Mouth turning purple?? Severe dehydration?

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Never

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I always see lots of informative things here, and i was hoping maybe I could get some help with a very sudden problem with my rat, Never?? My fiance and I noticed last night that he didn't come up for food at dinnertime, so we pulled him out, and he's not looking good. At first we thought his face was covered in poop, so we gave him a wash, and noticed how dehydrated he was... he started licking the water off my fingers, and actually laid down in the water and just let me wash him, even the porphyrin from his eyes. After we got him clean we saw that its not poop around his mouth and lips - they're actually turning purple and black! I washed it as much as I could (gently!) but he didnt like me near there. Hes not opening his mouth much, but from what I can see, his teeth are still lining up properly, nothing looks broken on his front teeth, but his bottom lip (chin i guess??) is the most swollen of all, and has a big black spot right on the end! Now this morning he's having issues opening his mouth, and he's still really dehydrated. We managed to get some very soupy crushed/soaked food into him, and Ensure, but how do I get liquids into a dehydrated rat?

We explained the situation to our vet, but she still won't see him until tomorrow at 11:30, and that's pretty far away for such a little guy having such issues. He's breathing heavily, too, and sleeping comfortably in my lap, which is really unusual for him... And we separated him from his buddies last night, and its been almost a full 24 hours and he hasnt pooped at all either. I dont even see signs of urine in the paper towel in his hospital cage. I dont know what to do for him until we can see the vet tomorrow... does anyone have any advice maybe? :'(
 
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tell your vet it is an emergency and you are bringing him in now

If he is that dehydrated. he likely needs sub-Q fluids ... dehydration kills
have you pulled up the skin on the back of his neck to see if it snaps back into place? If it doesn't he is dehydrated

Is it possible that he is blue because he is not getting enough oxygen?
 
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SQ said:
tell your vet it is an emergency and you are bringing him in now

If he is that dehydrated. he likely needs sub-Q fluids ... dehydration kills
have you pulled up the skin on the back of his neck to see if it snaps back into place? If it doesn't he is dehydrated

Is it possible that he is blue because he is not getting enough oxygen?
Click to expand...

Oddly enough, it's more of a bloody-brown-bruise purplish color than straight bluish purple, like I've seen before with some of our more senior boys in the past who had oxygen issues. And it seems limited to the stretch from his nose to his chin, but his tongue (from what I can see) is a similar color. The rest of his extremities are a pretty normal pink, if a tiny bit pale.

His skin doesn't snap back quick. It sinks, slowly, and a ridge remains for about 10-15 seconds before it goes back to looking normal again. I can get him to sometimes accept water from a syringe, but since he can't open his mouth enough to actually lick at it anymore, it's a lot harder. I know he's been eating regularly all week, I was hand-feeding him treats and oxbow just Friday, so whatever happened happened friday night/saturday, and I can't think of what would happen to do that... there's no sign of major injuries or cuts or a fight, the others are all happy and healthy, it's just him. Since last night, his spine and sides are also more prominent too, would dehydration make them look skinnier?

Poor bucko just looks miserable. :( The water I've gotten into him the last few hours has perked him up considerably, he did pee though a few minutes ago, and he's walking around his cage and finding the best patches of sunlight to lay in.

Edit for Lilspaz: He might've fallen! He is a very, very lazy boy, and I have seen him (by obvious choice, not illness) slide and roll out of hammocks and baskets instead of walking. He'll roll over onto his back and use his legs to propel himself out! It's really funny to watch. There are no electrical wires near his cage, though, we keep it a good 4-6 inches from the wall, and away from all electrical outlets, strings or hanging things of any sort, and wires.
 
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SQ said:
Giving sub-Q fluids - http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5076


homemade oral mix for dehydration http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8730
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I syringed some of the oral mix into him, and it's been almost 2 hours now, and holy cow! He's perking up really fast. Fast enough that his eyes have more brightness to them, and he's exploring his little hospital cage more, shaking at the bars. Not for long, but it's more than he was doing before. His mouth still looks pretty bad, but I think that's helping with the dehydration... How often should we be giving it to him? I think we'll at least be able to hold him over until tomorrow morning. I tried calling the vet's emergency number, and no one picked up, and it didn't go to an answering machine.
 
I think if you have metacam or infant liquid ibuprofen I would start him on it for any swelling or pain in his mouth/jaw. Do you have either? If you do and have a weight on him I can work out a dose for you.
 
Okay... To update on the vet visit!

We still don't know what's going on with his mouth. The front of his bottom lip is separating from his teeth, and looks kind of yellowish. The vet gave a doxy injection, and sub-q fluids, but she said that before we handle the mouth we need to handle the respiratory issues he's having. She think that the stress from whatever injured his face brought it on, but it's severe enough that she's not comfortable doing any other kind of treatment until it's taken care of. We've been sent home with baytril and prednisone, instructed to continue giving the rehydrating formula every 4 hours at least, and to bring him back in thursday morning, or sooner if he goes south again. She also said she /could/ show us how to do sub-q fluids, but would prefer if we just syringed to avoid stressing him out, since his lungs and heart sounded pretty bad, apparently. Poor bub was feeling good enough by the end to push his head against the vet's hand for pets, at least.

Is there any suggestion for semi-liquid foods I can syringe into him? I don't want to force anything down, but he can't really open his mouth to eat, and I don't think it's safe to go all the way from Sunday to Thursday with absolutely no nourishment... As for weight, we had 5.6 ounces when I got him to sit still.
 
Baby cereal mixed with water would be ideal. It'll hydrate and give him the nutrients he needs and it's very yummy. Aw, poor little guy. Hope he feels better soon.
 
Claireybell2477 said:
Baby cereal mixed with water would be ideal. It'll hydrate and give him the nutrients he needs and it's very yummy. Aw, poor little guy. Hope he feels better soon.
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Awesome! I think we still have rice baby cereal at home. Is that the right kind, or does he need something specific?
 
Another update, and I'm going to see if I can edit the title of this thread... I just got home from work, it's only been like 4 hours, and Never is gone. I don't know when it was since both of us were away from the house, but we thought he'd be okay for just a little bit since he'd had meds and fluids so recently. Poor little bub. I wish the emergency vet had been in last night when I tried to get in touch with them.
 
I'm so sorry. You did everything you could for him and it sounds as though he was medicated well before he passed so wouldn't of been in any pain. Rest well sweet boy, you were very loved.
 
Try Ensure or Boost. Baby food (not meat because it get stuck in the syringe) can be used. You may have to dilute the baby food with water. My heart goes out to you.
 

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