anonymous2024
New Member
Hi there, so I own two male rats, one has just recently turned a year old in may. However, towards the end of may (to be exact, the 23rd) He began acting strange, loss of balance, head jerking, not holding food, lethargy, etc. I took him to the vet the next day and they gave me critical care and baytrill, he seemed to be improving, but after getting off the baytrill, he wasn't improving anymore, we took him back and got his teeth trimmed (he had some hooks on his molars) and we were given metacam (which he's still on)
We decided to take him to another vet a few weeks ago, got a blood test and x-ray and the only thing that came back was slight dehydration, his x-rays looked great. So we pretty much decided it was a PT. However, The head jerking is going away and is only when he's being stubborn with his critical care now. His personality hasn't changed and he's actually even more energetic (although with his motion problems its not really working out for him) and feels like he's gaining weight and muscle back.
He's been to the vet several times now and I finally put him on doxycycline and after that he just... regressed?? Now he's falling to one side, and favoring the other but before it seemed like he was actually doing ok but could be better? I'm at a loss at this point. I don't want to say its because he's reaching the end, because he's still motivated to eat, is efficiently grooming himself; albeit having trouble, but he gets the job done. He's even drinking. He's not drooling and he isn't dehydrated. I just wanted a few other people's opinions as I am a first time rat owner. Thank you.
We decided to take him to another vet a few weeks ago, got a blood test and x-ray and the only thing that came back was slight dehydration, his x-rays looked great. So we pretty much decided it was a PT. However, The head jerking is going away and is only when he's being stubborn with his critical care now. His personality hasn't changed and he's actually even more energetic (although with his motion problems its not really working out for him) and feels like he's gaining weight and muscle back.
He's been to the vet several times now and I finally put him on doxycycline and after that he just... regressed?? Now he's falling to one side, and favoring the other but before it seemed like he was actually doing ok but could be better? I'm at a loss at this point. I don't want to say its because he's reaching the end, because he's still motivated to eat, is efficiently grooming himself; albeit having trouble, but he gets the job done. He's even drinking. He's not drooling and he isn't dehydrated. I just wanted a few other people's opinions as I am a first time rat owner. Thank you.