PLEASE HELP! Lethargic, not eating, etc. :(

Hello guys.. Im freaking out. My baby Frosty is lethargic. He's only about 7 months old. I do believe he has myco and this could be an infection. Yesterday, he seemed tired and just pretty lazy. Well, tonight he is barely moving at all. He will not eat or drink. We are thinking of force feeding? But I'm not sure if that will be better or worse for him. We called the normal vet and they don't have a freaking available spot for 3 weeks! So we called the local vet and the soonest they could see him is a week!!! Are you kidding me?! All we have is a couple year old amoxicillin for humans as far as antibiotics. I don't wanna lose my baby. I've been cuddling him and crying because I'm so scared. He still bruxes when we pet him. We did remove him from the cage with his brothers in case it's contagious. He has polyphorin around his nose and one eye. He will move his head and just adjust how he's laying, that's it. I have no idea what to do right now and I'm in panic mode. His breathing also sounds congested. He's not open mouth breathing or gasping for air though. He's not doing good at all.. :'(

Quick update: we left him alone to rest and he's in a different position in the cage, so he's moving a little bit. Not a whole lot. He still hasn't ate anything. He knew I came in and checked on him but he didn't move or anything.

Every time I check on him and he's still alive is a relief.

You really do need to get Frosty seen by a veterinarian. That way the vet can determine what is wrong and prescribe the most appropriate medication(s). If you want to send me a private message, I'll be glad to see if I can help you find a veterinarian who is knowledgeable about pet rats in your area. Otherwise, you're also welcome to check out my page on various pet rat veterinarian directories.

Removing him from his cage won't help with contagious viruses, they have all been exposed, so u might as well put him back to familiar cage and friends.

Keep trying for the vet. Is the amoxi in pill or capsule form?

It's in a pill form, I believe. I would have to check.

I live in Michigan. I'm willing to drive to get my boy to a vet. I am checking those listings. Our vet called us back and said they could get him in Monday. But I feel that's a long ways away.

They kept running over him when he was in there with them. My rats are a hyper bunch. [emoji24] So I don't know if I should've kept him in there?

I've been checking on him every hour. Such an exhausting night. He did move his head to look at me when I walked in a few minutes ago but no major improvements :/

What do his lungs sound like when you rat phone him (method of holding rat in 2 hands and holding sides to your ear to listen for lung sounds)
Find out what mg your amoxi is, and a estimate of his weight.

His lungs sound a bit congested. Not EVERY breath he takes sounds bad but every few breaths sound congested. If that makes sense.

He weighs about a pound maybe a tiny bit less. I'll check the mg of the amoxi.

If I can at least get him through until Monday when the appointment is, that would be amazing.

It's 875mg D;

omgolivia123 said:

It's 875mg D;

Click to expand...

How much does he weigh?

He weighs about a pound.

Vets take emergencies.
Call the vet who knows how to treat rats and tell them it is an emergency and he needs to see a vet today, and you are bringing him in. Rats get sick and die fast so there isn't time to wait.

If he isn't able to eat or drink he may also be dehydrated, dehydration kills
(When you see a vet, get them to show you how to give sub-Q fluids and sell you what you will need to do it)
http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5076
Test for dehydration by pulling up on the skin on the back of his neck and see if it snaps back into place. If it doesn't, he is likely dehydrated.

When you get to see a vet, you may want to ask for antibiotics baytril + azithromycin (10 mg/Ib, usually by vet's prescription from a pharmacy), to be given orally, twice a day, for at least 6 weeks if it helps.
He may also need Lasix to remove fluid from his lungs for awhile ... but this will increase the risk of dehydration

Hopefully Lilspaz68 is helping you to figure out the amoxi

We ran him up and I told them "Look, he's going to die if you don't help" and luckily they were nice enough.

He's on antibiotics now. It's an infection he has. They said he's doing really bad but hopefully he can pull through. They gave is syringes to give him his medicine and told us to give him water and such so he doesn't dehydrate. He went from okay to horrible over night. He's still holding on. Hopefully the antibiotics kick butt because I don't wanna lose my baby.

They told us that there's hope but because of how quickly he went down, we cannot be sure.

I will keep you guys updated.

I'm so glad you got him in. Our thoughts are with you and your little boy...

If his brothers keep trompling over him - I would remove him so he can rest. If he is indeed that lethargic / ill, he won't miss them at all. They are probably keeping him from resting.

My best to you & your baby boy.

We are keeping them separated. The other boys seem concerned. But frosty just seems like he's trying to get better. We have them close so they can see each other but not together. This way when he gets better, hopefully, he can access food and water without any hassle.

It didn't help my feelings any when they said they couldn't be sure he will recover because of how badly he went down hill and all we can do is keep doing this and hope for the best.

They want us come back in in a few weeks (given all goes well) so they can run some more tests and see what's all going on inside and look at his lungs and such. They didn't want to do it today because he's not doing well at all and it's not like "needed" in emergency cases.

They did apologize for not taking me seriously that he needs to be in now until I just showed up.

They aren't trying to hurt your feelings, but rather to prepare you in case your little boy doesn't recover. Sometimes people think that medicine works miracles. And sometimes it does. But ultimately it is up to your rattie's strength and immune system to win the battle. I hope he is strong enough to pull through. The good care you have given him thus far will help immensely.
Fingers and toes crossed for his speedy recovery.

Yeah, I know. He's a strong boy and he's a little fighter. But I could imagine this is taking a lot out of him. Fingers crossed though. <3

Last night, I went with my gut feeling to syringe water him. They told me that was a good thing to do because we kept him not dehydrated. Thank goodness.

If you syringe fluids into him, make sure you do it into the side of his mouth so that it does not go into his lungs

If you post his weight, the meds, their strength (mg/ml) and the dose, we can check to make sure he is getting the right amount.
It takes a few days for antibiotics to make a difference .... I hope he makes it

Yeah they showed us there and we were doing it right.

Thank you all. [emoji173]&#65039;[emoji173]&#65039;