I think he's sick

Shop with us on Ebay
Advertise with us
Fins us on Amazon
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Good Karma

Good Karma

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
353
Location
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Hi All,

Gobo has been very lethargic since last night. He would not come out of his house. I brought him out and he did not seem himself at all. We cuddled a bit and i put him back only to see him go back to bed.

Tonight he also seems sick, i had to bring him out of his house again tonight.

He has been sneezing and there is some (not lots) red stuff around his eyes and nose.

I do want to get him to a vet but tomorrow is sunday and then its christmas eve.

What can i do if i can't get him an appointment?

Please help,

Tara
 
How old is he? Does he feel cold? How is his breathing, other than the sneezing? (Hold him up to your ear and listen for any crackling or wheezing.) Have you moved him? Changed his bedding? Is there any chance someone scared him? Is he eating normally?

Sorry for all the questions but we're better at helping if we have details.
 
What is his breathing like? Can you listen to his lungs thru the Rat Phone method? Hold his side against your ear and listen like you would a phone. Is there any crackles, gurgles, rattles or squeaks? Listen to both sides. Keep him warm, see if you can tempt him to eat and make sure he drinks. Book that vet appt. for the next available day. You can always cancel.
 
Glad to answer questions to get help.

-Gobo is about 17-18 months old.
-I did the 'rat phone' technique and i did hear something - i have never done that before so i don't know what to expect. Should i hear nothing? Not so much a squeak, kind of like and inside-sneeze?
-He does not feel cold
-I did see him eat a pea last night before i went to bed but i'm not sure if he is eating his normal amount.
-I did recently maybe thursday, put some Carefresh bedding in part of the cage and i have not used that in many months but he has been on it before.
-I think his pee smells different. He is climbing on me now and there is definitely an odor i am not used to.
 
Strong urine smell could be a UTI (urinary tract infection)..needs abs. Or could be him not drinking enough.

You could bed him down on white paper towels and look for blood in his urine. Its rather painful so they hunker down and don't move much.

You need to mark his waterbottle and be very aware of his food, to see if he's eating and drinking okay. Try to tempt him with yummy things to see how well he is or isn't feeling.

An inside sneeze? Only one side of the lungs?
 
An inside sneeze? Only one side of the lungs?
Click to expand...
Hard to describe the sound coming from inside of him. Like a sniffing inside his body. I can't tell if its on one side or the other.
He is out in the play area now and seems a bit perkier which is good.
I will make sure he eats and drinks.
 
Keep an eye on him and hopefully he'll continue to improve. I'm kind of stumped on what to guess what is/was wrong with him.

I don't like Carefresh, I find it too dusty. Even though he's been on it before maybe this time Gobo thinks so too. If he keeps sneezing I would probably take it out. Stinky pee and poop can sometimes be something simple, as Shelagh suggested maybe he was dehydrated or maybe it was a food he wasn't used to.

If you can get your hands on some liquid echinachea give him one or 2 drops a day on a little piece of bread - every day for a week. You can give it to your other guys too. It helps to boost their immune system.

Does anyone know if we can give rats cranberries?
 
cranberries and semi-sweetened cranberry juice are awesome for the urinary tract, but won't actually help a UTI. Its just a preventative. :)

I found myself and the rats sneezed when I tried carefresh. I prefer a good aspen or fabric (fleece) myself. I would switch him to the paper towels to see about the urine and see if his sneezing clears up as well. You are just using it to test whats wrong.
 
Have you checked for a plug? That does have an odour.

Do you hear a whoosh when you listen to his lungs? Look at his sides, if they are heaving then he'd need a vet.

I really hate it when it's the holidays. I'm in the same boat, vet closes at noon on monday and that's it until Thursday. :(
 
Does the sound from his lungs sound raspy. I know when Lily breaths she is louder then the other two but it's clear lungs. You can just hear air going through her lungs.
 
Gobo seemed better yesterday but i took him to the vet anyway.
the vet didn't seem to know too much about rats unfortunately but they were the only one's i could get an appointment with.
She prescribed some Baytril after listening to his lungs. .15ml twice/day for 7 days. Hopefully this will work and he will be all better!
 
*Sigh*... baytril is good, 7 days is not long enough. Minumum course for URI should be 2 weeks.
Click to expand...
Really? Shoot...

Where do you guys get your meds? I remember reading in your 'what's in your first aid kit' that everyone seems to have meds.

Would i be able to purchace Baytril somewhere online?
 
You should be getting all of your medications from a vet. If he seems to be getting better within the 7 days, I would suggest going back to the vet and requesting atleast another 7 days worth of Baytril.

The minimum accepted course for antibiotics is 2 weeks [14days], though my own vet suggests treating atleast a week after all symptoms have stopped.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top