Jack - not sure what's wrong

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Ktina

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
420
Location
Oakdale, MN
Yesterday, Jack was fine and now today there's something wrong. It's hard to explain but I'll try my best. I offered him a piece of a blueberry muffin this morning and he wouldn't take it. So I picked him up to check him out and I found that he is pretty cold. He's also very lethargic.

I tried putting him on the floor to see if he could walk and he seemed to walk normal. Then, when I put him back in his cage he wouldn't move and when he did it was weird. He like stretched out kind of crawling with his front feet and then just layed there sprawled out. He doesn't fight when I hold him on his back (he never really did, but if I kept them a while he's squirm a bit). When in the cage he also looked like his head was tilted a bit, but when outside the cage it's fine.

I haven't changed or given them anything new. He's been healthy other than occasional respiratory issues. His first birthday is today (I almost missed it! I did the calculations just now to find out and record when everyone's birthday's were and his and Nodin's turned up today!) so he's not even that old. What do you think's wrong with him?
 
I'd get him to the vet today, sounds suspicious of an ear infection or maybe worse considering it may be he is showing neuro problems since he doesn't want to walk and it not responding correctly.
 
possibly a stroke or inner ear infection...definitely sounds neurological to me. Luckily the same treatment for those 2 as well as PT...abs and steroid.

Cold is worriesome...I found Mattie couldn't regulate her temp very well after her stroke.

Is it all over coolness, or just tail and hind feet or ?

Can he grasp things? does he seem weaker on one side than the other
 
His whole body is cold. I'm not sure if he can grasp things as he hasn't been taking food from me.

I just picked him up and found his stomach wet with pee. So he's just laying there and urinating. Sigh. I don't think I can get him into the vet until tomarrow, though.
 
Hmm I'm really confused. I checked on him again and he's acting completely normal. He's not as cold as he was earlier, and I offered him a muffin again and he took it and was fighting with his cagemates for it and actually moving around.

I have an appointment for him in an hour, but if he's acting normal again do you think I should still bring him in or what? What would cause him to be sick one moment and normal the next?
 
Alright, just got back from the vet (geesh, office visits went up to $77, yikes!). There really wasn't anything noticably wrong with him, besides the fact that he was cold and a bit dehydrated. We have him on Ditrim now and they gave him some fluids.

Hopefully what's ever wrong will clear up.
 
I've noticed a few of mine will have an off day like that, it scares the crap out of me but if it continues then I put them on meds. Ditrim should help if he's got some sort of infection.
 
Hmm I'm really confused. I checked on him again and he's acting completely normal. He's not as cold as he was earlier, and I offered him a muffin again and he took it and was fighting with his cagemates for it and actually moving around.

I have an appointment for him in an hour, but if he's acting normal again do you think I should still bring him in or what? What would cause him to be sick one moment and normal the next?

Maybe he had a seizure?

I had a similar experience with my rat Ginger only 2 weeks ago. I found him in the morning really lethargic. I rushed him off to the vet and by the time I got there, about 1.5 hours later, he was pretty much normal. The vet couldn't work out what was wrong.

That afternoon, when at home, I saw him have what looked to be a seizure. After the seizure he was really flat and lethargic and slept the rest of the day. I took him to a different vet the following morning. By this time Ginger was normal again. This vet noticed that his left ears was sore. She swabbed his ear and looked at it under a microscope and there was a lot of yeast & staphylococcus in that ear. Ginger was put on ear drops and he’s been fine since. I personally think the infected ear may have caused the seizure.

Dewi
 
Thanks for the advice. He's still lethargic but he is better. He even greedily grabbed a treat from me. :) But when I picked him up he had urine all over his underside so I cleaned him up (which he was not happy about and fully peed all over me while I was holding him upside down :roll: ). So hopefully he'll start to improve more.
 
Did you or your vet check him for a penis plug? Some male rats [mostly older since they can't properly groom, but sometimes it can happen when younger] develop a waxy plug on their penis. I know of one case where the male kept peeing on himself, and that's what tipped the owner off to check. The plugs can be painful, which would explain his posture and lethargy, too. If the plug sits too long, an infection can develop, and you would see swelling and possibly redness around his manbits. Might be worth a look see.
 
I did check for a penis plug yesterday and didn't find one. And my vet was checking around that area so I don't think that's it.
 
Once my Jersy was feeling off like that and he would even squeak when picked up. My vet could feel he had an enlarged spleen. He was put on Baytril and it helped him a lot. His spleen was back to normal after 2 weeks.
So it could be something internal.
 
My vet did feel around his tummy and couldn't feel anything abnormal but he saaid that didn't mean he didn't have something wrong (like kidneys) so he said that if the meds don't work I should bring him back in for blood work.

He does seem to be improving, though. When I offered their nightly fresh food dish he went and stole some noodles. :)
 
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