturbing.
Otherwise, Silver is almost her old self by today. The thing is, she really cannot control her head when she gets excited and walking is still a bit of a problem. I know I should not expect a miracle-fast improvement but dang, as fast as it came on, I was hoping for a fast recovery. She has a good appetite, drinks plenty of water, is able to groom herself, etc.
Anyway, I just wanted to throw that story out there and see if anybody ever had a similarly sick rat.
Thanks,
db
Edited to add: The vet mentioned it was a difficult decision whether or not to dispense steroids to rodents. I was going to look into this via our friend Google but also thought I would ask here for comments on that.
, and playing with the dogs&Other rats.
)
