Peanut - PT - very sad update :'(

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mamarat2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Messages
1,385
Location
Gaithersburg, Maryland
Been keeping an eye on Peanutbutter these last few days as she has been getting very quiet. She seemed pretty lethargic last night but with her hind end failing and her age and no apparent emergency I opted not to take her to the vet today. When I got home from work I checked on her and she is in her cube with one of her neutered men, gave everyone treats specifically to see if she could hold her treat with both paws, nope. Also noticed she has a lot of porphyrin coming from her nose, she has been on metacam the last two days, very low dose, in case her arthritis was acting up but I am switching her to pred tonight to see if we can get some of the inflammation to go down. I thought about taking her in to the vet but I know my vet will tell me to start her on pred and see, so I will be calling the vet tonight for a conversation about it. Last dose of metacam was given last night in the pm so the pred will be coming to her soon. She may be doing the push back thing to, with her front feet, was watching her groom and she was doing that in between nose wipes.

Now I need to go do some math and weigh her and get the right dosage, need to find my calculator. I'm really hoping the pred will at least help for a few days since we're just noticing stuff and maybe caught it early.

Jen
 
Oh, I'm so sorry about your Peanut...I just hate PT! It so hard to see them go downhill and you can't really do anything about it except hope it will slow the progress down a bit. You're both in my thoughts and prayers. :heart:
 
I've seen a PT that was cruel, the kid full of energy trying to run and only able to go in circles and falling over more & more frequently, and a PT that was rather kind, the kid was off-kilter but could still run and hold things pretty well til the end and passed with no trauma.
If your PeanutButter is failing from age I hope that if she has a PT too it's one that helps her not realize she's losing abilities.
I so wish they could tell us what they're feeling but sometimes we can only read their contentment level.. I hope whatevers going on with your girl treats her gently.
 
For me PT is a sad but bittersweet thing. I think its much worse for the owner than the rat herself, since they always seem confused and out of it. I only had one really bad experience with PT, Maya when she developed a resp. infection on top of it all. I sat up all night with her so she wasn't alone and then ran her to the vet to be pts the next morning. She seized in my hands at midnight and I was praying for another one to end her suffering. of couse that didn't happen. :roll:

The others either succumbed in days, or were treated with dexamethasone, baytril and lots of love. Some of these quietly passed at home with me. I dozed on the bed when I knew it was time, had them in the plastic base of a carrier cage lined with fleece. One girl wouldn't settle and rest unless my hand was touching her. They all passed quietly these girls.

good luck Peanut, I am hoping the steroids give you the same reprieve that my sweet Ariel got. :heart: Hugs to you Jen, I know you are worrying. :(
 
Awww, you guys are such great ratty moms and dads. That's what I love about everyone here. :heart:

[/end emotional moment]
 
Checked on Peanut this morning and found her at the water bottle drinking, which is good because yesterday whenever I looked at her she wasn't coming out of her cube. Added baytril to the pred in case it is an ear infection. She got her second dose of pred this morning so hoping for a little improvement when I get home tonight.

Jen
 
Another quick update, Peanut seems to be responding well to her pred!! Yay!! Has been on it twice a day since last Wednesday I beleive. When we first put her on it she didn't appear to have any use of her front paws to hold food and was very lethargic with lots of porphyrin discharge from the nose, now she can hold her food with one paw, while balancing the food on her other paw......and no more discharge along with being a bit more active.

Jen
 
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