My rat Luna is roughly 18 months old. She has 2 sisters and an adopted sister which we rescued.
She has had a rough year. A tumour removal just after New Years, and sickness spell in March which she recovered from. But for the last couple of months she has lost a lot of weight. She use to weigh 410g and now only weighs 300g. We have seen 3 vets and all have given her a course of antibiotics but can’t seem to understand what’s wrong with her.
Along with loosing the weight and slowing down a little, sleeping more, she is breathing hard all the time. Her head bobs slightly as she breathes and now being underweight you can see how hard her breaths are in her sunken hips. There is no crackling, wheezing or coughs/sneezes when she breathes.
She is also not too interested in food. She will eat small treats, egg, pasta, drops, malt paste, oats, grapes, banana and other treats including nuts and seeds. But will only take a nibble, very very slowly, then store it and leave it. Compared to how she used to be, like a hoover sucking up treats, it’s so sad to see. She does still drink from her water bottle as normal so that is some relief, and is not dehydrated.
Her behaviour is still the same in many ways. She is still happy to poke her head out or run up and greet me at the cage door. She still licks me and loves riding around on my shoulder, playing with her sisters and grooming them. The only change is she seems to have slowed down.
I am at a loss of what it could be and what I can do. Any advise will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
She has had a rough year. A tumour removal just after New Years, and sickness spell in March which she recovered from. But for the last couple of months she has lost a lot of weight. She use to weigh 410g and now only weighs 300g. We have seen 3 vets and all have given her a course of antibiotics but can’t seem to understand what’s wrong with her.
Along with loosing the weight and slowing down a little, sleeping more, she is breathing hard all the time. Her head bobs slightly as she breathes and now being underweight you can see how hard her breaths are in her sunken hips. There is no crackling, wheezing or coughs/sneezes when she breathes.
She is also not too interested in food. She will eat small treats, egg, pasta, drops, malt paste, oats, grapes, banana and other treats including nuts and seeds. But will only take a nibble, very very slowly, then store it and leave it. Compared to how she used to be, like a hoover sucking up treats, it’s so sad to see. She does still drink from her water bottle as normal so that is some relief, and is not dehydrated.
Her behaviour is still the same in many ways. She is still happy to poke her head out or run up and greet me at the cage door. She still licks me and loves riding around on my shoulder, playing with her sisters and grooming them. The only change is she seems to have slowed down.
I am at a loss of what it could be and what I can do. Any advise will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
These poor rats develop abscesses in their lungs, that fill up where the air should go. It continues to get worse and often their breathing is constructed rather than noisy like a regular respiratory infection. As the abscesses get worse they can harden and the chest will actually feel harder if you try to compress it. They labour to pull in air into reduced space and lose weight from it taking so much energy. Eventually they will have this nipped in waist (like a greyhound) and this is when you add a steroid like prednisone or dexamethasone to give them a reprieve. These abscesses aren't curable but you can try to manage it as long as possible. I found baytril and azithromycin plus steroid gave the best result and comfort.
