Fungal infection in the lungs or tumor growth?

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ratlets

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Joined
May 27, 2008
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Which is more common/more likely to be the case in a two year old female rat with a history of raspy-sounding lungs (since she was a baby, pretty much), and more recently a history of rapid/labored breathing?

THe vet said Bandit's breathing had a "rubbing" sound... like pleurisy. X-rays show hardly any "air space" in Bandit's lungs. Some patches look nodular, like growths. One whole spot looks like it could be a tumor... maybe a little smaller than a dime in size... not round, but oval-shaped.

Bandit has lost at least 60 grams recently, and has also had a bit of a personality change- going from wimpy to curious/interested/kissy.

Treatment plan (assigned by the vet) at the moment is nebulizing (I need to check to see which med I have for the nebulizer) and Sporanox. If there is no change in a few days, we will switch.

So, I'm just curious. Which is more common, etc?

Thanks!
 
It sounds like COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) which can also be lung abscesses...Jo's vet found a lot of this during necro's on her respiratory rats.

Because they are abscesses the abs rarely work and they take up a lot of room so there is less room for air :(
 
My mom said the xrays would look significantly different if it was COPD vs growths/fungus. I haven't chatted to my vet, just yet, but I will be asking her about it asap.
 
Two of my girls have respiratory infections that are not responding completely to abs. I was concerned that it might be their hearts, so my vet did an X-ray. The hearts are OK, but each of them had very obvious lung problems. One might be an abscess. They didn't respond to Baytril/Clavamox, they are a little better with Baytril/Zithro, but I may have to try Chlorpalm. I am going to ask my vet about Pred.

I had been scared off doing preventative nebulizing, but I am reconsidering now. If I can find a way to get enough nebulized Baytril into my young rats, without letting them get overheated or too frightened, I will start doing it. Perhaps more holes in the nebulizing chamber, or just short bursts (<1 minute) of nebulizing at a time?

It is too heartbreaking to think you're medicating appropriately and then to discover that your rats have pretty serious lung damage. My poor Penny and Georgie will not last as long as their sisters. And maybe their sisters are on the way to the same problems.
 
Took Bandit back in today. No change with the nebulizing or sporanox. She lost 40g in a week, and doesn't like the taste of the high-cal. She's very wimpy and cautious about trying new things, so it's hard trying to fatten her up. Going to try harder now, though.

Got a shot of dex today to see if it does any good. We are almost certain it's growths in her lungs.
 
Regarding nebulizing, Godmother, it really doesn't have to be a traumatizing experience for anyone involved. As soon as I lerned about nebulizing and it's benefits, I set one up in the room with the girls. i ran it for 5-10min every day [just On, not doing anything] and slowly moved it closer and closer to their cage. By the end of week 1, they couldn't care less about the noise from it. During that time I also popped them into the nebulizing box to get them used to that, and eventually had them in there while the machine was running. No one freaked out. If anything, they were bored.

Fortunately, I haven't needed to actually use it for administering medications. I haven't heard of cases of rats overheating from responsible home use of a nebulizer, though.
 
Whenever I've nebulized I always put paper towels and hid unsalted sunflower seeds under. My rats are so busy looking for them they forget to be scared. lol
 
My vet has recommended just having the cup facing the cage as opposed to putting them in a container. I know that when I used to nebulize, my son had to leave the room because the whole room would get full of Baytril and he'd get a huge asthma attack. So basically all the rats in the room would get the benefit.
 
I could live with the idea of putting the cup facing the cage or with gradually getting them used to it. Then there wouldn't be any ratties huddled in a corner trying frantically to get out. SQ's rats looked like they were desperate for air; reminded me of accounts of concentration camps, and I just couldn't do it again.

If some Baytril got into the air and I breathed it, probably wouldn't do me any harm!
 
I remember once, my vet asked me to leave the room when I did the nebulilzing. It's not made for humans so it's not a good idea to be around. I looked at her dumbfounded... I told her, heck, maybe that's why I hadn't had a cold in over a year. LOL
Since I've stopped nebulizing, I've been sick enough times. :shock:
 

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