The night so far...Doing better today

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Catibrie

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2008
Messages
596
Location
Halifax NS
We had the kids out to play tonight like we do every night, Jack was obviously gasping for breath, and his lips seemed a little blueish - that is when I looked at him and saw his right hind foot was terribly swollen. Well I started to cry then and we made tracks to the emergency. They put him in an oxygen thingy and took some x-rays. The vet comes out to us and says that he is in respiratory distress (I knew that) and that his lungs don't look as black as they should be. (She took literally no note of his foot) So I asked what the next step is. She talked lots of 'well' 'umms' then said we can keep him in the oxygen thing over night - but it does not seem to be doing a whole lot for him, and he is likely to die overnight, or we can take him home and see what happens. That is when I really started crying. In the end we decided to bring him home. I told her to give me Baytril for his resp. and Metacam for his leg. What else should/could I have done?
I sit here now, holding him, crying softly and apologizing for not being a better mommy to him...
 
Very sorry this is happening.

Not much else you can do for Jack's foot. If it gets too swollen, you can try a cold compress.

Did the oxygen help? Is Jack still gasping? Panicing? If so, you may need to have him pts tonight.

Sometimes warm moist air can help rats having breathing difficulty, sometimes it makes things worse. If your air is dry, you may want to run the hot water in the shower and sit in the bathroom with Jack to see if it helps.

A very small piece of DARK chocolate can be given to Jack to help keep his airway open until you can get him to a good rat vet in the morning.

If Jack sounds conjested when you hold him up to your ear and listen to both sides of his chest, lasix from the vet will help.
If this respir problem came on fast, it may be a secondary infection so you may want something like clavamox to go with the baytril. If this myco., you may want to see about adding doxy or zithro to the baytril when you get him to a vet.

A puffer such as abuterol might help him breath. If you know anyone who has one you could try giving him a puff or two in an enclosed space for several minutes (since this is an emargency).

It could also be his heart ... so if the antibiotics don't start to help in a few days, you might want to try heart meds.

btw, I am not a vet, just making some suggestions

Hope you and Jack are doing ok
 
SQ
Dang girl you should be a vet! You know rats and what they need for sure! Maybe you could just be "the Rat Doctor"! Okay now I know I didn't get enough sleep last night.(It is 6:20am) I just imagined a super hero as I typed that.............but then again I'm sure you have saved enough critters that you are a true hero! Thank you for being here for so many of us that are still learning about these wonderful creatures! :heart:
 
I'm so sorry your little guy is going through this. But it's not that you were a bad rat mom... these things happen to all of us.
You did and asked for what we all would have. The metacam will actually help him cope with his respiratory distress as well.
 
It has been a long night, Jack is still here. He is breathing a little better, he is not panicking any more, just breathing hard. His foot is still really swollen, but he still does little things like groom his face. He will use the foot, just won't put heavy pressure on it. He is giving me kisses, and I don't know if it is because he is not doing well or because he just wants to give kisses. Also I keep finding him in the litter box - why?
We go see the vet this afternoon.
 
this must be so scary for you.
i really really hope the vet has some better news this afternoon!
i will be thinking of you and your rattie today at work. :heart:
ps: sq.. my goodness.. that was a great overview of different meds for different problems! thank you!
 
Jack is doing better. His foot has gone down and his breathing is much better. We just caught him cleaning one of the girls - so I think that is great news! The vet said to watch him carefully and if anything changes, call right away, so far the changes have been improvement. Which means his heart is hopefully fine. Still watching him like a hawk, and kissing him alot...
 

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