Losing a rat? Help..

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Heading to the vet now. Wish us luck.. And I would like another opinion on Venus.. I was debating having her pts.. She is a feeder and has pretty bad genes so I'm a bit lost.. Our income is low right now and if this is going to happen every month we can't afford it.
 
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Ok she's hurting. Hence the not grooming/fur disheveled. Can she walk normally? Is she holding one high leg up? Is there any swelling? First thing to do is help with any inflammation/swelling/pain and go from there. She could have an injury to her back/spinal cord down to her feet (video didn't help figure that out). If you have Metacam/meloxicam that would be ideal but if not you could give infant liquid ibuprofen or in a pinch I could help you with mixing and dosing from a 200 mg ibuprofen tablet.
 
Okay so Venus is still in pain she has metacam and another medication that helped the last time. Her feet are swollen but she is moving around to get food and water. They did some X-rays that showed she might have a bone infection.. She isn't grooming properly still so I'll have to do that soon. She is on all fleece for her feet and no shelves. I'm still debating having her PTS if she doesn't improve soon. She's already lived longer then she was going to and we've fought many things with her to I wouldn't feel like I didn't try..
 
It sure looks like she wants to live. If she's eating with so much gusto it's a really good sign. Is she on antibiotics? That would presumably be crucial if she has a bone infection - perhaps both oral and topical antibiotics.
I've rescued feeder rats who have overcome significant health problems to live good long lives (in ratty terms). May the same be true for dear little Venus.
 
Lise Patterson said:
It sure looks like she wants to live. If she's eating with so much gusto it's a really good sign. Is she on antibiotics? That would presumably be crucial if she has a bone infection - perhaps both oral and topical antibiotics.
I've rescued feeder rats who have overcome significant health problems to live good long lives (in ratty terms). May the same be true for dear little Venus.
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She is on an antibiotic and we are going to start putting a cream-like thing on her feet. She is such a sweetheart so I didn't mind her being a spaghetti theif. (She only got a few though.!) I thought I'd give her some peas because I was eating jellybeans and she wanted them so I figured it was the closest thing.!
 
So.. She just bit me.. Didn't draw blood but it was pretty hard. I wonder if her foot got caught on my clothing and she bit as a reaction..? She was IN my shirt when it happened so I don't know what happened.. Any thoughts?

EDIT: She seems to be in a slight panic now.. What do I do ...?
 
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I'm not sure she's going to make it through the night.. After the panic she did a strange thing with her breathing now its shallow and shes sleeping.. I really hope its not the end but if it is thank you all for the help.. I'll let you know tomorrow if she made it or not
 
Swelling of feet can be all sorts of things, from bad sprains, to bacterial infections, to being a symptom of congestive heart failure.

If it's an infection in the joints you are going to have to use an antibiotic that works on anaerobic bacteria. A cream for the feet won't do much of anything.
Can I double check her dose of Metacam? Is the concentration 1.5 mg/ml or 0.5 mg/ml? I'll guess she weighs about 350 grams? How much were you told to.give? Let's give her at least some comfort and go from there.
 
Yay! Some foot/ankle problems can be very painful and may heal slowly, but I'm glad you're sticking with the treatments. She looks pretty young & that should work in her favour. It's also good that the pain doesn't stop her from sleeping...sleep may be her best friend right now. She seems so sweet...fingers crossed.
 

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