Rat with Kidney disease -losing ability to walk :(

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jessielovesrats

jessielovesrats

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Does anyone have experience with Kidney disease in rats?

My sweet little pet rat (Diego) was diagnosed with Kidney disease a few weeks ago. So far he's been getting weekly vitamin injections and has been getting electrolyte solution everyday. I've got him on a low protein diet as well.
But he's losing weight fast (About 30 grams a week, he weighs about 370g at the moment, he's really skinny and we can see hips spine and ribs sticking out). Initially he started to lose mobility of his back legs. Over the last two days he has started to lose his balance and keeps falling over. Yesterday he appeared to lose all of his strength and can no longer eat out of a bowl (he doesn't seem to have the strength to hold us his head or use his front paws anymore) so we had to keep him off a saucer instead. :(:(:(
Also, I noticed that he has two hard lumps (very tiny) just above his penis on either side and he's been producing a lot of porphyrin (it's all over his little arms and face).
He still has a big appetite and shows interested in his surroundings though.

I know that there's nothing that can be done to cure him, but does anyone have any tips to make him more comfortable? He'll be going to the vet tomorrow again, but they will just give him another injection (they tell each time there is no cure only treatment for make it more manageable), he can't take any metacam (anti-inflamtories) because it'll damage his kidneys more.

Has anyone had a rat with kidney disease before? I know that when the kidneys fail it often leads to heart problems, is that what is happening to Diego now? (All my previous rats died from either tumors or respiratory issues so this is a first for me).


Also, he's only 18 months old.
 
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They did urine tests. We've been going to the vet every week since for about a month now, each time his protein levels have been really high.

I don't have a video at the moment but I will take one.

Also, I didn't add earlier another symptom is that his fur is thinning quite a bit, you'll be able to see when I post the video.
 
Poor little guy.
He will need lots of water, that will help his comfort level. Give him lots of watery vegetables and fruits like watermelon, lettuces. Keep his protein food very very low. And lots of loving.
 
Thanks Jorats, I've been feeding him mostly veggies and fruit juice (mostly cranberry) for a while now, sometimes I also feed him very watery maize porridge.

dspch911, I read your post on Finn. I'm sorry you both had to go through that, but he was very lucky to have you. :) Diego seems to be going through a very similar thing.

I made a short video of Diego having lunch today, you can see him kind of stumbling around and his head also drops a little, almost like he is falling asleep. Did this happen to Finn too?

You can take a look here: [ame]https://vimeo.com/114187430[/ame]
 
Is Diego using his front paw to hold food? He really looks like he has PT - Finn also had a lot of PT symptoms, but he never really lost the ability to use his front paws that I can remember. He did lose his balance and he did a lot of circling. I would have to prop up things in his cage so he could sit up to eat - he would learn to prop himself up between stuff. He fell in food alot, but he still ate solid - watermelon, cucumbers, etc. From what I saw in the video I would suggest pred or some kind of steroid asap. I do remember asking my vet about cranberry juice and although I cannot remember the reason I was told not to give it to him. However, after this started we never saw Finn drink anything that is why we gave veggies/fruit high in water content and we had to give him SQ fluids.

I just noticed the thinning fur part - Finn lost a lot of hair.
 
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I know kidney disease can cause neuro symptoms but that rat really looks like he has a pituitary tumour. Maybe he has kidney disease too or the PT is throwing off his urinalysis. How rat savvy is your vet? You can try steroids with or without a dopamine agonist (bromocriptine or cabergoline) and see if they reverse some of the deficits. In many rats bromo/cabergoline alone can help quite a bit but, in his condition, it's probably best to try a steroid and then see if you can wean him off. (You should get antibiotics with a steroid since rats are so susceptible to infection.)

I had a rat we suspected has kidney disease that my vet put on Aventi KS (it's a probiotic/supplement for cats with kidney disease) and it helped her put back on a lot of the weight she lost quite quickly. You may be able to skip the stress of a weekly vet visit if it helps.

I know giving a bunch of drugs to an animal with compromised kidney function may seem counter intuitive but I really think a pituitary tumour is the bigger concern here. Good luck!
 
Like victoria (now that I have seen the video) your boy looks like he has classic PT symptoms.

Will these vets consider this possibility and let you have an injection of dexamethasone (also used with kidney disease) to see if he responds? it can be quite dramatic.

Here is a link on ratguide regarding the kidney issues...

http://ratguide.com/health/urinary_renal/chronic_progressive_nephropathy.php

but after seeing that video, seeing the PT pushback (legs stiffly pushed in front of him), inability to eat with front paws, wobbly, confusion, dozy look...trying to groom or he had an itchy back, then falling over...are very much classic PT symptoms.

If he responds, you can try to see if they will prescribe bromocriptine 2.5 mg tablets (1/2 a tab once a day) and see if his PT responds to this treatment.
 
I took Diego back to the vet today.
Unfortunately our regular vet (who specializes in rodents) is on leave and we had to see another one. He didn't seem to know much about rats at all. :doh:
He said he thought Diego might have neuro damage because of the kidneys. As I've mentioned so far he's only been getting vitamin injections and electrolyte solution. The vet prescribed baytril and a probiotic. I tired to ask about other treatments like steroids or pred but then he told me I might want to consider euthanasia. The entire visit was really frustrating (I also took my other rat, Pedro, in for respiratory issues and he was just given Baytril, I was hoping for some metacam and maybe a Cortisone injection).

I'm going to look for another vet and see if they'll do some tests for PT.
But in the meantime, I've read that Baytril is not always a good idea for rats with Kidneys disease. Does anyone know I should give Diego the Baytril?
 
There really are no useful tests for rats with pituitary tumours... you could do an MRI or a CT scan but they require anesthesia, which would make the symptoms so much worse. Ditto for any sort of blood work.

For the Baytril, pretty much any drug you give can affect the kidneys. I would just hold on to the Baytril... not because of the possible effect on the kidneys but because I doubt it will help him any.

Treatment for pituitary tumours is palliative but if you aren't able to start quickly, he is going to go downhill quickly. Even with treatment, sometimes rats don't respond. I'm not sure where you live but if you make a thread asking for vet recommendations in your area, you may get some leads.

For the boy with the respiratory infection, it is always more effective to combine two antibiotics when treating rats. You should try to get Doxycycline or Azithromycin to go with the Baytril. An anti-inflammatory can be helpful as well but if he's at the point of needing a steroid, he really needs a second antibiotic.
 
I've heard that Ipakatine can help rats with kidney disease; but yes, PT's can cause symptoms of other issues. I once had a rattie whom the vet thought was diabetic, but she developed PT symptoms shortly thereafter which didn't respond to bromo; her type of PT affected the blood sugar levels that mimicked diabetes. At the very least, a steroid will temporarily shrink the inflammation around the PT; bromo can try to buy more time if it's the type of PT that responds to bromo. Poor little sweeties; how I wish rats didn't have to go through so many illnesses like this. Best of luck with your little one.
 
Thank You all for your posts.

I live in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It's a pretty small city so I'm pretty familiar with all of the vets who deal with rodents here. Sadly, their treatment is usually pretty limited, my usual vet will probably only be back from leave after Christmas and it doesn't look like Diego has much longer :(

He had a hernia a few months ago and my vet was rather reluctant to operate so he spent about a month on antibiotics before having the hernia repair operation and then spent the next few weeks on meds, which might have been the cause of his kidney damage. I do agree with the comments saying it seems as though he has PT. Unfortunately none of the vets I've seen recently have offered me any useful treatment and instead have told me it's time to consider euthanasia.
I've been feeding Deigo soup and porridge (he doesn't want to drink anymore) and although he struggles to eat he still has a pretty good appetite. Today he managed to walk from our room to the kitchen (the kitchen cupboard has always been his favourite place) so he's still showing some ambition. At the moment his biggest struggle seems to be that he can't groom and from the constant peeing on himself he's always itchy. He hates being bathed so I'm not going to put him through that, I've gotten some unfragranced and alcohol free wet wipes to clean him with.
The moment he starts to lose his appetite or loses more mobility I'll have him put him down.
I feel so sad and guilty that I can't do more for him.

For my other boy, Pedro, Luckily I do have some Doxycycline so I'll give that to him along with the Baytril. (Thanks Victoria).
 
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It's really sad how scarce exotic vets are all over, particularly outside of North America and parts of Europe. Rats often get kidney disease from excess protein in their diet, not antibiotic use. Many of us have had rats on antibiotics for many months without effects to the kidneys, they're very well tolerated at the recommended doses. (If you ever want to check a dose, you can check http://ratguide.com/meds/) Do you have videos of Diego from when he was diagnosed with kidney disease?
 

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