Rattie walking low to the ground. What's wrong with her?

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thegoldenrat

thegoldenrat

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2012
Messages
177
Location
Los Angeles
Hi there!
So my girl Indie is walking really low to the ground right now. She is NOT walking in circles....however, she is tipping over a lot when she grooms.
Traction on her feet seem to be a problem too. Any idea of what this could be?

Rattie details & history:
Almost 2 years old
Has a small tumor under arm pit
Cataracts in her right eye.
Respiratory issues come and go. But right now, she is breathing fine. No sounds.
Not drinking as much water, but will drink soy and rice milk with no problem.
Slight issue holding food.
Rubs her nose on things a lot.
On DEX and Batril (was wheezing-but okay now, but still finishing dosage)
On Prednisone

Much appreciated!
Rats Rule!
-M
 
Sounds a lot like PT to me. But being on Dex and pred, she should be getting better not worse.
Does she appear in pain? zones out, bites at things, chews things like her bedding?
 
Hm, it's hard to tell, but I don't think she is in pain. She used to be a big gnawer when she was younger...but now she hardly does that. She is definitely less peppy...but she is also sad, she lost her sister this month. I figured shes depressed. But then she started to walk in a strange way. I too thought it might be PT, so I put her on the Prednisone (I had it from her sister before she passed).

I also wondered if she is possibly losing sight in her other eye? She is already blind in one eye from Cataracts. Which might explain the strange walking? But she rubs her nose and loses balance....so, I'm confused.

I'm at a loss.
 
Can you take a video of her?

Did the vet prescribe Dex AND Pred? They're both the same class of drugs, usually it's one or the other. You have to be very careful if giving both, the cumulative effect could cause serious side effects and really weaken the immune system.
 
I will definitely try to take a video when she wakes up from her nap for dinner. :)
As for the prescription.
Both my ratties were put on Dex and Batril for Myco. However, one of my ratties seemed to show symptoms of PT and also wasn't eating. So the vet added Prednisone to stimulate her appetite and for PT. Since my rattie passed and Indie started to show the similar symptoms, I started her on Prednisone. I didn't know Dex and Pred shouldn't be used simultaneously. :(
Here are the doses:

Dex 2.2 mg - twice a day
Batril 6 mg - once a day
Prednisone .5 mg - twice daily for a week, then once a day there after. Eventually, she wants to go every other day.
 
Okay! Here is the VIDEO. Notice she is walking close to the ground and then does not hold the food when she eats?

Please click on the link below and then type in the password: INDIE

thank you so much!
any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
-M

here is the link:

http://vimeo.com/58601490
 
jorats said:
It says we don't have permission for the video. We need a password.
Click to expand...

Password is indie Joe.

The video didn't help enough though. Do you have another video of her before this to show us her "normal"?

She looks like she's suddenly old. She could have inner ear infection, causing her to be dizzy, she could've had a stroke or she has PT. What symptoms exactly did/do you see?
 
It's hard to say. An injury is possible as well for the hind end issues.

Pred and Dex are both used to correct the effects of strokes, PTs and ear infections but I have never heard of them being used together. One is faster acting and the other is longer lasting but they essentially do the same thing as I understand it. I would really double check with the vet about that.
 
If it turns out that she has PT (seems possible if her sister died recently from it), you might want to ask your vet for a Brocriptine prescription. A few of us have had good success with it -- an extra 3-7 months of life.

Pred and Dex together would be a double whammy of side edfects, ESP on the immune system
 
Hi guys!
Thank you SOOOO much for the helpful responses!

lilspaz68 - as for video BEFORE she got sick....she was hardly "filmable" since she was always sooooo fast running around everywhere. She has never been this cautious and slow and low to the ground. However, she is blind in one eye and the other eye could be going in a few months too. So there is that. Here are her symptoms - she walks low to the ground, clumsy, tips over when she grooms, but CAN walk in a straight line (not running in circles), has trouble holding things to eat, STILL eating a lot, but won't drink water anymore....only drinks soy milk, rice milk, etc. Traction seems to be an issue.

Godmother - I will look into Brocriptine asap!

You guys are all the best.
_m
 
As Victoria said, you need to talk to your vet asap.
Not only shouldn't dex and pred be given at the same time, my vet makes me wait a couple of days when switching from one to the other to make sure it is out of their system.
Dex is usually only given very short term (for a max. of 5 days) .... and stoping pred needs to be done gradually by repeatedly cutting the dose in half every few days.

Hope brocriptine helps
 
Hey there!
I spoke to my vet and she will be able to get the Brocriptine to me by hopefully today...depends on how backed up the pharmacy is. At the latest Monday.

Question, how long does it take for the medication to kick in to see a possible improvement? I'm worried.....my rattie isn't eating as much and disoriented.

Also, do you remember what your dose was for your rattie? My rat is about 360 grams right now.

thank youououou!
M
 
The vet should be able to give you the dosage. I had been told that the dosage is one half of a 2.5 mg pill per day . Someone on the forum just had very fast results with this.

After a bad experience with a rat who had GI side effects I started using a one quarter dose to start and worked my way up.

I've had rats respond within a day, with improvement over the next few.

You might want to read some earlier threads. Lilspaz68 has had several rats on Bromo.Good luck.
 
Yesterday, Indie started to take a turn for the worse.
She lost leg and arm ability. She can barely more. And her eyes are totally filled with porphyrin...she is completely blind now. She keeps trying to groom her head and bruxing, she breathes fine at times and then starts to struggle for breath, she is obviously uncomfortable. She won't eat or drink. I am force feeding her liquids and she will drink a couple of drops.
She wouldn't get her medication until tomorrow.
I don't know what to do. If she is at the point of no return, I want to take her out of her misery.
I just can't decide if I should wait until Monday for the medication.
This is sooooo painful to watch. I've been with her all night.
-M
 
I often times allow my PT rats to pass on their own at home with me. There really is no pain at the end like that, parts have shut down and it's really just the heart beating. But if you want to bring her in to release her, that's good too.
 
I would LOVE to not have to put her down and for her to just pass at home.
Her mind seems really with it even though he limbs are not working and what worries me is she is having occasional breathing issues. It almost sounds like she has a bunch of Porphryn in her head and she gasps for oxygen. Porphryn is coming out of her eyes... a lot. I'm assuming this is all pressure from the PT.
I'm wondering if I should hold onto hope and wait to get the Bromo at the pharmacy tomorrow. I also read Lilzspaz getting a dex injection and then Bromo for her rattie.
I could always go to the vet today to get the injection and then tomorrow Bromo.
I'm so confused....
ugh.
You guys are all the best for helping out with your suggestions.
I am so grateful...
 
Is she still on Prednisone? If she's been on Pred a few days, Dex wouldn't make a difference.

It may be the respiratory issues are caused by the steroids. When I used to do steroid therapy for my rats, a few wound up getting pneumonia.
 

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