Help with my rat that's moving weirdly

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thomfromBR

Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2022
Messages
10
Location
Brazil
Hello, about three days ago my pet rat has been having trouble walking. At first I thought it was a sprain and that his leg was just inflammated, but as days passed by I became more and more worried. The vet came by today and gave some anti inflamatory medicine, but I'm beginning to suspect that it might be something else. He's also been having a lot of secretion (porphyrin) around his right eye and nose, which I assumed at first it was because of the pain/discomfort and due to the fact that he's been unable to stand on his back legs to clean himself with his hands. Also he can't sit and whenever he jumps or makes more agile moves he just kinda falls over to his side.
The vet has done a checkup on him and told me to reintroduce antibiotics on him to counter any infection he might be having due to the porphyrin increase. But I'm worried it might be something else.
He still wants to move around, is drinking water and has been eating (a little bit less). But he seems kinda lethargic (which at first I also thought he was just having trouble sleeping due to the pain). I'll attach a video of his that I sent to the vet, don't mind the portuguese as I'm from Brazil.
I'm quite frankly a bit worried and freaked out, but I'm trying to keep my calm. Any help will be appreciated.
Edit: He doesn't complain about pain, and he's been sleeping on his left side all these days for some reason as well
 

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The slight head tilt makes me think ear infection. If it was worse I'd think maybe a stroke. Keep up the antibiotics and if it doesn't help I'd ask for a different course of treatment
 
Thank you for answering, I did a more careful checkup yesterday (after I stopped freaking out ofc) and I gathered a few things:
a. He has strength on his left side and his lower body is working properly. His tail as he walks also works normally after he wakes up (not dragging on the ground)
b. It's as if he just can't support himself on his left leg, which causes the loss of balance.
c. It's worse just after he wakes up (the video in question was the case), but as he begins moving around movement improves drastically
He napped on my bed yesterday and I think he had quite the rest, he has appetite, is drinking water and is even behaving as he usually does (he wanted to climb the damn bed haha). The porphyrin excess has also pretty much vanished from two AB dosages. He is two years old, and regarding weight loss he is still with an okay weight, 330g (he was with 350g before). It's just that I looked around the internet and I haven't found out anything and as an hypochondriac I began freaking out
 
As a fellow hypochondriac I understand completely. That is quite the strange situation and I've never personally dealt with this, could he have arthritis in that leg? Or perhaps just being stiff from old age? The head tilt really made me think something along the lines of an ear infection but I'm a bit stumped
 
Hello, I went for another opinion of a vet and his guess is that an bacterial infection on his right eye (that had a lot of secretion before starting the AB) and was swollen went for his brain and is compressing it, thus his imbalance is neurological. I didn't even notice the swollen eye, and since the infection would be on his right lobe if it went up from his right eye, it checks out as the right side controls the left side of the body.
He was honest and said that his chances weren't great, but we're gonna keep him on AB and a medication based on Piracetam to improove blood flow to the brain to mitigate the cognitive effects. The AB will probably kick in full gear today or tomorrow and the Piracetam probably around tuesday. He has apetite and thirst, but hasn't peed or pooped yesterday nor today.
Thank for the responses people, we're doing what we can here and hopefully his tenacity will translate to a good recovery.
 
thomfromBR said:
Hello, I went for another opinion of a vet and his guess is that an bacterial infection on his right eye (that had a lot of secretion before starting the AB) and was swollen went for his brain and is compressing it, thus his imbalance is neurological. I didn't even notice the swollen eye, and since the infection would be on his right lobe if it went up from his right eye, it checks out as the right side controls the left side of the body.
He was honest and said that his chances weren't great, but we're gonna keep him on AB and a medication based on Piracetam to improove blood flow to the brain to mitigate the cognitive effects. The AB will probably kick in full gear today or tomorrow and the Piracetam probably around tuesday. He has apetite and thirst, but hasn't peed or pooped yesterday nor today.
Thank for the responses people, we're doing what we can here and hopefully his tenacity will translate to a good recovery.
Click to expand...
Ah that's not an ideal situation at all, I truly hope he makes it through
 
Hey y'all who answered, he passed away today. I got home just as my mom who was helping me take care of him saw he draw his last breath. He probably died from consequences of Mycoplasma, although he was fighting two infections, the little warrior. Thanks for everyone who answered, I will give him a proper burial tomorrow
 

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