Zymbal's or Abscess? Heavy Heartbeat - Semi-Graphic/Yucky Photos

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tiffmarie

Junior Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2013
Messages
35
Location
Ohio
I truly hope that one of you can help me. Nimh is our oldest rat… he’s about 2

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I can't get my actual written paragraphs to show up. I've tried multiple times...what am I doing wrong? Only the first line is showing.
 
Thank you. From just losing Mr. Magoo earlier in the year suddenly (I drove to the store late at night to get coffee for in the morning and when I got home, my bf told me) and then Ferdinand dying last week, and being sick...this is all a lot to take on. But, that's how it goes when ya love rats, I suppose. These little guys sure did get the short end of the stick in life, in so many ways. We tried SO hard with Ferdinand but he just wouldn't eat. My aunt passed away years ago from the same type of illness (antibodies ate away at her cerebellum) and watching him go through such similar symptoms was twilight-zone-ish. I know Nimh is getting up there in age but he is otherwise a healthy dude and the super weight loss over the past few days, along with the speed of the lump growth leaves both my bf and I feeling helpless.
 
I guess in my heart, I've known ever since I noticed the lump and started to look around on the internet :/ The fact that it's not really a uniform shape (you can tell in my one photo pretty well...it is shaped more like a kidney bean and the part closest to his ear is the largest - it's all one piece but very oddly shaped!) and that it's not attached to the skin in any way, along with the vet saying she couldn't see any issues with his mouth (ie, no infection drainage, at least at the time, no wedged, rotting food that got infected, etc etc), speaks volumes. We can in no way afford that kind of surgery right now and from what I've read, along with his age, it looks like there's really no point anyhow? It basically sounds like it's a death sentence. Hell, I'm freaking out right now because he REFUSES to eat and he is STUBBORN. The vet even commented, in a shocked tone lol, how strong he was and she would be correct! It took two techs plus her to hold him still in order to check in his mouth. He might be thin from his weight loss (he's lost over 20% of his body weight from last Sunday to this Sunday) but he's strong as heck. So, trying to force him to eat via a syringe is next to impossible and stresses him out to a scary level...his heartbeat is already so heavy, it gets intense. I did manage to get some in his mouth (Ensure mixed with baby food) when he was willingly eating it for me earlier but I'm only talking a few small bites. I ended up basically forcing him to eat/swallow about 2mL's but that's about it. When I tried more, he refused to swallow and shook his head, getting it all over me! Little bugger, lol! I don't know what to do!
 
So sad. When animals won't eat, as far as I kmiw, either they are in pain and/or its their time to go toothy Rainbow Bridge.

It would be worth asking the more experienced people for advice, though.

Would some Metacam ease any discomfort?
 
I don't know if it's time to give up on him yet, only you will know that.
For me, once my rats stop eating, it is time for them to leave for the Rainbow Bridge. I hate watching them slowly starve. :(
 
Agreed. We have been waiting for Monday when the vet will be back in that we saw. I guess I just keep hoping the meds will start to kick in and that he'll magically be okay again. Hope can really be an amazing thing sometimes. Othertimes, it just extends pain. I wish I knew what to do. I will see what tomorrow brings and we will decide what to do then. He is essentially starving and I can't do that so I think it may be his time. Breaks my heart, my boyfriends as well. He's had a good life but it's always when death comes knockin' that I start guilt-tripping myself, questioning what I could've done better or if it was the food I made for them that could've caused this or if he thinks the reason he hurts is because I'm hurting him, since I'm having to clean his ear and feed him yucky meds and what not all the time, etc etc. I know it gets better with time but right now, it really sucks.
 
We have some injectable pain medication from Ferdinand, one of our other rats that passed away last week from something completely different (I wrote out an entire post to go along with these photos explaining it all but it refuses to show up lol grrr) so we could give him that but in all honesty, he doesn't seem to be in much pain. He's on an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory, as well as ear drops. We've also been keeping him warm since his body temp has dropped recently (last few hours). That's not a very good sign, I know :/
 
I know saying don't blame yourself is useless because I think that is just part of the process of being so close to losing a loved one....It is hard to let go because you want so badly to keep fighting for them and sometimes it works and they get better but sometimes we have to not be selfish (no matter how hard :( ) and let them go...Yes it is gonna hurt but they won't be suffering anymore. I really hope something changes between now and tomorrow but for now all you can do is be there for him and make him as comfortable as you can. Sending lots of warm,healing thoughts your way!
 
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