Rattie

Question
QUESTION: Hi Sandra
Just wanted to follow up and thank you again for all your help with our little rattie girl.
I took her to Dr. Contarino today at Town and Country Vet Clinic in Marietta, Ga. and he was wonderful. Very versed in Rats and great bedside manner.  I was surprised at how reasonably priced it was as well. Thanks so much for the referral and you should know, he would be first on my referral list in GA if I were you.  I had been to one of the others you referred and they are not that good with exotics.  But Dr. C was great. Our little girl is still very sick so we still aren't sure she is going to pull through. He gave her a 50/50 chance.  She really declined quickly last night so to anyone reading-getting a sick rat to the vet asap is key!  It was Sunday and I couldn't find anyone who saw rats at the emergency clinics so I was out of luck.
Anyways, I've got 3 different RX for her and am feeding her rice cereal mixed with baby food(green beans) through a syringe. She's taking it well along with gatorade for fluids.  Can you tell me how often I need to feed her and give her water and how much of each?
Thanks Sandra, last question-I promise!
Kristin

ANSWER: Give  her as much as she wants every few hours. I hope she is OK! I am happy you liked Dr.C. He wrote me about her tonight. Said her tilt was so bad it made her flip.  I have had many do this and over came it. I have hopes she will too.

Tell me, which vet was not good with exotics so I will never suggest them again?

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

QUESTION: I had a bad experience with them years ago. For Pets Sake on N. Druid Hills Rd.  It might just be me but they are really just there to make the bucks.  Sniffy seems a little bit better today. She definately has her appetite back. She isn't flipping or rolling as bad as yesterday so maybe there is hope.  She is such a sweetheart, I just would hate to lose her.  Dr. C had me start her cagemate on the baytril as well since I've heard a couple sneezes out of her too.  I have to work today so I will try to power feed her just before i leave.  Then I won't be able to feed her till I get home. I work from 11 to 5. Sure hope she will be ok.

Thanks again for all your help Sandra. You are a real blessing!
Kristin



ANSWER: Dr. C wrote me about your visit and we both seem to agree mycoplasma is probably the culprit, esp since it is known to cause inner ear infections as well as respiratory infections too.  Once the steroids really kick in and the antibiotics start to work, usually 24 hours, I bet she starts to really show improvement by the weeks end.  Head tilt can take a bit of time to go away but it should ease up enough that she should not roll as much. I hope so.  Please keep me posted! Also you can ask me as many questions as you want.  Even if it says you have used up all your follow ups you can still start again, just continue where we left off.

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

QUESTION: Thanks Sandra
I feel like I not only found an expert where rats are concerned but a new friend as well. Dr. C is lucky to have someone with your knowledge to compare notes with!
Sniffy seems to have hit a plateau.  She isn't flipping so bad but she still has severe balance problems and is circling. She seems worse today than yesterday which has me concerned. She is on .1cc baytril, .1cc doxycycline and .25cc prednisone.  Do you think that these amts are enough for her. She weighs in at just under 140gms.
She seems to be losing weight.  I am feeding her as often as I can(about every 3-4 hours) even getting up ever 4 hours at night to feed her.  I am mixing water with baby rice cereal and adding baby food to that. Todays menu consists of Turkey Tetrazinni-yum!  However, she doesn't take a whole lot and getting fluids in her is near impossible.  I will go to the store today and get some unflavored pedia-lite for electro lyte supplementation and use that to mix in the rice cereal instead of just water.  I make the mixture the consistency of a shake.  So if I am unable to get her to take water from the syringe, do you think she is getting enough fluids from her food?
Do you think I should take her back to Dr. C for Sub-Q fluids again?
Also, he has her on the meds only for 10 days-should I ask him  to put her on them for 30 days?
A lot of questions I know, but I'm on a mission here to save this little girl's life.:)
Please let me know what your thoughts are on these points and as always thank you!

Sincerely,
Kristin

Answer
Thanks for the vote of confidence.  I am lucky Dr.C doesnt dislike me....some vets like me, others see me as a major threat and do not appreciate someone like me that has no formal Veterinary training giving suggestions, sometimes even changing their diagnosis when I get letters from people at their wits end when the rat remains ill after treatment. I cant tell you how many times I have found a rat that was not getting proper treatment and was misdiagnosed. Once I told the person what I thought it was and suggested another vet, they would go to the new vet and found me to be right and their old vet was not treating the rat properly. I think I told you this before but one story that comes to mind is when a lady wrote about her rat that had an ongoing abscess for months the vet kept putting the rat under and digging and digging at this abscess to no avail. It kept filling up again and again and finally the Vet said he could not do anything more for the rat and the rat was slowly being poisoned from the bacteria.  I asked for a photoe and was horrified to see that this was NOT an abscess but a tumor that had abscessed.  The dumb Vet had no idxea what he was doing. He was KILLING this poor rat.  I gave her the name of another vet who quicky removed the tumor and said if it wasnt for me sending her to the right vet this rat would be dead from sepsis.   I have found that if you expose yourself to the rat medical world as I have over the years, someone like me can indeed learn even more than some vets. Why? Becuse I focused solely on rats and rodents, from behavior to illnesses and these vets of course do not. Its not even practical to think they can, to be honest, when they have so many other species to care for. So again, some vets appreciate me, others loathe me.  LOL
As long as people need help I am here for them. I hate to undermine a vet and try my best not to do it but if I am sure I am right, I have to speak up for the sake of the rat.  If I am wrong, thats fine, it wont be the first time nor the last, and sometimes I am a bit on the negative side and happy when I am wrong about that, too. I am not arrogant, dont claim to know everything and in fact sometimes being called a rat expert makes me cringe as I feel there is still alot to learn yet, and wonder if the term "expert" can really apply?  I call myself a rat enthusiast if anything.   LOL

Now about your girl....being dehydrated can make any rat feel lousy.  Try giving her strained carrots or sweet potatoes.  Stage 1 is best since it has alot of water in it.  Watermelon mashed up....even melt some vanilla ice cream and add some water to it and let herl ick it from your fingers.  A sick rat hates to chew. It takes too much energy, but they will lick if they feel up to it.   
The dose is right on as far as the meds go, even on the higher side, which is actually the proper way to dose baytril in rats.  As for taking the meds more than 10 days, I usually do suggest that when dealing with mycoplasmosis pulmonis which is when it is causing respiratory infection to avoid relapse  that can scar the lungs.  However, if she is not getting better within three days, I believe it may be time to change to another drug, or add another drug to the regimen, such as amoxil or trimeth-sulfa, which I know Dr.C likes to use as I do, too. I also like cefa-drops for secondary infection.  If your giving gatorade, I would stop. It has a bit too much sodium in it for my liking.  Just my opinion, however, if the Vet said to use it, I dont want to go against him, but I do prefer infants or childrens pedialyte to gatorade.

Anyhow, do try some watermelon mashed up, let her drink the juice.  If you dont want to buy the whole melon, they sell them in small cut up pieces at most grocery stores.

I would give Dr.C a call though and tell him you feel she may be doing a bit worse....he may want to see her, maybe change meds if it has been three days and check for dehydration. You can do that yourself simply by pinching back her skin and if it takes long to go back into position, she needs fluids.    We need to get her eating and drinking....that will give her strength to fight this thing.  Keep her warm and quiet too.  Is she going to the bathroom ok?