What is going on with my rats????

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DapperRat

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2019
Messages
7
Location
Oregon, united states, earth.
Hi all. I have two rats. Mickey is an albino and Jerry is the hooded black and white. Ok so this is a long one one so hang in there. So it all started when about 2 and a half weeks ago when I heard some wheezing so I put one little pill of fish mox in their water bottle which is what an internet rat site said to do. I forgot the exact dosage but what I put in there at the time was fine. I had just installed another water bottle but I wasn't quite sure they knew hot to use it. They had always been fine with the antibiotics in their water so that wasn't a problem. Anyway we went on a trip on Tuesday of that week. They were both great and healthy except for some little scabs. We had put a friend in charge of taking care of the rats . Anyway when I got home on Sunday, Mickey and Jerry's water bottle with the antibiotics in it was moved to another cage (remmys cage) because she couldn't take the lid of on that one. We didn't think she was talking about that one when she asked if that was ok. It looked like they had been drinking out of the other water bottle just fine but the water in it was a bit cloudy. I got everything streighened out right away and got it all back to how it was before I left. When I went to hold them, Mickey was pretty skinny and his back legs looked kind of funny when I let them run around but he didn't look any worse for wear and they both didn't look that thirsty. So anyway about two days later I woke up to find Jerry dead! We had checked on them both the night before and they looked very happy and eating and drinking and running around. We held them both and fed them some cooled scrambled eggs then we put them back in there cage for the night. That morning we put Jerry's body a box to be buried in. We don't know exactly when he was born cuz he was a feeder but he was almost exactly 2 years old. Ill never forget how he felt that morning. He looked so peaceful all curled up taking a nap after gorging himself with rat food (oxbow adult rat food). He wasn't sleeping in his bed with mickey. He was just in the middle of the cage. He was pretty hard so I knew that he had been dead for a while. The hard part is that for as long as I can remember, I always jiggled the door and I was worried that they were dead but they were just sleeping and they jumped right up and gave me a lick. But now I just thought he was just sleeping but he wasn't. Sorry about that but I just had to say that. There were my first rats. Mickey was still very skinny that day. After I put him in a one level cage ( because by then I was starting to suspect paralysis for his back legs. I inspected him that night and noticed some sort of growth under his rist (bumble foot?) It hasn't changed since I saw it since then and he hasn't been cut or anything there so idk. He didn't seem very interested in the oxbow rat food so I had been experimenting with what he wanted (nuts seeds oats ect) he ate but nothing seemed very appealing to him. So on Monday morning I my mom had some leftover oat meal (aways a favorite) and I decided to feed him some... he ate the stuff like his life depended on it. And he kept eating like that for the better part of 15 minutes. Anyway last night I was looking at him and he was basically dragging his back legs and his nails look almost peeled on his front hands. He is still very skinny but he seems like he's getting better. But he seems very happy and active (in his abillities). anyway in the end, I know that rats mask their illnesses and sadness, but I really didn't see any of it. Both rats were very healthy ( except jerry was a little chonker but nothing to out of proportion.) I let them out at least twice a week in a little enclosed outside thing we built in our yard and they ate slugs and blueberrys and nuts and seeds. I always keyed an eye on them while they were out there. And I held and played with them a lot every day. You can't really see that he's very skinny to an untrained eye so we can see. I don't think that our friend that took care of the rats did anything to make the rats sick or otherwise (but we weren't there and anything possible) because she also took care of my sisters rats and they seem just fine. I am thinking of introducing one of my sisters rats (sparky) that I originally had but didn't get along with Jerry. Sparky and mickey got along fine so I was thinking that I can do intros with him because I don't really want to get rats again. And also that way I he can go back to his old friends when mickey dies. At the end of the day, I don't know what happened but I am wondering what to do with Mickey. I don't know if there's a way to get him better or if I need to put him down. And If I need to put him down. Somebody recomended giving them an adult dose of benadryl. I don't know if thats ok or not. I took very good care of my rats and I love them very much now.I now Hold mickey as I can and he just loves it. Thanks for listening. I was wondering if you had some pointers on mickey. And I am still at a loss for how Jerry died. I hope you guys have some ideas and suggestions. Ill post pics of everything. A couple of those pics are of them on the stool when they were still healthy.
 

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a lady that has a small farm said that thats a way to put down anamals. She has done it on other small animals and, According to her, its more humane and that they just go to sleep. I have no idea if this is ok or not do thats why I am asking.
I've never heard of doing that and I would never do it myself. You need a vet to properly euthanize a rat, not an OD of an antihistamine. I find that very irresponsible and inhumane.

If you want to put weight on him that's one thing, but if he'll ill he needs to go to a vet that has experience with rats.

I hope someone else on here can recommend a good rat vet in Oregon.
 
I've never heard of doing that and I would never do it myself. You need a vet to properly euthanize a rat, not an OD of an antihistamine. I find that very irresponsible and inhumane.

If you want to put weight on him that's one thing, but if he'll ill he needs to go to a vet that has experience with rats.

I hope someone else on here can recommend a good rat vet in Oregon.
Ok great thank you. I would never do that without doing the proper research. I just heard that. I was VERY leary about that kind of treatment. It didn't sound like it held water. Thank you.
 
I like to make homemade custard for my rats once in a while and it's got lots of good things in it. It's very fattening and has protein in it from the eggs and milk. Another really good thing I've found for my rats is a hot rice cereal called Greenmax. My girls love it and it has flaxseed and other nuts in it. In the colder months they really like a warm dish. You just add hot water to it and OUILA! I put a little oil in it too for their coat.
 
Hey! Thanks. I bet he will love that. I am going to put him in a bigger cage today but imma take the levels out so he dosnt fall. Any more suggestions?
I like to make homemade custard for my rats once in a while and it's got lots of good things in it. It's very fattening and has protein in it from the eggs and milk. Another really good thing I've found for my rats is a hot rice cereal called Greenmax. My girls love it and it has flaxseed and other nuts in it. In the colder months they really like a warm dish. You just add hot water to it and OUILA! I put a little oil in it too for their coat.
 
UPDATE: Mickey died at 2:26 am on Thursday December 2nd. Earlier on wensday he just wasn't eating or drinking. So I stayed up all night and held him and we watched some movies. Thank you @Big Schpog for giving me all my suggestions. I still have remmey and he has since mellowed out after both of them died. I won't be getting other rats but will continue to take care of remmey.
 
Dapper rat, first, I am very sorry for your loss. Second, I hope you take this as a good piece of info and advice, even if only for any future possibilities. First, emptying a fish mix capsule into their drinking water will do nothing for a Myco flare-up. It might, and I mean just might, work for a secondary infection, but only if given in proper dosage, not just dumped into their water. But Fish Mix is Amoxicillin, which is NOT a treatment for Myco, Doxicycline and Baytril especially are Antibiotics used to treat URIs. Specifically Mycoplasmosis. So never listen to idiots on the internet without a solid confirmation, or your own research, and not Wikipedia either, lol. Secondly, since your pet rat died naturally from a URI (I assume you did not euthanize), he suffered immensely. I won't even describe how he succumbed to suffocating while frantically trying to get oxygen that he could not get into his lungs. He was in respiratory distress for a long time and unfortunately you did not know the symptoms or signs to look for, and apparently no one told you that your rats needed euthanizing immediately once they began to gasp for air or open mouth breathing with nose held up high to straighten the airway. Ok, that's enough con that. As for euthanasia at home by Benadryl overdosing,vice not heard of that and can not comment without researching it. But an antihistamine overdose sounds almost anti-productive. Antihistamine is for dialating the blood passages like capillaries, allowing for more oxygen to get through. So this would seem to help him, not hinder him. An overdose of an antihistamine can NOT be humane in any way! A narcotic overdose could be construed as possibly humane, even a massive loss of blood could be, or a starving for oxygen maybe, but any simple, on the fly home euthanasia is not humane. Impossible. You'd need to at least get some things beforehand and do it in a medically acceptable way. And I'm not sure you'd be able to do it within the necessary parameters. In conclusion, please do not take the advice of just anyone. Get solid, medical advice from a renounced source next time. Hopefully.... There is no next time. But if there is, be sure you've got money saved for just such a situation. Dying from respiratory distress has got to be one of the worst, most agonizing, frightening, and horrendous ways to slowly die. Please don't let it happen ever again. I had it happen once to me unexpectedly. I was caught totally off guard because the rat was able to survive in distress for quite some time, so when he went into critical respiratory distress and started gasping and frantically running around aimlessly, I had no time to get him to a vet. He passed in my arms while trying to get his breathe, so scared that he could not calm himself down. It was absolutely the worst thing I've ever witnessed with a rattie. I swore I would never let it happen again. Now I listen for the slightest sound of an early URI once a week with every rat and immediately start a course of Baytril if I hear a sound. Prevention is the best medicine. If you let it go unchecked they will never fully recover in most cases and eventually need to be euthanized. Ok, ty for reading and again,vim sorry for your loss.
 
a lady that has a small farm said that thats a way to put down anamals. She has done it on other small animals and, According to her, its more humane and that they just go to sleep. I have no idea if this is ok or not do thats why I am asking.
That is total BS! How would you just go to sleep on an overdose if an antihistamine!?!? That's not even possible! Ok..... So I researched. Older antihistamines DO have a sedating effect, such as benedryl, but newer ones do NOT, like Allegra. So I'm not sure still but it seems an antihistamine overdose MIGHT cause a rat to fall unconscious and then stop breathing. Still not sure how it works yet. BUT, I tend to think (my own personal belief) that it could quite possibly be a better way to pass than suffocation while awake and alert.
 
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