Nick not well and in need of good thoughts

[Debbie]

I SWEAR, when it rains it pours at our house! No sooner did we get Phoebe all better and back with her pals, we have another rattie crisis. :sad3:

Sadly, both of our dear new lab rat boys have heart issues. It's really no surprise, since they had apparently been injected with drugs at the lab. :rant:

Our vet found a serious heart condition with Benny. But thankfully, he's on Enalapril and Doxy and doing just fine now.

A couple of weeks ago, his brother Nick started to act ill (he checked out fine when we first brought him home). He too was diagnosed with heart issue. He seemed to be doing well on Enalapril and Doxy, but took a sudden turn for the worst last night. We added Lasix, Baytril, nebulizer treatments and warm fluids. After speaking with our vet, this is pretty much all we can do. We have a warm water bottle next to him and he seems comfortable, though wet and congested. He wasn't eating anything, but has licked up some A/D and Ensure this afternoon. We are just keeping our fingers crossed right now.

Sadly, several of these beautiful lab boys are all having issues. I've talked with others who have adopted them. One has already passed, two others were very ill (but still with them). So I'm just hoping we can pull Nick out of this.

These boys are only 6-8 months old. :sad3:

 

[jorats]

Oh god... that's just so sad... it's like those rats were not meant to live long. My mom had two lab rats as well, both died quite young too. :sad3:

 

[mamarat]

Oh no, sending healing vibes to your sweetie. :hugs:

 

[LA]

:hugs: Healing thoughts here

 

[Debbie]

I'm trying to be hopeful that Nick will pull out of this. When they first arrived, it was Ben who was not doing well. He was thinner than Nick too. But Benny is actually thriving now and put on 50grams. Nick on the other hand has lost some over the last few days and now he's thinner than Ben.

Whatever this is (which is also causing heart issues), the symptoms have been literally the same with all who have been affected from that group. Rattly nose sounds, wet and congested lungs, heart issues, lethargic behavior, they feel cold and pale, lack of appetite and weight loss. But Ben pulled out of this, and I'm still not giving up on Nicky.

He is much the same this morning, but did seem to have a little bit of fight to him, when I syringed his meds (he won't take them in food right now). So I am taking that as a good sign.

 

[lindsayfawn]

Hope he's feeling better soon!

 

[Debbie]

I'm happy to say that Nick seems to be rallying! It's been a long weekend and he's been pretty much laid across a warm water bottle the whole time. But the meds, nebulizer treatments and Ensure/AD mix has helped. He wasn't eating, more than a few licks, but this morning, he was happily munching on a lab block. He's feeling warm again too. He greeted me at the cage door this morning too. :joy:

He still sounds all snorky and rattly, but he's definitely feeling better. We'll keep up the medications and such...and hopefully he'll make a full recovery.

 

[mamarat]

That's fantastic news. :joy:

 

[Dahlas]

Great news Debbie...give Nick a cuddle from me.

 

[jorats]

Go Nick Go! :cheer: