respiratory infection/myco flare up and now a cold tail...

[emerson]

Shiloh has been fighting a respiratory infection, a pretty bad one, she's been on doxy and baytril for a couple days now and the only improvement I see is a little bit more active, but barely. Now, I noticed her tail is colder, the other rats tails are warm and fine, is this because she is not getting enough oxygen? What should I do? There is no emergency vet that can treat rats here and even my regular vet doesn't know too to much about rats, he has just learned a bit along the way so it's pretty much like going to him and paying to tell him what she needs. I don't have a heating pad, what can I do? I can bring her to the vet first thing, but I don't even know what he will be able to do for her, you guys will probably know better... I feel so sorry for her.

UPDATE: Okay, well I found the number of a vet in the next little towno ver that I have heard has a vet that specializes in exotics, so I am going to make her an appointment tomorrow, hopefully get her in immediately. I have been reading the symptoms of heart failure and I have a feeling that is what is happening. A couple months ago her hind legs also swelled up suddenly, and I took her to our vet and he said he had no idea but assumed she had fallen somehow and gave her ibuprofen. It didn't really sit well with me because I couldn't figure out how she could have hurt herself, but the ibuprofen worked so I just forgot about it. Please keep her in your thoughts/prayers.

 

[jorats]

It's really hard not having a good exotic vet to help you. Hopefully you'll get better results from the new vet.
A cold tail could simply mean that the body temperature is off and that can be due to an infection.

 

[Rissa]

That is interesting Jo. I have only ever heard of a cold tail due to lack of oxygen. It makes sense though that it could be caused by the infection. Kinda like how our body temperature goes off when we are sick.

 

[emerson]

So, the earliest they could get her in is Thursday at 1pm. They specialize in exotics. What can I do for Shiloh until then? I am going to keep giving her her antibiotics til then. It's so hard to see her struggle like this.

 

[jorats]

Keep her warm, hydrated and well fed until you can get her to the vet. It's only a couple of days away.

 

[Rissa]

How did the vet appointment go? I hope he was able to give you something different to see if she will respond better.

 

[Cait]

How did it go, Emerson? Did you get meds? Is Shiloh feeling better?

 

[emerson]

We are going to try another week or so of a new antibiotic, if that doesn't work, I might have to let her go, I don't want her to continue to suffer. I am a mess right now. I haven ever lost a rat before, and haven't lost a pet since I was a tiny kid. I don't know how ppl deal with this. She is my angel. :sad3:

 

[SQ]

What do they think is wrong with her?
What is she on?

 

[emerson]

Either respiratory infection, or her heart. I have a strong, sad feeling that it is her heart. She is having a heart xray Thursday and I am afraid of what the results will be. She is now trying amoxicillin, I am praying it works. He said she may never breathe properly again though from scarring, and her quality of life might not be great. It's a waiting game. I hate it. So much. And very few people understand why I am so fricking depressed and sad over "a rat". They don't get it.

 

[Callie<3]

I hope that she gets to see a really good vet n that she is well taken care of by them and hopefully they can save her poor girl

 

[jorats]

Have you tried Baytril and Zithromax first? Sometimes the rat needs to be on meds for up to 3 months before being able to treat lung infections.
Also... the xrays are not full proof. Lung disease can show up as an enlarged heart. It doesn't necessarily mean heart failure or heart issues.

 

[SQ]

Many types of heart disease will not show up on xrays.
As jorats said, try baytril (10 mg/Ib twice a day) & azithromycin (5 to 15 mg/Ib twice a day). Treat for at least 4 to 6 weeks.
If there is fluid in her lungs then she needs furosemide aka lasix (beginning dose 1 - 2 mg/Ib twice a day but can be increased to 3 or 4 times a day if needed).

If you are thinking heart, then try enalapril (0.25 mg/Ib twice a day) for several days to see if it helps. If it helps, then keep her on it and add atenolol (1 mg/Ib twice a day) and furosemide brand name: lasix (beginning dose 1 - 2 mg/Ib) twice a day but can be increased to 3 or 4 times a day if needed. If her heart is enlarged then she also need to be on digoxin (0.0025 mg/Ib twice a day)

(info from personal experience & from the Rat Health Care book)