(VANCOUVER) Baby rat with megacolon

So, I've been conversing back and forth with a woman over email, who has 2 baby rats in need. They are 9 weeks old. One of them has megacolon, they are from a high white litter. *sigh*

I absolutely can't foster these girls long term, I'm a student and I also have 3 cages in my tiny apartment, 2 cats and a roommate that I have to consider, otherwise I would in a moment.

She did locate a local small animal rescue and she said they told her to have the little girl with megacolon put down but that she seems to be doing so well and has so much life left in her. I'm still getting more information about her symptoms, state, etc. She is going to send me pictures and I will post them. This is my first experience with megacolon. From what I have read, its possible for rats to live a fairly normal life with the aid of a certain medication, is this true? Has anyone had any experience with this?? I'm worried that this little girl is suffering, she's not currently on any medication.

If this is true, and there is a good chance that this medication could save her and help her live a fairly normal life, is there ANYONE in Vancouver area who would be willing to take this baby (preferably with her sister but if you have a colony already, I can find a home for her sister.) If she can live a decent life with the help of medication, I want that for her so badly

I have never really heard of this. All mc babies I have dealt with have been euthanized. I have heard of people who apparently have nothing better to do having success with manual defecation several times a day. The excruciating death is still an eventuality though, and frankly I would be worried about the quality of life. Sorry...

Sheldon said:

I have never really heard of this. All mc babies I have dealt with have been euthanized. I have heard of people who apparently have nothing better to do having success with manual defecation several times a day. The excruciating death is still an eventuality though, and frankly I would be worried about the quality of life. Sorry...

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That is what I thought. :'( Poor little angel. F%$K.

I just realized that what I read was written by Debbie the rat lady, so we all know how reliable that is. Ugh.

Yeah that woman might just be even nuttier than we think. Anyone who performs surgery on her rat because she "watched a lot of spays and neuters first" is just not even worth a thought in my opinion. The only other option would be a colostomy, which is opening up a whole other bag of worms. Not even worth it.

First we have to determine if its really megacolon, as some people jump the gun on that diagnosis. What symptoms did they tell you? When you get the pics put them up right away.

I'm going to pick the girls up tomorrow, I told her that I will foster them and I will take the poor little baby in myself. I will post pictures tomorrow. She said that she is very, very bloated and has diarrhea. This was a high white litter, both parents. Unbelievable. I'm going to pick them up tomorrow at 2pm and I'll post pictures right away!

Poor little one...

Wishing you and the girls luck. I will be thinking of you guys. What a sad situation.

The Woody's diet only works for babies who have VERY mild symptoms, when you have bloating and diarrhea you have to have them put to sleep...I am so very sorry but at least that baby girl won't suffer a horrible death now

If the baby has survived to 9 weeks ..... perhaps it is a mild case .....
If not, at least the baby will have an humane death and not continue to suffer

I just got home and will post pictures shortly. She is so cute, I'm so sad. A sweet little dumbo angel. She's not too badly bloated right now, the lady said she has become less bloated and it fluctuates. I can see impacted fecal matter in her little bum though. She's tiny. Much smaller than her sister.

Her sister seems very healthy though, no signs of anything wrong. She's beautiful, beautiful markings and really sweet. I need to find her a home ASAP with at least one other female rat or another foster home. My house is not the best fit for her, she has been with other rats since birth and is going to be confused when she's alone suddenly… also, I have 4 male rats, included a blazed boy and another male who I suspect could also be high white, but I can't tell. If she somehow escaped, she is small enough still to fit through their cage bars. It would be an absolute disaster on so many levels. She needed somewhere to go asap, but I really, really need to find her a more suitable foster or forever home right away. I contacted someone from SARS to see if they might have a more suitable place for her to go, so waiting to hear back. She is so sweet.

I am just going to medicate my little old rat men and I will post pictures. You can't really see much bloating in the picture of the baby, but she is bloated, tiny, and I definitely see impacted fecal matter. She's a little snuggle bug. It's sooo so sad. I really hate humans sometimes.

I hope you are able to keep the 2 babies together until the one with mc is pts, if that happens
I imagine that she needs her sister very much

Also the baby that is ok will be at risk for late onset mega colon which any new home needs to be aware of

They will definitely stay together until the other one, Becca, is pts. After, I hope to find Marley a more suitable, less risky home with another female rat since I know she will be super confused. I was reading about late set mc and I will definitely pass that info on to her forever home, or SARS, etc.

So here are some pictures. The woman said she is much less bloated right now, but you can definitely still see she is a little bloated. In the picture of her bum, you can see impacted stool. I also took a picture of her next to Marley so you can see the drastic difference in sizes between them. They are both 9 weeks old.

The woman said that Becca symptoms started around 4 or 5 weeks and she was the only one in the litter with it. She is usually very, very bloated. She had her on rat blocks, a high quality parrot mix and a rat mix. Ugh. I don't know what brand of lab blocks but my guess is that it wasn't a proper lab block. It doesn't sound like they were given fruits and vegetables. I have banana, vegan coconut yogurt, water, spinach, strawberries, blueberries etc and oxbow pellets ground up together for my old ratties with ****ty teeth, so I gave them some of that, and some other fruit. I don't want to feed her anything that will aggravate it.

She doesn't look terribly bloated to me??

Sheldon said:

She doesn't look terribly bloated to me??

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Apparently she is much less bloated than usual, according to the woman she is usually way more bloated. Is it usual in megacolon for the bloating to fluctuate?

Yes in the early stages. Look into the woody diet to keep her more comfortable..fibre and lab blocks are the worst thing right now...she looks like chaos who was pts at 5 months. The bloating did not show up well in pics

Poor little angel. I keep looking at her and it's so unfair, she didn't ask to be born. She didn't choose this. Humans can be so ****ty. She's looking out at me right now with her sweet little dumbo ears, it's so sad.

I am going to call around to vets today. :'(

I have an appointment for her, tomorrow at 12:30 at West Boulevard Animal Clinic.

She could have a good life for who knows how long (months ?) on the Woody Diet ....
Might be worth trying, especially since she has been in a horrible diet

If you are determined to put her to sleep, please see the following,
because most vets do not do it humanely
http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7652

Here is info on mega colon and people have written of their experiences with early and late onset
http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126
Mega colon http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/megacolon.php

Woody diet http://ratguide.com/health/figures/megacolon_figure_5.php

Woody's story http://ratguide.com/health/figures/megacolon_figure_2c.php