Hard swollen abdomen?

[fenshae]

Yeah...watching him like a hawk and gonna take him in Monday as planned if there's anymore funny business.

Also making a mental note about those soy nuts 0.0

 

[mamarat]

So glad he's doing better.

 

[Zooy]

Glad he's feeling better!

 

[lilspaz68]

Still doing fine?

 

[fenshae]

Yep. Felt him up this morning :giggle: and totally fine and chipper.

Now we've learned a valuable lesson about letting Einstein get too close to the snack bag....

 

[Dazzle87]

Wow, what a relief! Glad he is okay. It's amazing after seeing those pictures to hear that he is back to normal. They really do know how to scare us sometimes!

 

[fenshae]

And here's some pictures of Mr. Squishy himself. Einstein is going to give me a heart attack, I swear to god. Between the escaping, the barbering, and now this...oy vey. No wonder his old owners didn't want to bring him to Germany :giggle:

Sorry for the blurry, he was not cooperating and I think the batteries are dying, my digital zoom doesn't seem to work as well on old batteries. But hey, now you can see how tiny he is!

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

I'm glad he's back to normal! :dance:

 

[mamarat]

He looks great!

 

[Littlefizz]

Hey, I wanted to bump this thread up sorry i know its really old but its exactly the problem I'm having with my rat Xander right now. I've been looking online everywhere and nothing sounds quite like it like this thread does. I noticed a week ago that Xander had the sniffles and needed medication, my vet is in courtice and I'm in Toronto, so I had to wait until this weekend to come and pick them up. But a few days ago i noticed he was feeling a bit thin in his back area but everything else was fine, he was sleeping a little more than usually and looked a little off. Last night I tried to give him some avocado and he didn't want it... He obviously doesn't feel well if he doesn't want avocado. So on the train i was cuddling with him and realized that his stomach feels really hard, and his left side is much more pronounced. looks a lot like the pics that were posted in this thread. I bought him "little tummys" Gas relief drops for babies? I read that it would be fine to give to him, I'm going to give him some canned pumpkin in case its poop so he can pass it, and I got pediatric electrolytes to keep him hydrated. I'm really worried now about him, the vets not open now and wont be until monday... This thread made me feel a little more hopeful that I'll wake up tomorrow and he will be better but does anyone have any thoughts on what i can do to help him? Do you think the little tummys is a good idea or bad? I just want him to hang in until monday

 

[jorats]

How old is Xander? Did he eat a whole lot of something? Hopefully it's just gas and not anything worse.

 

[Littlefizz]

Hes a year and... roughly 7 months. he hasn't been fed anything that he wouldn't normally get. He did eat a rather large chunk of avocado but I didn't think that would cause gas. I really hope it's just gas is the simethicone fine to give him even if it ends up not being gas or could it make it worse?

 

[Littlefizz]

I had him on a heating pad thing and was massaging him a bit and he pooped a little. It wasn't a totally normal looking poop. It was really light in colour and seemed dry. Im feeding him canned pumpkin now. Im really hoping he is just backed up and filled with gas

 

[jorats]

I personally wouldn't give any gassy meds, I'm not familiar with it but hopefully he'll feel better real soon with the pumpkin and if you can get gatorade or pedialyte.

 

[Littlefizz]

I had him at the vet today, its a tumor

 

[fenshae]

Sorry to hear that, Fizz I've lost a couple of rats to those sudden abdominal tumors. It's so crappy because they seem to just pop up out of nowhere/overnight. :hugs:

 

[mamarat]

I'm so sorry.

 

[Littlefizz]

They called today and said they could do an exploratory surgery, but i have to sign a euthanasia consent forum before they do. Im really at a loss of what to do, i don't want him to get cut open and then put down. But i don't want to just have him pts when there's a slight chance the surgery could work. I only have one other middle aged rat and she would be devastated without him. What would you guys do if he was your rat? The lump is already just slightly smaller than a golf ball, and he's losing weight so i don't know how much time he has left.

 

[mamarat]

That is such a hard decision. I would opt for the surgery if he was mine though, it seems like his only chance. Sending lots of luck to your sweetie.

 

[Littlefizz]

Well I opted to do the surgery and brought him in this morning. Unfortunately my vet examined him and said he would rather not do the surgery, he said it feels like the lump might be attached to one or two lobes of his liver. He said if it was one of his rats he would let them live as comfortably as possible until it was time to say good bye I'm completely devastated but happy to know I'm doing whats best for my little guy. He's still enjoying his favorite treats and running around having fun in free roam, so I know he's still got a little time left to enjoy life. Thank you everyone for your help and input.