Please help,possible case of PT

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M

Mishka

Guest
Hello everybody,i am new to this place and to be honest i made an account out of desperation cause i don't know what is going on with my beloved pet.
The thing is i have a 10 months old female rat and she was fine like e week ago,then i saw that she started to lose balance a little bit but only when she is climbing,and she became very lethargic and not her self in general.She stopped using her front legs,doesn't climb anymore,but still enjoys going out of her cage,and she doesn't look disoriented.She used to be very hyper active and curious never the quiet type,and of course i took her to the best clinic in my country and probably the only place where somebody accepts to treat "exotic pets".The vet gave my baytril and some painkillers,they said that is probably lack of proper nutrients and if i give her vitamins and the baytril she should become better.She is on the baytril for 5 days now and there is almost no result what so ever,not getting worse but not getting a lot better either,she did start to drink water again,but still doesn't use her front legs to pick up food.
Please can you give me your opinions on what to do....i am very very desperateat the moment.
I live in a very very small country in Europe where there is not vets that actually know a lot about pet rats,and i keep reading around the web and the only thing that comes in mind with those "symptoms"and such is PT....
 
Unfortunately it sounds like a PT to me. I have had multiple cases of PT/inner ear infection and none of them have survived. That being said, inner ear infections cause the same symptoms and are quite aggressive so it’s entirely possible that that’s what your girl has. At her age, it’s more likely that it’s an infection. I would definitely stay on the Baytril for at least a few more weeks and also add either doxycycline or amoxicillin along with the Baytril and pain meds so it has a better chance of treating it. Inner ear infections can take a month or more to treat so don’t get too discouraged if it doesn’t go away immediately! Not using the front paws to eat is a sign of PT, but this could also be from the lack of balance.
 
Luna&Ralph said:
Oh and good luck with your girl! I’m hoping for a good outcome!
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Thank you so much for the reply,well i know that inner ear infection should make her head tilt or something like that,but her head is fine by now so as much as i don't like to admit it it's probably PT and it's so sad to watch her like this,when she used to be so full of life and joy.
 
PT does sometimes come along with a head tilt too but it’s usually less noticeable I believe, also I believe that the head tilt gets worse when the infection is worse. Another sign of PT is when the rat lifts their head up when you try to pet it, pushing against your hand. You can try this and see what happens, but if course it’s possible that she did that before this happened. I have also read that rats with an inner ear infection stay active and act as normally as possible but with PT they are slower and more confused with dull eyes. Is she still eating solids? That would be a positive sign.
 
It is so awful to deal with things like this, it’s one of the only bad things about having rats. I have also read about some medications that can help quality of life if it is a PT. I know that prednisone can be fairly good but there are a few other drugs that can give them some extra time of quality life. I can’t remember the names of them, but do some looking around on forums and you’ll likely find them.
 
Luna&Ralph said:
Cabergoline or bromocriptine! Those were the names! I believe they’re the same drug but one is easier/cheaper to get in certain places
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You are so helpful thank you so much,it's so hard here cause no one really care about small pets in my country and i feel so alone dealing with all of this even my parents are like "you will get a new one" cause rats are cheap and stuff...but that's not the case she is a living breathing little creature that needs help..
And yes she does eat solid food,a little bit slower than before but she have an appetite in general and she even started to get up a little bit and drink water from the water thing in the cage.She kin of presses her head when i stroke her on top but when i stroke on the side she is tilting her head,here is a picture of my baby and how she looks now.
 

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Oh she’s gorgeous! In my experience, my rats have not really been able to stand up on their hind legs like that when they’re that sick, and most of them stopped eating solid foods. Does she just sit in her food bowl to eat or prop her head up to eat without her paws? If they can eat with one paw still, that’s a good sign. I don’t want to give you too much hope if she’s really sick, but she’s so young to have a PT, not that it’s impossible. Whether you think it’s a PT or not though, keep going with antibiotics just in case. Another possibility is that she had a stroke. I’m not sure if not using their front paws is a common sign, but rats can improve from strokes and she seems to be doing fairly well right now. How long has she had symptoms for?
 
Luna&Ralph said:
Oh she’s gorgeous! In my experience, my rats have not really been able to stand up on their hind legs like that when they’re that sick, and most of them stopped eating solid foods. Does she just sit in her food bowl to eat or prop her head up to eat without her paws? If they can eat with one paw still, that’s a good sign. I don’t want to give you too much hope if she’s really sick, but she’s so young to have a PT, not that it’s impossible. Whether you think it’s a PT or not though, keep going with antibiotics just in case. Another possibility is that she had a stroke. I’m not sure if not using their front paws is a common sign, but rats can improve from strokes and she seems to be doing fairly well right now. How long has she had symptoms for?
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I am taking her to another vet on Friday just to get a second opinion,well she is like that for almost a week now,but she is a bit better after the baytril,still not her self but there is an improvement.When i give her like soft foods she just prop her head,but when i give her more solid food she tent to kind of press them with her paws and eat.She does groom her self a little bit rarely then before but still does.She used to lick me a lot,but she hasn't done it since she got sick. And when i put her on the bed to raom around she always goes to the edge of the bed and kind of wants to jump off,something she didn't do before that.
 
A second opinion is a great idea. Improvement is great but the annoying thing is that PT can go back and forth too. Behaviour changes are a sign of PT but I've had ear infections and they're so painful! I can see her acting like that out of pain too. A vet will hopefully give you more insight but might not be able to tell you for sure unless you can pay for x-rays to check for ear infection. Not paying attention to edges of furniture is another sign of PT, so if she actually falls off a lot it could be a PT, but if she's aware that your bed has an edge that's great. One of my rats who had what I am fairly positive was an ear infection recently was sick and on antibiotics for 3 weeks and seemed to be getting better until I believe he had a stroke and died a few days later, but generally my rats with undiagnosed PT/ear infection were on antibiotics with no improvement for 2 weeks before going downhill. For PT, steroids like prednisone are important. For an inner ear infection, make sure the vet gives you either prednisone, which they might not do because steroids can weaken the immune system, or an anti-inflammatory like metacam and enough antibiotics to treat an ear infection for at least a month, ideally Baytril and something else. I'm not sure if those are drug names or brand names so you might have to find the drug names in your country online before going so they know what you're talking about. If they don't give you anything for pain, you can use children's Motrin or some other form of liquid ibuprofen and that will help prevent strokes which can be an issue with ear infection. I totally understand if you are afraid to be assertive with your vet but maybe you could print out or show them these pages and it might help convince them:
http://ratguide.com/health/neoplasia/pituitary_tumor.php
http://ratguide.com/health/auricle_ear/otitis_media_otitis_interna_labyrinthitis.php
What kind of pain medication is she on right now? If she's on some type of steroid, that can cause improvement with PT.
 
At 10 months PT is pretty much unheard of. Inner ear infection, stroke or sadly a real brain tumour are possibilities though. Can you get us a video of how she moves and/or eats?
Also lets double-check her baytril dose because if she's being underdosed then she won't improve. So I will need her weight, and the concentration of the baytril (mg/ml or %) , how much you are supposed to be giving her and for how long? Industry standard is 10 mg/kg but 15 mg/kg is more effective.
 
All the symptoms and everything i read about PT kind of match what's going on with my pet,but at the same time she is not getting any worse,and i saw that without medication PT usually work quick especially when it starts to show,and she's been like that for almost a week now,how long did your rats lived with the PT?Sorry for asking i am just desperate.I lost my first rat few months ago and a little bit before that i lost my dog,she was 13 when she died and now one of my pets probably have a tumor and my other rat have URI and is on the baytril as well...i don't know what's going on anymore.
 
lilspaz68 said:
At 10 months PT is pretty much unheard of. Inner ear infection, stroke or sadly a real brain tumour are possibilities though. Can you get us a video of how she moves and/or eats?
Also lets double-check her baytril dose because if she's being underdosed then she won't improve. So I will need her weight, and the concentration of the baytril (mg/ml or %) , how much you are supposed to be giving her and for how long? Industry standard is 10 mg/kg but 15 mg/kg is more effective.
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Okay so i will take a video when she wakes up cause she is sleeping now and i feel bad waking her up,as far as the baytril goes,it's 1.5 percent and i give her 0.1ml every 12 hours,that's what my vet told me to do.She weights a little bit less than 200 gram,but i feel like she lost some more weight lately as well.
 
It seems like all the pets suddenly get sick at once, but you'll get through this! Most of my rats with this lived around 2-3 weeks with it because I always held out hope that it was an ear infection and I'm not sure which it was in the end. Keep treating with antibiotics for now just in case.
 
Luna&Ralph said:
It seems like all the pets suddenly get sick at once, but you'll get through this! Most of my rats with this lived around 2-3 weeks with it because I always held out hope that it was an ear infection and I'm not sure which it was in the end. Keep treating with antibiotics for now just in case.
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Yes i will,and i hope that the new vet will have a proper diagnosis for her
 
Also if you're not already, supplement her hard food with something easy to eat like her food soaked in warm water, some high calorie and protein baby food, or some soy baby formula
 
1.5% not 2.5%?

1.5% is 15 mg/ml, using 200 grams and using recommended dosage of 15 mg/kg her dose should be 0.2 ml BID (twice a day). Usually it takes about 4-5 days to see any improvement, and a treatment course should be the very very bare minimum of 2 weeks with 3-4 weeks being preferable.
So she doesnt seem dizzy or moving slowly and more "flatter on the ground" than before? No smelly ears or head tilt? Have you checked he teeth to see if they are even across on the top of the incisor?
Does
 

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