My rat has a swollen belly

Question
QUESTION: Hello Sandra,

My rat Arden who is a little over a year and a half started experiencing some strange symptoms last night. I noticed she was acting a bit lethargic so I took her out of her cage to let her roam my room (also to check her condition) I noticed that she was walking slowly and sucking in her belly. I've seen her do this before (she had pyometra and was treated with a spay a few months back). This morning I realized that her stomach was beginning to swell and she seemed to gradually get more and more uncomfortable. Upon noticing that I took her to my exotics vet immediately. They preformed some x-rays and told me that she has fluid in her stomach, however they don't know what from. They sent her home with some Baytril and a diuretic. Do you have any idea what could be causing this? I'm looking at her now and she just seems miserable. I'm hoping it is an infection and that it will clear up with the medicine. What can I expect in the future?
Thank you for your time, I really hope you can help me out.

ANSWER: Ascites, which is fluid in the abdomen, can be caused by several things, from liver problems to pancreatitis, or possibly a bacterial infeciton, or on to heart failure/heart disease.Dilated Cardiomyopathy, which is an enlarged heart, can produce water retention in the abdomen.Heart failure can also do the same. However, heart related ascites is not commonly seen in rats, although it cannot be over looked, either, since it is a key sympom

I wish the Vet did some blood work on her, this would really shed some light on things. By now the diuretic should be helping, at least some.  I am going to assume the x rays did not show anything remarkable?

The important thing is she starts to urinate.  Is she going more now than usual from the medication?

Is she eating?  Its also very important she drinks fluids. Has she been drinking at all?






---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your quick response Sandra! She has been eating a little here and there. As far as her urine goes, it's hard to tell if she has been urinating. She had her first dose of the diuretic only 2 hours ago. She will be seeing the vet again on Friday (or sooner if she gets worse). What am I to expect if she needs blood work? You mentioned all of those things it possibly could be, are any of them treatable? How much pain would you say she is in? Also, the first dose of diuretic was really hard to give to her. She took one taste of it and refused, do you know of any ways I can get her to take the full dose?

Answer

At this point, mix her meds with anything you have that she will like that will mask the taste.

Ice cream, any flavor, even chocolate, melt a spoonful and mix the medication in it. Jelly, yogurt....something sweet like that. Nothing sticky like peanut butter or this can choke her.

I am surprised the vet did not give her an injection at the clinic of the diuretic. This is what should have been done first and have you give her the other doses at home later on.

As for the other conditions that the fluid may be from, yes, they can be treated as long as your vet is really up to par in rat care.  A regular Vet that sees dogs and cats and exotics on the side usually is not really up to date on rat care and what medications they can take etc... my dog/cat vet was shocked to find out that rats can take the same medication for heart disease as humans can take.  There are even some vets that think there are only two or three antibiotics rats can take and they refuse to take outside advice or even do any research to learn otherwise.

Many vets are not exotic vets yet confuse the rat owner into thinking they are by saying they see exotics and are the exotic vet on staff.  Truth is, there are only about 130 in the world. Chances are that there are exotic vets in every cit is pretty slim.  Some states have 20, and smaller states have 2, maybe 3 and some, none!!   This does not mean that vets that did not take extra years of college or a special test to be knowledgeable enough to see exotic animals etc.. but its just hard to find someone that knows what they are doing.  Lets face it, its not every day a vet is going to study extensively about rats when they have to see dogs, cats, and all small animals such as rabbits, ferrets, rats, gerbils, even reptiles and birds. I tend to expect a vet to know what I know about rats, but its not fair to do that since my only focus has been on rodents with rats as my specialty, so its not a surprise I know what I do know about the little creatures.  However, these vets need to step it up a bit more than they do and learn to take some advice outside the clinic and admit they only know the basics, and the problem is, they dont, and the rat doesnt get the treatment he deserves.   Not sure if this made sense or not.   It does seem your vet is on the ball as far as rats go, mainly because your rat survived pyometra and was spayed, and this makes me feel totally comfortable that your at the right place with your rat.  This little soap box bit of mine is mainly for other folks out there that may not have the right vet for their rat.

That said, try the trick with the ice cream or strawberry syrup or something yummy to get her to take her meds.  Let me know if it worked!!