lystelle
Active Member
my 1.5 year old male rat puffin has recently been very greasy. i thought at first maybe i needed to clean better, but his brother moose is doing just fine. he grooms lots, and has been looking ruffled and very greasy for the last two months. i knew this was something really different for him when i gave him a bath last week and he was incredibly greasy and unkempt looking only two days later in a freshly cleaned cage. this grease got so bad that he actually developed a small sebaceous cyst on his back, which has never happened with him before because he's usually so clean. i removed it as i have with prior rats (sterile lance and gently squeezed out the sebum), and it's just a scab now, no lump. that's not really the issue, it was just a surprising sign of how greasy he's been.
on top of this, puffin has been seemingly less alert and seems sluggish. he responds well to food, but he seems like he's stuck in that sleepy state that a lot of older males show when they first wake up- except here it's pretty much all the time. his eyes seem narrowed a lot, more than usual (he's ruby-eyed so he naturally squints sometimes). he loves being pet and being held, but i really do feel like he's so sluggish all the time. he's been showing increased nesting behavior sometimes, like ripping up cage items and pushing them around restlessly like he seems uncomfy with his space.
puffin has always been prone to a bit of a red porphyrin nose upon waking, but it was minor and he never seemed ill. now he's having it excessively. nothing from his eyes, but his nose almost looks like he had a bit of a nosebleed sometimes. he's sleeping almost all day in the same spot, and will cuddle with moose but overall seems less interested in anything but sleeping and eating. his stools look normal and by the skin-pinch test he seems a little dehydrated, even though i try to offer him lots of water-rich vegetables to help. i'm not sure if it's just my mind playing tricks on me, but i feel like either he's gotten lighter or his brother has gotten heavier and makes him feel that way in comparison when i hold him. he's currently 600g/1.3lbs but feels a bit.... hollow? his skin seems to sag a bit between his limbs? his appearance doesn't really match his numerical weight it seems.
since 10 months ago, puffin seems to choke on foods easily. things that his brother can handle, he'll choke on immediately. he's had more than a few sessions of choking on a food he ate too quickly for hours (sticking tongue out, drooling but breathing okay etc) and i can't tell if it's happening more often now. the way he eats, however, is still normal and he's not showing any signs of failure to grasp food or holding it in only one paw at all. he hasn't fallen clumsily outside of a couple instances of him climbing outside the critter nation door to jump on my bed and slipping (something that doesn't strike me as unusual for him or his brother).
it wasn't until tonight that i was looking at photos on my phone and realized how much he's changed since two months ago. he was more bright eyed and well groomed in october, noticeably so. i just get a feeling in my heart that he's not feeling his best, knowing how he normally is. after thinking about this, i started checking him for any signs of any illnesses and i can't find anything pressing like abdominal breathing, blown pupils. or scabbing from ticks anywhere. it FEELS like he's just under the weather, like it's maybe a small infection like a UTI or an ear infection, but i dont see any red flags for those specific things either. no head tilt, no walking in circles, no lung/chest noises. he carries his tail high and walks normally, even if he doesnt run much. the only thing i took away from the extensive health check i did just now is that he does indeed seem to be doing the 'head bumping' that i hear about with PT. even though i havent kept track, i feel like he's been doing this behavior since he was younger, so i dont know if it's actually new and PT related.
i'm thinking about trying some easy ways to narrow it down, like ibuprofen for pain and children's benadyrl for inflammation- and see if he seems to feel better. then i was thinking of starting him on amoxicillin, then doxy, and then baytril if i see no improvement. if all else fails or he starts showing neurological damage like walking funny, i'm having him taken to the vet, but i'm stuck between feeling like i'm overanalyzing this or if i'm right and he's got PT. the symptoms are scaring me. is it possible that PT can develop over 10 months (i thought it killed a rat faster?) or could this be something else that just feels like PT?
i know this post is long, but i wanted to give as much detail as i could for time's sake. any advice would be much appreciated.
-lystelle
on top of this, puffin has been seemingly less alert and seems sluggish. he responds well to food, but he seems like he's stuck in that sleepy state that a lot of older males show when they first wake up- except here it's pretty much all the time. his eyes seem narrowed a lot, more than usual (he's ruby-eyed so he naturally squints sometimes). he loves being pet and being held, but i really do feel like he's so sluggish all the time. he's been showing increased nesting behavior sometimes, like ripping up cage items and pushing them around restlessly like he seems uncomfy with his space.
puffin has always been prone to a bit of a red porphyrin nose upon waking, but it was minor and he never seemed ill. now he's having it excessively. nothing from his eyes, but his nose almost looks like he had a bit of a nosebleed sometimes. he's sleeping almost all day in the same spot, and will cuddle with moose but overall seems less interested in anything but sleeping and eating. his stools look normal and by the skin-pinch test he seems a little dehydrated, even though i try to offer him lots of water-rich vegetables to help. i'm not sure if it's just my mind playing tricks on me, but i feel like either he's gotten lighter or his brother has gotten heavier and makes him feel that way in comparison when i hold him. he's currently 600g/1.3lbs but feels a bit.... hollow? his skin seems to sag a bit between his limbs? his appearance doesn't really match his numerical weight it seems.
since 10 months ago, puffin seems to choke on foods easily. things that his brother can handle, he'll choke on immediately. he's had more than a few sessions of choking on a food he ate too quickly for hours (sticking tongue out, drooling but breathing okay etc) and i can't tell if it's happening more often now. the way he eats, however, is still normal and he's not showing any signs of failure to grasp food or holding it in only one paw at all. he hasn't fallen clumsily outside of a couple instances of him climbing outside the critter nation door to jump on my bed and slipping (something that doesn't strike me as unusual for him or his brother).
it wasn't until tonight that i was looking at photos on my phone and realized how much he's changed since two months ago. he was more bright eyed and well groomed in october, noticeably so. i just get a feeling in my heart that he's not feeling his best, knowing how he normally is. after thinking about this, i started checking him for any signs of any illnesses and i can't find anything pressing like abdominal breathing, blown pupils. or scabbing from ticks anywhere. it FEELS like he's just under the weather, like it's maybe a small infection like a UTI or an ear infection, but i dont see any red flags for those specific things either. no head tilt, no walking in circles, no lung/chest noises. he carries his tail high and walks normally, even if he doesnt run much. the only thing i took away from the extensive health check i did just now is that he does indeed seem to be doing the 'head bumping' that i hear about with PT. even though i havent kept track, i feel like he's been doing this behavior since he was younger, so i dont know if it's actually new and PT related.
i'm thinking about trying some easy ways to narrow it down, like ibuprofen for pain and children's benadyrl for inflammation- and see if he seems to feel better. then i was thinking of starting him on amoxicillin, then doxy, and then baytril if i see no improvement. if all else fails or he starts showing neurological damage like walking funny, i'm having him taken to the vet, but i'm stuck between feeling like i'm overanalyzing this or if i'm right and he's got PT. the symptoms are scaring me. is it possible that PT can develop over 10 months (i thought it killed a rat faster?) or could this be something else that just feels like PT?
i know this post is long, but i wanted to give as much detail as i could for time's sake. any advice would be much appreciated.
-lystelle