Very poorly boy :(

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Charlotte Rose

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Hi everyone! Never used this before so bare with if I'm getting bits wrong but I'm desperately seeking advice.

One of my little babies is 1.5 year old Echo, who is a male rat I've had since he was a baby. No health problems whatsoever until Friday just gone. Went to check on the boys and found him squinting, ruffled fur, staggering around with porphyrin all over his front paws. I also found an orange, slightly loose stool near where he was sleeping. He was drinking (albeit as if he was confused by how the water bottle worked) and eating cheerios, but very slowly. I took him straight to the vet as it was all so sudden and she checked him over. She said he had no signs of respiratory infection, found a small soft moveable lump in his belly that could move round to his leg, and said seemed otherwise healthy so wasn't sure what was wrong. She suggested UTI or GI infection and sent us home with a 5 day worth medication of 0.1ml of 2.5% baytril twice daily and 0.7ml metacam once daily. So today is Tuesday and he doesn't seem much better. In fact, in some symptoms, he seems worse. He is moving about more and more curious. He isn't generally AS squinty. But as of yesterday I'm struggling to give him his meds as he won't take them with anything we've tried (babyfood, chicken, maple syrup, jam, yoghurt, cheerios) and tries to push us away. We manage to give him about half his dose before he tries to get away and attempts to explore, even though he still is unsteady on his feet. He no longer has any porphyrin, and we can't seem to find the lump in his belly. He's had no more funny orange poos since the vet visit. He has recently had a slightly erect looking penis with some yellow around it and spontaneous small concentrated wees that have an odd smell. I've tried removing the yellow stuff from his penis in case it's a plug but I couldn't remove it. He's also started sneezing quite a bit, but only in the last couple of days since being on his meds. We have no idea what's going on. I'm taking him to the vets again this evening but I'm worried they don't know much about rats, as I read that if they suspected uti they should have also prescribed amoxy. If anyone has any suggestions of what's wrong with my little baby Echo I would be extremely grateful.

Thank you!

From a very worried rat mama x
 
Is it possible that there is an infection in his urinary tract or his penis? http://ratguide.com/health/aging_degenerative_disorders/vesical_proteinaceous_plug.php
http://ratguide.com/health/urinary_renal/urinary_tract_infections_lower.php

Is he hydrated?

Re meds, if you can not get him to take them, you can sweeten them (if the baytril is not already been done so by the vet) and give orally by syringe into the side of his mouth a drop at a time so it does not go into his lungs
He may need another antibiotic in combo with the baytril

Does he sound like this description? http://ratguide.com/health/neoplasia/pituitary_tumor.php
 
SQ said:
Is it possible that there is an infection in his urinary tract or his penis? http://ratguide.com/health/aging_degenerative_disorders/vesical_proteinaceous_plug.php
http://ratguide.com/health/urinary_renal/urinary_tract_infections_lower.php

Is he hydrated?

Re meds, if you can not get him to take them, you can sweeten them (if the baytril is not already been done so by the vet) and give orally by syringe into the side of his mouth a drop at a time so it does not go into his lungs
He may need another antibiotic in combo with the baytril

Does he sound like this description? http://ratguide.com/health/neoplasia/pituitary_tumor.php
Click to expand...


See the thing is he has symptoms of all of these but only a couple of each of them, which is why me and vet are confused. I think he's hydrated. He is drinking and his skin bounces back when I pinch it.
 
Can you post a video of him?
Is he able to hold a piece of food in his front paws and eat it? (a pumpkin seed, a cheerio, etc)
I messaged someone else who may be able to help
 
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SQ said:
Can you post a video of him?
Is he able to hold a piece of food in his front paws and eat it? (a pumpkin seed, a cheerio, etc)
A messaged someone else who may be able to help
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I don't have enough memory on my phone to record him! He holds a cheerio with both paws, is a little wobbly, but stable enough to sit and hold it until he's finished. It is taking him longer than usual to eat them though but he is trying! Thank you so so much!!!
 
could be a UTI, could be the mass causing pain and issues. His lungs are clear (you can double check yourself by holding his sides to your ear like a phone receiver...we call this rat phoning)

Can you get us a mess of pics? We might notice something
 
Re eating and drinking:
Give him a water dish that can not be upset and soft foods to eat,
You can soak his blocks in cool water to make mush, give cooked vegs like cooked sweet potato, baby food,
and I would suggest organic soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal (kind that says add milk) as this is easier to eat, will give him needed nutrition and help him to stay well hydrated

You may need to have him lick food off your finger or syringe the thickened formula into his mouth being carful not to get it into his lungs - a drop at a time into the side of his mouth), if he is too confused to eat it independently
 
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lilspaz68 said:
could be a UTI, could be the mass causing pain and issues. His lungs are clear (you can double check yourself by holding his sides to your ear like a phone receiver...we call this rat phoning)

Can you get us a mess of pics? We might notice something
Click to expand...

Vet said lungs were clear on Friday but will check again. Mess of pics?? What does this mean?
 
SQ said:
Re eating and drinking:
Give him a water dish that can not be upset and soft foods to eat,
You can soak his blocks in cool water to make mush, give cooked vegs like cooked sweet potato, baby food,
and I would suggest organic soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal (kind that says add water) as this is easier to eat, will give him needed nutrition and help him to stay well hydrated
Click to expand...

Great will try this thanks!!
 
jorats said:
I wonder if this could also be a pituitary tumour. He's at the right age for it.
Click to expand...

I wondered this, but he doesn't walk like the videos of rats with PT on YouTube. He's a bit more stable, still slow and staggering a bit, but he is generally lethargic so I thought it was due to this. Although age fits too. Are PT symptoms sudden?
 
Thanks everyone for the help. Just got back from the vet, and unfortunately, his mini lump has turned out to be a cancerous tumour. It's grown from the size of a thumbnail to the diameter of a small egg in just 5 days and is wrapped around his intestines so there's nothing that can be done. The vet suggested I could bring him home for lots of hugs and cuddles for a couple of days and then take him back to be pts. One very sad rat mummy right now.
 
SQ said:
I am so very sorry
Click to expand...

Is there anything you know of that might cause this type of tumour? I can't find much on the internet. I just don't want my other boys to suffer the same fate. Also, fellow vegan here!
 
Soo sorry. Did they send you home with pain medication? Discomfort can cause these symptoms as well and you want him comfortable with his last days with you.

if they didn't you can give Metacam/meloxicam (if you have any on hand) or pick up infant liquid ibuprofen but this needs to be dosed regularly (every 4-6 hours is optimal) and is difficult to keep up with.
 
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