Please keep Sylvia, Dabbers and Sweetness in your thoughts

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Sweetness has been doing really well on her steroids. She's a lot older than she used to be, but I will still have her around for a bit. Hopefully her original owner will stop by sometime soon and get to see her again.

Sylvia responds well to the lasix, but it wears off quickly. She hates needles, and is not happy that I am giving her fluids and injections daily. We've switched her antibiotic to an injection so I don't have to worry about her aspirating her meds again.

Dabbers has calmed down as I've calmed down. I think her freakouts were a response to my stress, so I've been trying to keep myself calmer. She is within the last few days of her life, her lungs are just too scared and abcessed after being sick nearly her entire life. She's still happy though, so I'll keep working with her as long as she is happy.

Its been a rough few days.
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Sylvia is still holding steady with her Lasix. She's exploring and having a good time. She has come to like hammocks and is curling up next to me to sleep :). Very different from her usual on her own attitude.

The vet gave me enough lasix that I could try it out on Dabbers, and she looks a lot better! She is still very obviously near the end of her life, but she is breathing so much easier. She knows her time is about up, she's been very attached to me. I will miss her dearly, she is very special. She freaked out for the first injection yesterday, but hopefully she will calm down about them. If not, I will stop them. Her being happy is far more important than her being healthy. Without the lasix I would have put her down today, everything is about keeping her happy.

Sweetness is responding really well to steriods, you would never even guess she's anything but an old rat right now. I'm hoping to have awhile with her yet.

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I had Dabbers put to sleep today. Its been rough with her recently. She's been very, very sick for 16 months, all her sisters have long since passed away (they had the same thing). She just keeps fighting, so I have kept fighting for her. She has nearly died so many times that I've lost count. It reached a point where I couldn't let her keep going. She was so scared to die, and refused to pass. She has been really really sick, lost over 90% of the usage of her lungs. The last few days walking 5 feet would wear her out and take an hour to recover from. She still kept fighting and refusing to die. She got so close that her eyes went clear (she's a pew with red eyes) but she fought and came back to life.

I couldn't take her to the vet, she freaks out about things, and I didn't want that to be how it ended. She wasn't freaked out at home, just couldn't breath anymore. I couldn't watch her die like that though, she should have gone a long time ago. Today I had the vet give me a sedative to give her at home, both of us hoped that would be enough to have her pass, but no, she fought that too. I took her in and had her put to sleep. She was so sick she died the moment the drugs hit her heart, she couldn't fight that too. Over 3/4 of the dose was redundant, I've never seen them go that fast. The vet was amazed she could use her lungs at all (her usual vet is out of town)

I miss her a lot

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To my sweet Dabbers,
You were such a fighter till the end. While your body is no longer working your spirit is very much still with us and your loving momma. We will miss you and play hard at the bridge with all of our ratties who have passed.
Rip Dabbers
Eagle and the clan
 
Thanks everyone. Sweetness and Sylvia are still going. I messed up on Sylvia's meds a bit, the rats stole them, then I was dealing with Dabbers. Sylvia is back on her correct med course, so hopefully she will perk up again. Sweetness is being as sweet as ever, but her tumor is suddenly growing a lot faster, poor girl.

I realized today that I have spent at least three months now giving meds 2x a day, and won't be able to stop for several more months. If you had told me this is how I would be spending my days two years ago when I first got my rats I would call you crazy, but now its just life... I love my babies and hope I can give them meds for a long time to come.

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Sorry to hear. The worst is now over for little Dabbers. Although its won't be easy, try to focus on the great times you shared with her :love4:
 
Sylvia continues to decline, I don't know how much longer both of us can fight. I took her to the vet today, she thinks she has lung issues along with the heart, so we started her on some zithro. The vet also wants me to nebulize with a 7% saline solution to help bring the mucous out of her lungs, but I broke my nebulizing tank, and don't have anything else the right size. I tried following her around the cage with the nebulizer, but it stressed her out. Its med number 4 that she's on, and its just too much. I have really mixed feelings about making her go through all of this.

She's deteriorated a lot fast than I had realized. As some of you know, I'm dealing with my own issues right now, and she had somehow lost 60 grams since I first posted this without me noticing. I feel horrible about it. She's now on several special meals a day, but isn't eating much. She's tired, and part of me doubts that it was a good idea to not put her down today. She's not responding to things, and that is a LOT of weight for a 360 gram animal to loose!

I don't know how we do this, loosing rat after rat. Seeing miracles like Shelagh's little Iris helps so much, but this is killing me. I feel like I do everything I can and I still can never do enough. I had 9 girls about a year ago. Snickers, Sweetness and Sylvia are all of them I have left, and it will soon just be Snickers.

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I'm so sorry to see you going through this. It is exhausting to work so hard and then lose one after the other.

Please don't be too hard on yourself about not noticing the weight loss until it was a lot. That has happened to a lot of us. It is easy to miss. Some of mine had stopped eating lab blocks, and I wasn't aware for several days because they were still eating peas/bananas etc. Another one of mine lost a lot of muscle mass, which wasn't noticable because she had retained fluid.
 
It is hard to see them go, one after the other but when you take in rescues you just never know. Some have stayed with me for only a few weeks. They still break your heart. Huge hugs to you.
 
Like the type you buy at the grocery store? Would I put her in a small area with it, like a SP cage covered with a towel? That will probably be less stressful.

She looks worse today.

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