!!Urgent!! another baby is sick!!!---update: he's gone...---

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shade

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
199
Location
Burbank, CA
10 min ago I noticed another one of my boys acting a little funny. He was drinking and seemed to be off balance on the ball he was sitting on. I went to feed him a treat and he wouldn't take it and instead turned to go lay somewhere. when he turned around I noticed that his entire stomach was sunken in worse than the other baby that died. when you pick him up he seems to be almost limp in your hand but if given the chance he will walk around on your arm and such. I moved him into a separate cage with his own food and a mix of syrup and water that the vet had told me to use before to give him some energy and help dehydration.

His skin feels really loose but it's not technically dehydrated because it does snap back just kinda slow at times. He's drinking but he wont eat. I don't have any money to take him to a vet but I can't lose him. what should i do? He seems really off balance, when he's walking if you touch his side he kinda seems to stumble a bit. Please, I can't lose another one :sad3:
 
Oh I wish I knew what to say to help but I am sorry I don't........keep him warm.....try and get fluids into him....maybe syringe in some soy baby formula if you have it...or can get it.......or baby cereal mixed with water......Hopefully someone will be on soon that can offer more advice....

How old are these babies?
 
Kinda slow snap-back means dehydration.

I would try to syringe the rehydrating solution into him...

Homemade rehydrating formula: 10 oz warm water, 1 tsp sugar, 1/3 tsp salt. Mix well, refrigerate extra, warm up to feed.

How old are these babies again? What symptoms are they all exhibiting? Everything you can think of? Can you listen to his lungs and see if you hear any sounds?
 
Hydrating him is crucial. If the skin goes back slowly, he is dehydrated.

Staggering could indicate an inner ear infection, in which case he needs an anti-inflammatory and antibiotics. You would need to take him to the vet to get that.

Good luck. There may be people with more experience who will have some words of wisdom for you, too.
 
Godmother said:
Hydrating him is crucial. If the skin goes back slowly, he is dehydrated.

Staggering could indicate an inner ear infection, in which case he needs an anti-inflammatory and antibiotics. You would need to take him to the vet to get that.

Good luck. There may be people with more experience who will have some words of wisdom for you, too.
Click to expand...

I am praying that the staggering is caused by the dehydration as well, it can truly kill if you aren't careful.

No way of getting to a vet at all?
 
These babies are about 2.5 months right? This is very bizarre... Could they have eaten something toxic? Unless it's something genetic? This is really scary...
 
Ok well the babies are all 11 weeks old as of sunday. The boys are all housed togeather in a cage that is supposed to be able to hold 5 full grown rats. there are currently 7 baby boys and 2 adult boys in that cage.

The girls are housed on the opposite side of the room in a smaller cage that can most likely house 3 females. there are 6 baby girls in that cage with 2 adult females.

All the girls are completely healthy. Their breathing is clear and they are eating and drinking regularly.

The boys are all sneezing very lightly and I had planned to buy some baytril once I get paid this week to treat that. I just listened to all their lungs and they all sound clear but the one that is sick right now sounds a bit "squeaky" when you listen up close. almost like a wet sound in his lungs.

My mom thinks they're getting sick because of overcrowding in the boys cage but i'm not sure.
 
Right now I'm feeding them lab blocks mixed with a little kix cereal as a treat. and then I give them fruit, veggies, and occasionally little tid bits of whatever i'm eating, as long as it's not on the bad food list.
 
somewhat. He seems to have a bit more energy and the other one wouldn't drink but he'd eat a little oatmeal. This one will drink but he wont eat. I'm gonna try to mix him some soft food in a bit to see if he'll eat that but he wont touch hard food.
 
alright. I'm going to call the vet in the morning to see if they'll let me bring him in and pay later this week. I hope they will, it's likely because my parents have a really good record there.

Thank you everyone for the advice and I shall keep you posted.
 
I took him to the vet this morning and was already worried because his temperature was starting to drop. The vet said that his lungs were very congested and she gave him some fluids to help the dehydration.

She gave me 3 injections of aminophylline that was supposed to be given once a day and it was to help open up the airways.

she also gave me clavamox and baytril that I could give to both him and the other rats that were sneezing.

and then she gave me a bottle of nutrical to try and put some calories into him and give him some energy.

when we got home I was trying to give him some nutrical with no luck. He was breathing really bad now too. with each breath his body sort of trembled and he twitched a bit which was really scaring me. I started giving the others baytril and then went to check on the sick baby and found him dead. I've never been more scared... whatever this is is causing my rats to plumit so fast. Just the other day this baby was running and playing and eating and then 2 days later he's dead. One of the other boys is sounding congested and i've got him on baytril now so he should be alright. The vet said to save the injections for any other babies that may start having trouble breathing and to give all of them the baytril and clavamox.

I just don't understand why this is happening and why only the boys are affected by it.
 
Oh no! I'm so sorry...
The boys must have a serious and contagious lung infection like pneumonia. The fact that they are in an overcrowded cage makes the disease that more contagious. I would definitely treat all the boys with meds at this point. And find a bigger cage for the boys and girls.
 
yeah... I've been treating them with meds and they all seem to be doing good. Someone came yesterday and adopted my two dumbo boys which was really good and I let them take what was left of my baytril and got a new bottle. I took out their hammocks for the time being because they kept peeing in them and eating in them so the hammocks would have crumbs and pee mixed into them and then they would sleep in it. Since I took out the hammocks the cage has also stayed dramatically cleaner. All the boys seem healthy now, even though i'm the mean ol' mamma that gives them their meds.

so far everyone is healthy and eating great :)
 

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