February 23, 2006 - December 3, 2007
Widdershins' breathing had taken a turn for the worst recently. He had a mild URI, and was already on antibiotics. A couple weeks ago, I went upstairs to clean the cage - I found Widdershins running around frantically, gasping. After watching him for a while and noticing that he would wretch/heave, I decided that he was probably choking and put him in a carrier by himself for the night. For those who don't know, rats can choke for hours and there really isn't anything you can do about it, vet or otherwise; it's just a waiting game.
When I woke up the next morning, he was still gasping. I rushed him to the vet, and x-rays were done. Turns out, Widdershins was choking, but not on food or some other object. He had cardiomyopathy, and his heart was 3x the size it should be. It was pressing up against his lungs and throat, making it extremely hard to breathe. From all the gasping, his stomach was full of air; along with that, his lungs were full of fluid.
Although his outlook was grim, my vet and I decided to try him on Lasix and Enalapril. The Lasix was the deciding factor for Widdershins - my vet said that if he hadn't improved in 24-48 hours after starting the Lasix, he wasn't going to. Thankfully, Widdershins improved quite a bit, and he never gasped again after the vet appointment. I had high hopes because of the huge turn around, and he really seemed to be more comfortable. Unfortunately, cardiomyopathy is a gradual disease that can't be reversed, so that's all we could do - make him comfortable.
He would still have some moments of labored breathing, but they seemed to be few and far between - that is, up until last week. Although he wasn't so bad that he was gasping, Widdershins would just lay there and heave. He was constantly sleeping, and had no interest in food whatsoever. It became harder and harder to give him his medication, so I had to resort to injecting the Lasix.
I picked him up a few days ago, and realized just how much weight he'd lost. He was skin and bones. I couldn't believe how fast he was deteriorating.
I decided last night to have him put to sleep today, after watching him for a while. He seemed so uncomfortable and utterly tired all the time. He didn't want to do anything, just sleep. My poor boy, I'm so sorry I couldn't do more for you :cry:
