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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 13, 2009 1:09:14 GMT -4
You want me to paste what? Everything? Pasting only the last sentence will make no sense. Oh, right, ok, I'm just heading to bed and will check in tomorrow.
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 12, 2009 20:19:07 GMT -4
Is there any specific question you want me to post elsewhere? I really can add more other than give my good wishes. Best. I guess that last paragraph sums up my question: He didn't seem to have inhaled any food (no coughing or choking) so I don't think that's it. What else might tie respiratory conditions with eating?
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 12, 2009 19:40:12 GMT -4
Modified Subject: new development in Dukhat's condition...
...and I really welcome your input as I'm off the to vet with him again tomorrow.
I noticed his respiratory problem is worse after he eats.
I had removed the dry food I was free-feeding like Regal Rat and Nutro Lite to avoid him eating alot of it and possibly inhaling dust from chewing it. That was more back in his sneezy/noisy airways period of the last few weeks. Since was had improved so much on the new med (bronchodiltor theophylline) I started to hand fed it to them, a piece at a time (or in D's case, 1/2 piece at a time). He seems to have managed that alright.
I noticed him making more the "chesty" sounds again last night, and was EXTREMELY worried when he did some mouth breath this morning, which happened to be after some fruit, followed by some pieces of Nutro.
I've been giving them non-dust foods like fruit, veg, baby food, etc. I held off the baby food because after he got over his spell, he was resting. I thought I'd try him on some now and right afterward he was really working at the breathing again!
Although his heart hasn't come up with all this during vet visits, I'm worried about that now because I found him lying with head hanging over the shelf (this was *before* their supper.
He didn't seem to have inhaled any food (no coughing or choking) so I don't think that's it. What else might tie respiratory conditions with eating?
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 12, 2009 17:14:16 GMT -4
I've been having one of those mornings, DF, where you "don't want to go into their room." Dukhat had another bad breathing spell for a few minutes and by the time I was ready to take him out the door it had settled down. He's been resting since. He was doing very well on the new medication, and yesterday started to sound a little bit worse. This morning he was about the same. I've been withholding free-feeding of dry kibbles (the new vet recommended Regal Rat, and I've always fed my rats one of the recommended-for-rats dog kibbles, Nutro Lite formula) because fo the dust I from them I was noticing in the bowl (more so with the RR). I started to hand feed Nutro to them so Dukhat wouldn't eat too much. Coincidence or otherwise, it was after that this morning that he ran into trouble. I'm not sure if anything else happened to cause it as I had stepped out of the room for a few minutes. Back to the vet tomorrow. I hope I don't p*** *ff my workplace. Especially after so many good days, this rollercoaster is running me ragged.
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 12, 2009 17:08:17 GMT -4
Whenever I start a thread such as this on other forums I usually never get a straight answer - but someone always comes up with an obscure brand I never heard of from outer space. Or, I get a complex recipe for home made stuff. Oh! LOL I don't know the other brands, so can't comment (the new boys liked Regal Rat, but I've removed all dry kibble on account of Dukhat's ongoing problems).
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 12, 2009 2:28:21 GMT -4
No other brands? Ok ;D
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 12, 2009 0:13:41 GMT -4
All I know is that alot of pet sitters I know (myself included), won't even touch a Shiba Inu ;D
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 10, 2009 1:11:16 GMT -4
Thanks! I asked around, too, and got only one response, which said it shouldn't be a problem.
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 10, 2009 1:09:48 GMT -4
Awww, so cute! ;D
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 8, 2009 17:37:03 GMT -4
Although the boys are too big for the 1" bar spacing to be an escape hazard, what I've noticed is that they LOVE to climb and all of them, especially Dukhat, as they get lower to the shelf, I guess they get lazy and rather than use their feet the last few bars, they seem to depend on upper body strength. What then happens is they drop themselves the rest of the way (just a couple inches) and rather than put their feet on the shelf, their feet shoot between the bars. Sometimes they swing quite a bit outwards and their entire leg(s) go right between the bars. THEN, they scramble to get upright while said legs are through bars! *yeesh!* They've made my heart jump more than once! I guess they have split-second timing because they haven't caught themselves, thankfully, but I think it could be an accident waiting to happen.
My first thought was to put plexi-glass on the inside of the cage to stop them climbing at all (on the top level where they can gain some altitude! They don't do that often at all, except for Mad Thor).
However they seem to have fun doing it so I hate to limit them to much shorter climbs between levels.
I'd be interested in input regarding the climbing thing...should I discourage it? I've never had such climbers before.
Then I thought rather than plexiglass, I might fix some plastic canvas over the parts where they climb, to stop their feet from shooting through like that.
Any potential problems with plastic canvas? I got a few sheets with larger spacing with the idea of avoiding toenails getting caught. Chewing it isn't a huge deal (except for replacement cost) because hopefully they won't fluke out and make a gaping hole where their feet/legs often go through...at least not while I'm at work.
I figure it has to be VERY snug to avoid a getting caught/twisted between the layer of plastic canvas and the bars (ironically, with the bars open their legs at least have room to twist into the correct position).
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 6, 2009 0:28:15 GMT -4
I hope the original version was kinder!
I haven't seen it like...40 years LOL but I remember it fondly!
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 4, 2009 22:14:22 GMT -4
I assume you realize your limitations and those of vets. Are you saying I'm not God? Seriously though, I really had to step back when Locutus was going downhill and accept that what he was experiencing was his condition playing itself out. It was a huge emotional learning experience and I hoped it had stuck, but I guess I haven't fully learned yet. I'm not sure how to stop being a worrier. People say, "you just can't worry!" or "you have to stop worrying!" Sound so simple I'd love for them to cure me. Have you ever considered pet insurance for these expenses? I haven't. I wonder if any insurance company would cover rats for respiratory conditions. At least you can access a vet who knows rats. Yes, this is the new guy that the rescue recommended. However, he's away till mid-month (ugh! this is what made me find another vet even though I love my regular one), but this lady we saw Thurs. is sort of the rat person in training. She's more serious about it, but they tell me the other vets there are starting to learn since so many people are coming to the main exotics guy. What comforts me most is that they are open 7 days a week and have several vets. My regular vet (I still take the dog and cat there) is one person, and because of the surgeries she does, and because she's often away on conference, and 2 days off a week (can't begrudge her that) her availability is really limited.
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 4, 2009 17:56:26 GMT -4
No, DF, you didn't miss anything. I've been so distracted with worry that I haven't been on much. He's been mostly noisy for the last several weeks (between that and other stuff I've been to the vet almost every week!).
Happily, today he sounds TONS better! My fingers are crossed - hopefully the meds are kicking in now!
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 4, 2009 0:17:56 GMT -4
Please scroll down to July 22 for update, thanksHe's been on one antibiotics for 2 weeks, followed by another for 2 weeks. He seemed to get worse after being off them around 5 days so he was back to the vet yesterday. His lungs are apparently not congested, but his bronchial passages were constricted, especially in one lung so he's now on a bronchodilator. However, today he was sneezing alot. He gets very noisy breathing especially when excited and just now they thought I was bringing dinner. Since he was so uppity I gave them all a yoggie in the hopes of calming him down. I don't know if he suddenly got worse, or inhaled some or what, but he got very noisy and was mouth breathing for around a minute (or maybe it just seemed that long -- I've never had a rat do that!! ) I'm just so stressed over his ongoing issues. Now I'm freaked out and wondering if I'll be making a trip to the emerg. tonight! I'm a wreck.
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Post by adoptaratcanada on Jun 25, 2009 19:54:27 GMT -4
Poor guy. He was an odd egg, but it always seemed things were so wrong deep down. I guess a life like that catches up with you young. I imagine he's the only pop artist who made a song about a rat famous! A beautiful song, at that. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSqo17o2a1wBack when he was a dear young thing. When you have a subdued backup like that, you really get to hear how lyrical his voice really is. I haven't been "into" his music since the 70's, so I don't know if any of his stuff in the last several years were more ballad types and if he still had such a pure voice.
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