Aftermath of successful eye surgery

Hello everyone,

I'm highly frustrated and just have to get this off my chest and need an opinion. My Dumbo rat Müsli(1,5) had his eye removed last Saturday after an infection caused it to bulge out of his head within 3 days. At that point vets already told me that it's probably a tumor and that they couldn't do anything. I took him back and demanded the surgery. He bounced back great from the procedure and was as lively as he used to be until this morning. When I went to give him pain medication he already seemed off.. in the course of the day he got even worse to the point where he had no strength anymore and refused any kind of food. I took him to the vet. Neurologically it all seemed fine, they gave him an infusion and sent me back home. So now I have been feeding him and we've been giving him infusions ourselves every 4h.. but it doesn't seem to be doing much. For a moment he seemed to be better and even wanted to eat but shortly after he returned to his idle state. He breathes normally.. I'm not sure what to do anymore or what's wrong with him. Perhaps his kidneys just couldn't handle the medications? It's very frustrating that he went from recovering nicely to incredibly ill in just about 10 hours.

I'm sorry you guys are going through this. It is tough when things go downhill so quickly.

If the vet believes he had a tumour he could very well still be trying to heal from the removal. I would definitely continue giving him his pain medications and I'm hoping he was also prescribed antibiotics. Please call your vet again if he isn't better by morning.

Hey,

in the end it didn't turn out to be a tumor. It was an abscess behind the eye. He's been on antibiotics ever since the eye started to bulge. As well as pain medications. As stated he was doing really good. We assumed today that perhaps the infection had wandered, since the eye and brain are connected, but he passed all the neurological tests.. I'm really scared that his kidneys are shutting down.. or such.

He's still very weak, but ate a second time. Not a lot but at least some just half an hour ago. It's hard to see him like this. He can't even clean himself without falling over.. and moving around seems really hard for him so he doesn't even try.

Poor babe. I would watch him very carefully for dehydration. Try to get a mL of fluid in him every few hours if you can, at the minimum. Make sure when you lightly pinch his skin up it snaps back quickly, not tenting up (called skin turgor). I hope the lad gets better quickly.

Sigh,

he's still going. He eats and finally peed for the first time in a while but remains too weak to eat by himself or move around much. I'm not sure how much more there is to do.. he didn't have a fever, the temperature is just at the brink of being too low.. he's bedded on a heating pad that can be regulated, he'd probably be colder else. If we only knew what the problem is.

I revoke my previous statement.. I just found mite in his fur and he's even less eager to move or eat or do anything for that matter. I'm twisted if I should take him to the vet one last time and freak him out more or just let him go here at home? This is the worst decision to make ever..

RIP little Müsli.
I decided to let him go because the chances of recovery were almost void and he completely refused even the food I tried to force feed him. Hope he's in a better place now.

I am so very sorry {{hugs}}

He is no longer hurting. You did the best thing you thought was right for him. It's the last loving thing, making the decision to let them go when it's time.