Neuro boy at PetSmart...SAFE & HOME

[lilspaz68]

Yay! I'm so glad you guys have him now. Have you started meds yet?

As soon as I get my hands on him. On the GO bus now.

 

[TheHermit]

Just some Ibuprofen until Shelagh has him. also *he IS tucked away in crew room. :3

 

[SterlingRats0408]

I have a Petsmart baby that had this and she was vet checked and they concluded it was from actual physical abuse of being sqeezed or dropped and therefore Neuro damage. She's almost a 10 months now and doing great! (Smooshy) just kept her in a 1 level cage with a quiet older girl until she learned her limitations and balance.
He does look more tilted then she was. She was more twitchy and unbalanced then titled and her head swung back often.
Poor babies they wait a minimum 48 hrs of symptoms before they will take them to the vet and that was when I was there pushing to get care ASAP. So if no one was there to push then they won't.

He is beautiful though and I am so glad someone saw him and his need!

 

[jotayma]

Im new to this site and i love love it!!! Im so sorry about jax! But ill be thinking of him. So glad he has you![emoji1]

 

[TheHermit]

I have a Petsmart baby that had this and she was vet checked and they concluded it was from actual physical abuse of being sqeezed or dropped and therefore Neuro damage. She's almost a 10 months now and doing great! (Smooshy) just kept her in a 1 level cage with a quiet older girl until she learned her limitations and balance.
He does look more tilted then she was. She was more twitchy and unbalanced then titled and her head swung back often.
Poor babies they wait a minimum 48 hrs of symptoms before they will take them to the vet and that was when I was there pushing to get care ASAP. So if no one was there to push then they won't.

Not to deviate from the topic at hand, but I have a rant coming on. TLDR: the Barrie store is hell, don't read the details if you don't want to get mad.

I was hired at the PetSmart store in Oakville and given a totally skewed view of how the company is. At that store, everyone cared. My manager heard me out about anything I had to say - when I brought up that all the rats should go as pairs or make sure they have a cagemate waiting for them, she told everyone else in the department and enforced it. If every PetCare manager was like Kinga, PetSmart would be a decent place. Unspoken rules of her department: 1) all animals receive total care, no biases allowed; 2) no customer goes home with an animal without first being thoroughly educated on its species; 3) it is not only your right but your duty to say no if a customer refuses to meet the care requirements for their desired pet; 4) ANY animal requiring medical care sees a vet asap, no waiting.

Then I transferred to Barrie and met the opposite end of the spectrum. Their freezer was a circle of hell (full of... you know). No one EVER spot cleaned enclosures so everyone lived in filth, the rats were kept in the hamster habitats, no one talked about animal care with customers (it was all "oh, a guinea pig? OK go pick one and I'll get a box") and never did an animal go to the vet. OH, plenty passed away unnecessarily in the "sick room" but the ONLY time, EVER, SERIOUSLY, that they took an animal to the vet was to put down a hamster with a tumor. Oh, but the vet pushed on the tumor and guess what?

It was food. In the hamsters cheek.

I would do the opening shift and find bone dry bottles and empty dishes. It's supposed to be policy to check and refill food and water for each animal opening AND close. The worst happened one day - one guinea pig passed overnight and it's only cage mate ate some of him. They're herbivores. He was dehydrated.

I tried really hard to implement changes but no one wanted to listen. I managed to get them to keep the rats in the large enclosures (where, by P&P, they're supposed to be!), to spot clean and even had to have go at the spa (they BLEEPING CUT MY DOG!) before I quit.

I'm surprised they even thought to message me. It is scary to think that if I hadn't fought with them about the basic care of the animals, or even been there at all, Jax would still be there.

 

[lilspaz68]

I have a Petsmart baby that had this and she was vet checked and they concluded it was from actual physical abuse of being sqeezed or dropped and therefore Neuro damage. She's almost a 10 months now and doing great! (Smooshy) just kept her in a 1 level cage with a quiet older girl until she learned her limitations and balance.
He does look more tilted then she was. She was more twitchy and unbalanced then titled and her head swung back often.
Poor babies they wait a minimum 48 hrs of symptoms before they will take them to the vet and that was when I was there pushing to get care ASAP. So if no one was there to push then they won't.

He is beautiful though and I am so glad someone saw him and his need!

If your girl has never been medicated you might want to just in case she has a low grade inner ear infection. They are very persistent

I am uploading a video of sweet little tilty Jax now. He's had his oral meds and I am letting him check out his new cage. I am hoping the infection and dizziness will go and he will adapt like many tilties before him but he's got a long ways to go :/

 

[SterlingRats0408]

I had mid ranged response at my store. They already followed open & close P&P because it was a paperwork first store so inspections were done thoroughly for that but sadly not to benefit the animals only management.
My pc manager tried really hard to push what she could control to the next level but you didn't wanna step on the SM or Ops M toes or they'd find reason to crush yours.

And she was given meds any way when I had her assessed just to be safe. She necer really improved. Just learned to move around with her limitations. It was a while ago I got her.

 

[jorats]

He's a lucky boy now.

 

[Joanne]

Having issues with the video, won't load and run right now.

I'm glad he's finally under your wing and getting some medical care. I hope he responds to treatment.

 

[lilspaz68]

Having issues with the video, won't load and run right now.

I'm glad he's finally under your wing and getting some medical care. I hope he responds to treatment.

Photobucket is particularly laggy tonight, but if you can get it started, just hit pause and let it buffer...then it should run through fine

I have a waterbottle hung very low and he just keeps drinking and drinking. I gave him mushy lab blocks and he's eaten those happily as well. I tried a sputnik but it was a no go...we went back to the same stacking Dollarama house that Mama 1 (Kailan) had in his cage that he was happy with, and he's fine again.

 

[Joanne]

Hearing he has a good appetite is the best news!

 

[lilspaz68]

So far Bean and Laury quite like the little man, or maybe Bean just likes the hammock in his cage LOL He's able to get in and out of his cage onto the bed himself...but when stressed will fall off of everything.

He's taking his meds really really well, which can often be a crazy challenge with rolling tilties...you never want to restrain or stop them from rolling as it only makes them worse, but you have to time it for when they pause a moment and get the meds in quick...it can be a feat LOL

I think he trusts me a lot more than he did, as he calms down quicker and stops rolling and bracing on me, to do things. He loves pats, just don't touch the down side of his face as it must be quite sore now.

Poor Jax, rolling, rolling and rolling

He kinda stopped for a minute so I gently held him down and still to see if it helped...

It did.

Pushing back at my hand to brace himself.

A bit of slanted grooming

and a bit of resting...

 

[crumbilina]

:heart:

He seems like such a sweet boy. I hope when he recovers that he still will be

 

[Joanne]

He's got very neat markings! I hope the world stops spinning soon for him.

 

[lilspaz68]

and here is Jax on his own, very tilty but much more agile and NO rolling. He really likes hanging out in the cat carrier.

 

[Sheldon]

Poor baby boy he is sooo tilty! Super cute though and he looks happy. I have a tilty girl that gets along fine. She is the housekeeper of my group of 7.

 

[lilspaz68]

I pulled out Jax for his morning meds and he did REALLY well, not one spin or roll or squirm. He is lying on his back crooked, but I put a little in his mouth, and he swallows over and over until its gone. What a gooood boy!!

Last night old Laury must've climbed into his cage again, and this morning I caught them sleeping together.

 

[UhHuhHer]

It's so good to see that he got a good home and is doing well. I've been avoiding this post a little, I have to admit, because I was worried it would end badly. But he looks like such a sweet little guy and he looks so happy to have a new home and friends.

(P.S. That last sleeping picture would make me a nervous wreck if he lived with me.)

 

[TheHermit]

(P.S. That last sleeping picture would make me a nervous wreck if he lived with me.)

Me too, I would have to gently poke him to make sure.
So sweet of Laury - cuddle buddies are 100% necessary!

 

[Joanne]

What a great update! I'm so glad Jax is responding to the medications. And that he has a snuggle buddy.