Foster Baby Rats Litter question?

So I'm a little Paranoid. I buy all my rats from a breeder I am now friends with ..she trusts me a lot
She is moving with the army and her orders changed and they are moving way earlier than expected. So she asked me to take the 2 girls she had bred a couple weeks.
I had the moms from about 1 week of pregnancy (To be straight I don't bred rats I just took them til she gets settled once settled she will be back to get remaining things she cant take so fast. She will take momma and babies home then when older.... .In return I get to keep a baby from each litter if I want)

Anyway. About 2 days before her Dwarf rat gave birth (I watched her like a hawk) she started a couple sneezes. I read that the stress from pregnant can cause this . she was HUGE and She had 5 babies (1 Stillborn) and she is caring for them or I have seen her nursing I leave her be other than food and water and etc stuff to help her boost milk . BUT tonight i checked her and she is sneezing but making anotjer noise too and she is setting and drinking but I feel like itnshoukd be more but she is tiny dwarf so maybe not . she isnt her normal happy self she issued social and friendly...that I figured was normal...mom stuff.

This is her favorite Rat and I don't wanna have anything happen while in my care. And I don't want anything to happen to those babies they are important to her lines.

1. Can I medicate her while nursing? (babies are a week old Sunday) * obviously in would get her permission.
2. If I can which meds?
3. Will it hurt babies? (this cannot happen)
4. Should I take her babies and give them to the other nursing mom to foster (again with permission) .Her babies are 2 days younger (but bigger She is a standard Rat) she had 9 herself .Can she handle 13....and I don't see big milk bands I see some on certain babies is that bad?

I'm sorry I would ask her the ?s but I wanna make sure not to panic her if not needed and shes in another state and unavailable at the moment. Only available at certain times.
She trusted me with her babies and I'm just so nervous .
Oh and The other momma to the standard babies is fine no sneezing etc.

I'm just not sure if I'm osriniod because a couple of my boys have been having issues .

Her rats are in there own cages and other side of the house. Not in the room with mine.

Hopefully someone with more experience will help. You can PM lilspaz. She's taken care of several rescue litters. I don't think you can do meds on a nursing mom. But I could be wrong.

jorats said:

Hopefully someone with more experience will help. You can PM lilspaz. She's taken care of several rescue litters. I don't think you can do meds on a nursing mom. But I could be wrong.

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I had to take the babies and give them to the other mom. She started gasping. So she is on baytril and Roxy. I'm hoping its dosed right .As she is a dwarf only 87 grams

Oh poor momma. I hope she recovers well. If it's not working fast enough, ask the vet for baytril and zithromax combo.

So she is now on a combo of meds and she’s no better but worse. I also have nebulizer meds I can give. But I have a question her back feet are cold and they are like it’s hard to explain dry but leathery looking and feeling. Kinda bluish color. This happened with a girl I had months ago.

Also her area is open I figured she was in heat but her area between her bagina and anus is bulgy and if I press the area something inside moves (I can see it through the opening?) she had babies 9 days ago. Is it possible he has like a retained placenta or stillborn in there? Would that make her sick this way I mean? Gasping and breathing issues she doesn’t wanna eat or drink?
I attached a photo.

I would bring her to the vet asap!!!

I went already he gave me the nebulizer meds and told me to keep her warm and keep her nose and mouth clean and to continue the doxy and baytril. Give fluids is she won’t drink (which she basically lets run out of her mouth) and babyfood or anything like that she will eat for now.
He offered to hospitalize her but was up words of 200-300$ a day and she may not make it regardless he said and I’m outta work.
When I took her yesterday her area wasn’t like that.
She belongs to a friend of mine I’m just watching her I took her with my own money cause she was unreachable. I feel just horrible. The babies however are doing well with the foster momma.

Take her to a good vet knowledgeable and experienced in treating rats now!!
Since she has gotten worse she needs to see a vet asap
She needs different meds - perhaps azithromycin (10 mg/Ib) added to the other two,
perhaps she needs surgery, she needs to see a good rat vet now and get the proper treatment!

Otherwise, if you can not or are not going to get her the vet care she needs, it sounds like she ,at need to be humanely put to sleep by a vet who knows how to do it properly - most don't (given gas/oxygen mix used for surgery and when unconscious to at least a surgical level - vet will test reflexes - then the needle is given and rat is kept unconscious with the gas/oxygen mix until dead)

- I messaged lilspaz68 about this post so hopefully she will see it once she wakes up

I am.concerned about the gasping. Sometimes the stress of change (moving to a new place) can bring on a respiratory infection but with the swollen throat on one of your own rats and her getting so sick so fast I still think there's a virus involved which makes things a LOT trickier. If it was a retained placenta or stillborn pup the bulge would be above her vagina. An open vagina and even post-partum bleeding can be normal but sudden illness like this is not.
Lets double check your dosing for the baytril /doxy for your 87 g momma. What concentration is each antibiotic and what are you being advised to give?

http://ratguide.com/health/viruses/sda.php

please post the info lilspaz68 asked for
and you might see if your vet would add clavamox to the other two meds as good for secondary infections

lilspaz68 said:

I am.concerned about the gasping. Sometimes the stress of change (moving to a new place) can bring on a respiratory infection but with the swollen throat on one of your own rats and her getting so sick so fast I still think there's a virus involved which makes things a LOT trickier. If it was a retained placenta or stillborn pup the bulge would be above her vagina. An open vagina and even post-partum bleeding can be normal but sudden illness like this is not.
Lets double check your dosing for the baytril /doxy for your 87 g momma. What concentration is each antibiotic and what are you being advised to give?

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lilspaz68 said:

I am.concerned about the gasping. Sometimes the stress of change (moving to a new place) can bring on a respiratory infection but with the swollen throat on one of your own rats and her getting so sick so fast I still think there's a virus involved which makes things a LOT trickier. If it was a retained placenta or stillborn pup the bulge would be above her vagina. An open vagina and even post-partum bleeding can be normal but sudden illness like this is not.
Lets double check your dosing for the baytril /doxy for your 87 g momma. What concentration is each antibiotic and what are you being advised to give?

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The 2 rats came from the same breeder the One with the throat and this female. But the male with the throat is fine. The budge is gone and I'm Doing his amoxi. Just in case.

The female is on .03 baytril I'm not home right now but I think the bottle says. Baytril suspension. 10ml in the bottle.
The Doxy was 100mg and it was mixed with 4ml of syrup but its really bitter she gags on it. She gets .01 of that (like litterally a drop he said)

Unfortunately vets that work with rats are few here .He is the only one I know had worked with rats for a long time .
The nebulizer med is given 3x day and for 15 minutes at a time .Its a mix of gent/Tysolin and something else .Man does it smell strong .
I'm stuck with a friend tonight due to weather in my area and unsafe travel so I'm hoping she is doing ok at home .

What is the concentration of the baytril ... mg/ml ?? and can you get clavamox/amoxi to add to the the baytril + doxy if lilspaz68 or your vet agree

SQ said:

What is the concentration of the baytril ... mg/ml ?? and can you get clavamox/amoxi to add to the the baytril + doxy if lilspaz68 or your vet agree

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The Baytril is 22.7mg/ml He gave me 10 ml of meds

I have Clavamox/Amoxi tablets 500-125mg tablets I got them from my doctor myself a couple weeks ago cause I have chronic bronchitis and Sinusitis. Sometimes it couples with a ear infection so I often have to try multiple meds. That one didn’t work for me so I have a bunch of pills left.

Also she does have a vet appt tomorrow am with another vet. She finally did drink some last night on her own and at a little baby oatmeal

So I took her to the vet and I had her owner on the phone with the vet. She decided to hospitalized her over the weekend. They did meds and breathing treatments and she did well for a couple days .She did take a turn for the worse on Monday night anf past away over night. The vet said pneumonia.

I spoke with the owner of the 2 moms and babies i was watching for her. She didn't have all the money to repay me for the treatment she only had about half.....for the girl that past away so she gave me the babies well all but 1 she is keeping 1.... Shes taking one of the girls ( im in love with the babies but but now what money I had in my animal fund is depleted. :-( )
She will be up to pick up the other momma and babies once everyone is weaned.

I'll be making a new thread for the babies. As inhave questions regarding them. But inwanted to update

poor little girl, I am so very sorry for your loss

I'm so very sorry for your experience with that loss. It's very hard to deal with.

Thanks guys. I feel really bad cause I was just the sitter and I did my best but I feel like I failed. There mom is very upset. I think she feels bad because she lost her favorite ratty and because she told me to have the treatment done the hosp. And her bill came to almost 400$ and she couldn't pay me all the money back she didn't have it.
I had to pay it and I'm notnworking so it was my rent money which basically was cover by my taxes. :-(

Now I worry about the babies. So I'm posting again.