Help with pneumonia treatment!

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grayson02

New Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2023
Messages
1
Location
Rockford Il
My 2 year old rat Pinto was recently found to have pneumonia. We took him to his regular vet a month ago and he was put on doxycycline and baytril for 2 weeks and we saw no improvement. We took him to another vet 2 weeks ago and after an x-ray and a shot of dexamethasone we were sent home with clavamox for suspected pneumonia. We’ve been nebulizing along with the antibiotics with saline and dexamethasone. After the first week of his new meds he wasn’t breathing as heavily and was eating more. Now a week after that he’s breathing hard again, not eating much and has a rattling sound with breathing. His abdomen is sunken in and I’m concerned we should try something else. The vet said he needs another 2 weeks of clavamox and to continue nebulizing with steroids but I’m concerned that his meds are not working. I would’ve thought that if he improved for a few days and went downhill again, maybe he should try a new course of meds? I am worried he won’t make it in these next 2 weeks with his heavy breathing and I know it’s exhausting for him to not be able to breath. I’d just like to know if this medication might just need some more time to work for him or if we need to explore other treatments. Thank you for your help!
 

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I'm sorry noone responded to this, especially as it's critical. If he is still alive I would recommend relieving him of his distress. He is in severe respiratory distress and should be humanely euthanized immediately. Idk why your vet did not realize the seriousness of the situation. He has lung damage from long term URIs that went untreated and it's absolutely in his best interests to let him be released from his pain and suffering. I'm sorry.

Mike|
 
I agree with Mike even though I know how much this hurts. I've been here ... lord have I been here. It's awful. But the distress is so great I had to put my girl down, I couldn't see her suffer anymore.

I highly recommend looking into how they euthanize a rat, though. It stressed me out too know how they did it, so I learned a simpler way to do it at home that isn't distressing at all for them, by slowly increasing carbon dioxide in a container filled with their favorite things. Slowly is the key word though. The first time I had to do it, I was worried about suffering and I screwed it up. If you don't feel confident doing this technique I highly recommend just going with the vet.
 
Carbon dioxide is a very cruel way to euthanize any one.The gas stimulates the drive to breathe so that the animal suffers distress from that increased drive to breathe. Perhaps you meant carbon monoxide which is an entirely different chemical agent.
 
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