Vet, or wait it out?

[Chevalrose]

For the past couple days Oliver has preferred to chill on my shoulder as opposed to running around (he's 7 weeks). There's no porphyrin and he seems to be eating normally. Saturday he was running around and playing (for HOURS), then Sunday he played a little bit and today he just wanted to hang out on my shoulder. He does have an occasional breath with a bit of a whistle, but it's not consistent. Also, they're in a 20G tank at my parent's house (which is a bit cold...and they are hairless. I've been putting lots of fleece in there for them to snuggle in) for QT. I was going to bring them home Thursday into a wired cage and it's warmer. He's also a runt.

I don't know if it could be a mix of the tank and the cold...or something he should get checked out for. What do you suggest?

 

[Maple]

Tanks/aquariums hold in ammonia from the urine and cause URI. I would get him out of there first and if there is no improvement in 24 hours, I would bring him in based on his age alone.

 

[Godmother]

Yes, it is unusual for a 7-week-old rat to have such a drop in activity level. Any breathing sounds are a sign of URI, and rats can go downhill quite fast. Hope he is better tomorrow, else you will need the vet to prescribe some antibiotics.

 

[jorats]

If your gut feeling tells you something is off, I'd probably get him to a vet too.

 

[Chevalrose]

So last night we put the laptop on top of the cage (for heat), and my mom said this morning he was right as rain with energy. It was REALLY cold at my parent's house, especially the last few days, so maybe that was the problem? I'm going to check on him tonight and see how he is.

I was thinking of bringing them home tonight to get them out of the tank, but it would cut the QT short. *sigh* I really don't know what to do.

 

[Avatar]

I'm pretty sure that whistled breathing isn't due to cold. It's a sign of a URI, so I'd be getting them out of the tank anyway. It's not an ideal place for any rodents to begin with. If the cost of a new cage is an issue, look on kijiji/CL. Sometimes you can find amazing deals on good cages.

 

[Chevalrose]

Yeah the whistled breathing is now what I'm worried about. It's very infrequent and hard to hear, so I'm wondering if it's due to him being in the tank. The cage we have at home is wired (it's an R-695)...I was going to put my 2 current boys on the top and the 2 new boys on the bottom until intros go well.

I mean, it has been 10 days that they've been in QT...is that WAY too short? They certainly seem healthy otherwise, but I know that is never a guarantee. It would only be 3 more days before I brought them home anyways.

I could finagle their playpen into a make-shift cage for the time being (it's panels to an R-690)...but then I worry about them getting cold at my parent's house. I'm cold there with clothes and a blanket on! If that is my best bet though...I can try it.

 

[Chevalrose]

So toady I'm noticing that it's not that he doesn't have energy, he seems really tentative and nervous. Which is weird. We did just move the playpen over, but he had already played in it fine the first day it was moved...but the second day was when he stopped playing. He ended up freaking out after hearing some noise from downstairs. So...something seems to be scaring him in that corner. The PEW is fine...maybe because his vision/hearing/smell isn't as acute? Or he just doesn't care? So I dunno.

 

[jorats]

That happened once with my sister's girls. They were all scared in the cage but when she moved the cage to another spot, they were all ok again. Very strange. Can you move the playpen back to where it was to see if rattie is better?