urgent sudden heavy breathing

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BoBa

New Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2018
Messages
2
Location
UK
Chewie is suddenly breathing heavily and just lying on my lap. He was completely fine yesterday and it's all very sudden. I have antibiotics and antiinflammatories. Should I give them to him?
 
I've got to go in a bit but I really don't want to leave him. He doesn't want his rat blocks but will take baby food.
 
It sounds like a respiratory infection. Rats hide illness well and then go down hill fast.. If you can get him to a vet please do. He'll need a series of medication for a bit. Try to keep him comfortable and eating what he will. You can try soaking the blocks in cool water to make mush and try giving him that as well as the baby food
 
Thank you, I already have a lot of medication for URI. I know I need to give him 0.46ml Baytril/day as he's 575g but I'm not sure how much doxy he needs. I have more meds but I think I'll try those two combos first and maybe add bisolvon as well. For doxy, I think he'll need roughly 0.3ml twice a day but what's the proper calculation? It says: '1 x Ronaxan 100 tabs 100 mg Pk50' which I don't know what it means.
 
Chewie doesn't move much at all now and he doesn't want to take the babyfood anymore which is bizarre considering how much he loves food. It breaks my heart how he tries to wipe all the med off when I put it in his mouth after not taking it with food. He doesn't seem to want to eat his lab blocks anymore. I'll see if he changes his mind tomorrow.
 
Chewie doesn't move much at all now and he doesn't want to take the babyfood anymore which is bizarre considering how much he loves food. It breaks my heart how he tries to wipe all the med off when I put it in his mouth after not taking it with food. He doesn't seem to want to eat his lab blocks anymore. I'll see if he changes his mind tomorrow.
I'm not very good at doses myself so I hope someone else comes along for that.. I would keep trying to get food/water in his system. You can try water on a spoon or in a shallow dish and see if he drinks it.? Dehydration is a killer... I wouldn't want him to go that route
 
I've tried to give him some medication but idk how much actually went in. He isn't interested in the soaked rat nuggets anymore nor the babyfood. I tried giving him some water but he wouldn't take it. He's had tiny nibbles of carrot and apple. He likes the granola I gave him but when I mixed it in the lab block mush he just picked out the oats. I'll have to find other foods. He barely moves around, only to get tohis hammock and down occasionally. Idk if he's drinking water by himself and his heavy breathing is still continuing. I really don't know if I should continue with the antibiotics or put him to sleep so the same thing that happened to my last two rats doesn't happen to him:(
 
I've tried to give him some medication but idk how much actually went in. He isn't interested in the soaked rat nuggets anymore nor the babyfood. I tried giving him some water but he wouldn't take it. He's had tiny nibbles of carrot and apple. He likes the granola I gave him but when I mixed it in the lab block mush he just picked out the oats. I'll have to find other foods. He barely moves around, only to get tohis hammock and down occasionally. Idk if he's drinking water by himself and his heavy breathing is still continuing. I really don't know if I should continue with the antibiotics or put him to sleep so the same thing that happened to my last two rats doesn't happen to him:(
Do you have any dark chocolate.? If you do don't give him too much but it helped one of my rats breathing when she was struggling. Keep giving him the food he'll take and try the others as well.. I'm routing for him.!
 
Thanks I totally forgot about chocolate! Luckily we had some and I gave him a piece about pea size. How much do you reckon is too much? He's had a bit of granola, water and food but not a lot to be honest. Trying everything I can:)
 
Thanks I totally forgot about chocolate! Luckily we had some and I gave him a piece about pea size. How much do you reckon is too much? He's had a bit of granola, water and food but not a lot to be honest. Trying everything I can:)
Sorry for the late reply.. I gave my gal as much as she would take as she also wasn't eating much.. If he drops it and you don't see it happen it might melt under him. That happened to me with my rattie and I had a heart attack.! You can also try all different baby foods. I found all of mine fight over Pear, peas, and spinach (I tried it once and I don't understand why they like it so much.!) as always best of luck to you and your little man.!
 
good vet with the knowledge and experience to treat rats asap!!!
he may need other meds
he likely is not eating because it is hard to breath and eat at the same time
 
Thank you all so so much xx Chewie was put to sleep yesterday because he just didn't have an appetite for anything other than biscuits and the meds were a flop. Piddlepod suggested it may be heart congestion and to check we would've had to do an x ray and then treatments which unfortunately we weren't financially stable for. This is the end of my rat journey and I probably won't get anymore for a while-don't get me wrong they are absolutely amazing creatures. I miss my boys so much and it definitely feels weird without them. Thanks again for all your help
 
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