My rat is depressed! What should I do to cheer him up?

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Rattieratty

Rattieratty

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May 23, 2014
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(I'm new to the forum so sorry if I do something wrong but I need help asap)
One of my rattie boys became depressed after his cagemate died. He was his best friend, that rat raised him up since he was 5weeks old. + now he has bumblefoot and 2 days ago he had a really painful trip to the vet ( He got an injection into his foot, he nearly fainted away a few times) since then, he's like a zombie. He doesn't clean himself, and he doesn't even stand on his 4 legs. Just laying in the cage like a toy. If I pick him up he doesn't care he's just sleeping all day or laying with his eyes opened. He has an other cagemate, but he's not a very good friend of him. They are ok with each other, the little one loves to clean him and sleep with him but he just doesn't care.. It's really sad and I don't know what to do about it. :( 3 days ago I had 3 rats, now I have one and a half..
 
Rattieratty said:
(I'm new to the forum so sorry if I do something wrong but I need help asap)
One of my rattie boys became depressed after his cagemate died. He was his best friend, that rat raised him up since he was 5weeks old. + now he has bumblefoot and 2 days ago he had a really painful trip to the vet ( He got an injection into his foot, he nearly fainted away a few times) since then, he's like a zombie. He doesn't clean himself, and he doesn't even stand on his 4 legs. Just laying in the cage like a toy. If I pick him up he doesn't care he's just sleeping all day or laying with his eyes opened. He has an other cagemate, but he's not a very good friend of him. They are ok with each other, the little one loves to clean him and sleep with him but he just doesn't care.. It's really sad and I don't know what to do about it. :( 3 days ago I had 3 rats, now I have one and a half..
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How old is he? Is he eating and drinking?
 
dspch911 said:
How old is he? Is he eating and drinking?
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1,5. he's only eating if I put it in his mouth. we were at the vet an hour ago and there is no problem with him at all, only that his temperature is low so he had infusion and we hope that he will recover soon. If he's not recovering, they will take a blood sample to see if there's a problem with his liver or kidneys.. it might be his liver because he's a pretty big boy and he was eating all the time but since his friend passed away he didn't eat too much..

now we fed him some babyfood from a syringe, he was happy with it. He will get some oxbow carnivor care mixed with baby food and immunovet later. He will get his nuggets this way too. hope he will get better soon and it's not his liver.
 
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Can he hold food in his paws? It almost sounds like your describing PT or possibly a stroke. Is your vet an exotic vet?
 
dspch911 said:
Can he hold food in his paws? It almost sounds like your describing PT or possibly a stroke. Is your vet an exotic vet?
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no he can't really hold anything in his paws. He can't sit on his hind legs. I have to feed him liquid food. Yes, they are. They are the vets of the Budapestzoo (I'm from Hungary) too and the woman who usually examine my rats is an expert on rodents. They are one of the bests in Hungary.
He can move his legs and can crawl very slowly but he's really weak.
I've just fed him and he ate a lot from the oxbow mix that I gave him. Maybe that's a good sign..
 
Rattieratty said:
no he can't really hold anything in his paws. He can't sit on his hind legs. I have to feed him liquid food. Yes, they are. They are the vets of the Budapestzoo (I'm from Hungary) too and the woman who usually examine my rats is an expert on rodents. They are one of the bests in Hungary.
He can move his legs and can crawl very slowly but he's really weak.
I've just fed him and he ate a lot from the oxbow mix that I gave him. Maybe that's a good sign..
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It definitely sounds like your boy has PT classic sign in unable to hold anything in front paws. I currently have my second rat going through it. My first rat with PT I thought was just depressed too. This is my current boy with PT's thread http://www.ratshackforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29880
 
Rattieratty said:
I'm sorry but I don't really know what a PT is.. :S
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Pituitary Tumor in the brain. I edited my last response with my boy's thread. Its dreadful and my sorry that it seems you will be going through it. Your also going to have to clean his penis plugs since they cannot clean themselves
 
dspch911 said:
Pituitary Tumor in the brain. I edited my last response with my boy's thread. Its dreadful and my sorry that it seems you will be going through it. Your also going to have to clean his penis plugs since they cannot clean themselves
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noo.. I don't want this.. what can I do for him? Is there any cure for PT? My other rat died from a tumon in his belly.. I don't want this to happen again.. Would it be better to ask the vet for some painkillers? Is there any cure for this?
 
Do you know what they injected him with in the foot? It almost sounds like his lethargy might be linked to that?
His other symptoms could suggest pituitary tumour. I think for now, I'd make sure he eats and drinks and keep him warm. He might be reacting to the injection.
 
jorats said:
Do you know what they injected him with in the foot? It almost sounds like his lethargy might be linked to that?
His other symptoms could suggest pituitary tumour. I think for now, I'd make sure he eats and drinks and keep him warm. He might be reacting to the injection.
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He's foot is recovering nicely. His weight caused it. It was some steroids as I remember but we've asked if it can cause soemthing like this but the answer was no..
I asked around some people about this PT and it fits on him perfectly. I'll take him to a vet who treated several rats with PT (A friend of mine told me to take him to this vet. She owns a rat who has PT for 6mounths now and she's perfectly fine with medicines) in the morning. Now he's in his carrier. I've put some warm waterbottles next to him. Fingers crossed.
 
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Rattieratty said:
He's foot is recovering nicely. His weight caused it. It was some steroids as I remember but we've asked if it can cause soemthing like this but the answer was no..
I asked around some people about this PT and it fits on him perfectly. I'll take him to a vet who treated several rats with PT (A friend of mine told me to take him to this vet. She owns a rat who has PT for 6mounths now and she's perfectly fine with medicines) in the morning. Now he's in his carrier. I've put some warm waterbottles next to him. Fingers crossed.
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I have heard good thing about the bromo and dex. It is working for our boy and he is mobile now and using his hands and feeding himself. We do however, still have to give him syringe feedings and SQ fluids. If you can, try your best not to let him lose weight, they lose it fast. My boy lost over 200 grams within weeks. I too have heard of rats surviving 6 months once on the proper medications. Best of luck to your rattie - keep us posted. It took my boy about 2 weeks to respond, but we got the dex late the sooner you can get it the better it is for them.
 
I'm nut sure if he will survive till morning.. He started mouth breathing. I made him to inhale moisturized air so he stopped it but his breathing is irregular. Sometimes he stops breathing for a few secs..
 
He started breathing normally again (mostly) but he's making sounds like the uri or myco sounds. It's scary. I'll try some more inhallation. 6 hours till we can visit the vet..
 
:heart:
Thank you all for your support!

He started mouth breathing again..
if he will survive till the vet, they can keep him in for a few days until he will recover enough to come home.
If he would die now, I don't think that I'd be able to own rats anymore.. It's so hard to see them suffer.. I can't take this.. I had numerous pets before, but none of them was as affectionate and loveble than this little guys.. :'(
 
Poor baby!
Are there ANY ER vets nearby that specialize in rats?
Try calling a random ER vet and ask if there is an emergency clinic that deals with rats nearby.
 
The one I'll go to is the only one I can go to with PT. There's a rat expert who threated rats with this tipe of tumor succesfully. I can only go there at 11:30. Now it's 6:45 here. She will examine him out of turn.
 
He's in hospital in an incubator, he will get infusion 3 times a day and he will get Galastop to treat the tumor. :) He won't get home until he can walk and eat at least liquid food. :)
:joy:
He's in good hands now, this vet really really knows what she's doing. :) She talked about the rats she treated and there were some who lived more than 1,5 years after the diagnosis. She owned some rats with PT too and they all lived at least half a year with PT and this medicine.
:toothy1: I'm so happy now. (and tired.. I was up all :sleepy:)
 

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