Puffed fur, heavy breathing, no URI?

Another one of my girls, also 18 months and litter mate to the girl I just posted about, has been puffy and been breathing heavy (faster breathing and side sink in far) for almost 2 weeks now. She isn't sneezing, isn't noisy, rat phone is quite, she is eating and drinking. She went to the vet Friday and the vet said everything sounded clear. The vet knew about proper dosages, medications, etc. so he wasn't completely stupid about rats. She looks older in her face, just very grey and dull. She has been less active. When I take her out she doesn't run around much, instead she finds someplace to sleep. She has lost weight. She was overweight to begin with though.

I just found a small lump on her belly in the crease on her back leg.

Anyone have any ideas on this? She has been on baytril since Wednesday and baytril + doxy since Friday, just in case. No improvement. Her sister, litter mate, has a lump that just popped up as well. They all seem to have issues at the same time...

Does her heart rate/beat sound regular? She will lost weight from the extra energy it take to breathe.

She may have some internal problem going on that you are unaware of, causing her pain. Antibiotics are good to use to cover your bases, but what she has may not be treatable. You could see if she feels better with pain medication.

I agree with Joanne, I would definitely try pain meds and see if she improves on them.

What pain meds are best? I had a feeling it was something internal. She's just not herself. I have ibuprofen on hand but just ran out of metacam. I'll get her whatever she needs.

Ibuprofen would probably do in a pinch but someone has been using Tramadol with great success - you would have to get that from your vet. It's a narcotic and seems to be stronger than Ibuprofen or Metacam. Or you can use it in conjunction with an NSAID for very effective pain control.

ETA - correction!

Tramadol is a narcotic (human version is Ultram is you have heard of it). Toradol (ketorolac) is not a narcotic and causes no respiratory effect whatsoever. You may be think of the study that compared Toradol and morphine and found them I nearly equally effective. Toradol IS an NSAID and therefore CANNOT be used with ibuprofen of meloxicam. Tramadol is a non NSAID and can be used with ibuprofen or meloxicam.

I wonder if it is me you are thinking of with that video I posted of a post-spay girl I gave Tramadol to?

Sheldon said:

Tramadol is a narcotic (human version is Ultram is you have heard of it). Toradol (ketorolac) is not a narcotic and causes no respiratory effect whatsoever. You may be think of the study that compared Toradol and morphine and found them I nearly equally effective. Toradol IS an NSAID and therefore CANNOT be used with ibuprofen of meloxicam. Tramadol is a non NSAID and can be used with ibuprofen or meloxicam.

I wonder if it is me you are thinking of with that video I posted of a post-spay girl I gave Tramadol to?

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I am getting Tramadol and Toradol mixed up!!! Will edit to correct...

I just tried giving her some ibuprofen and she fought it so I couldn't get it in. She started gasping for air (mouth open) for a couple minutes then stopped and kept breathing fast and hard how she has been. I don't know if she actually couldn't breathe or if she was panicking because she doesn't like meds. She won't eat anything right now, she took a dose earlier in baby cereal. The vets that know anything about rats don't have appointments available until Thursday evening. I don't know what to do for her...

If she started open-mouth breathing, then I would hazard that there IS a problem either with her lungs or her heart. What colour are her extremities?

Joanne said:

If she started open-mouth breathing, then I would hazard that there IS a problem either with her lungs or her heart. What colour are her extremities?

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She only did open mouth breathing for a few minutes then stopped. I've had her out all day and haven't seen her do it again. Her extremeties all appear normal. They aren't blue and I don't think they are pale. She is a bit cold to the touch. Should we try heart meds just in case? I'm going to try and get her in sooner.

Well, I just can't see her doing open mouth breathing from pain. So if her lungs sound good, then my next guess would be cardiac.

Joanne said:

Well, I just can't see her doing open mouth breathing from pain. So if her lungs sound good, then my next guess would be cardiac.

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I'll take her to a different vet and see what he says. I am thinking it lungs or heart because watching her she acts the same as my other boy who is slowly getting better with baytril + doxy. She has bursts of energy, then just sits around. I'll keep her on baytril in the meantime just in case.

simonsmom said:

I'll take her to a different vet and see what he says. I am thinking it lungs or heart because watching her she acts the same as my other boy who is slowly getting better with baytril + doxy. She has bursts of energy, then just sits around. I'll keep her on baytril in the meantime just in case.

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Is she still on the Doxy too? I'd keep her on both just in case it is her lungs after all. Good luck! I hope you get in soon.

Joanne said:

Is she still on the Doxy too? I'd keep her on both just in case it is her lungs after all. Good luck! I hope you get in soon.

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Yeah I'll keep her on both. We have an appointment for 4 ratties tomorrow evening so hopefully she can wait that long and the appointment goes well. I've got her an appointment with a (possibly) better vet on Monday. So if I can just get her something at the appointment tomorrow to hold her over until Monday...