Daisy

Question
QUESTION: Hi Sandra, the site said I had too many follow up questions so I am posting a new one . Thank you for your prompt follow ups.For dosage of motrin, Daisy weighs roughly 1 lb. and that was on FEB. 12TH. I'm not sure if she has dropped more weight(most likely) What a scare!!, Sorry to hear about your little guy. How is bumblefoot treated, in case my next rat gets it? Not sure where your from but wish you were near Thousand Oaks, Ca. to meet Daisy. Thanks for all your info. You have a nice approach to handling our aging furry friends.Oh buy the way...you got my vote! I hope you will be with this site for a while, we plan on more rat in the future. We're hooked.

ANSWER: Hi Kris

Daisy is about average weight...my males are cows tipping the scales at least 2 lbs or more. They are not fat, though, they are really muscular and they take two hands to hold them (if that means much since my hands are the size of a 12 year old kid being I am petite  LOL)

Bumblefoot is the worst!  If you think "bed sore" or "pressure sore" this pretty much explains bumblefoot.  It was once thought to be caused by the rat walking on wire cage floors and so rat keeper started to cover the floors with anything from self stick tiles to rubber placemats etc...I use plastic needlepoint canvas so it can be easily cut to size and removed easily for easy cleaning and also there are tons of holes for drainage. However this doesnt stop bumblefoot from happening either. What is it?  Its infection of the soles of the rats feet that starts from a small cut. If they stand in any soiled area of the cage, from feces to urine etc...normally this isnt a big deal, but with a heavier rat, the constant friction and pressure of the feet being pressed into any soiled area can set off infection. These sores get bloody and form blisters.  Its real hard to clear it up too and it matters what kind of bacteria it is, also. Oral antibiotics and antibiotic ointments usually work too in most cases if its a staph infection but sometimes its a fungus. They may need biopsied if they dont start to heal to determine what type of organism it is that is causing the infection.  Padding the cage and making things soft to keep pressure off their feet really helps too....and advil for mild pain. The only complication would be the infection migrating into the foot up the leg or involving the bone, but this is in severe cases where no treatment was taken.

Also, if for some reason reason you cannot reach me here, you can find me at sandyscrittercity@yahoo.com and you can reach me through my website too on the ABOUT ME page.

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/

Also, I cant remember if we talked about vet care. Do you have a vet> If not, allow me to find you one that is geared to care for rats.

As for what I live, I am on the opposite coast (North Carolina) but I am no born and bred southern belle. LOL! I was born and raised in Ohio for 33 of my 44 years so I am a southern yankee. :)   

keep me posted about little Daisy!


Sandy

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

QUESTION: Hi Sandy,
so on the childrens liquid motrin for daisy's weight, how much do we give her? does it come with a dropper? Thx! Kris

ANSWER: Oh sheesh...sorry, I totally forgot to include the dose.

I dont suppose you happen to have a syringe (minus the needle) handy?

If not, thats ok.......the childrens motrin will be

Ibuprofen 100mg (NSAID) in each 5 mL (1 tsp)

We want her to have about 15 mls to start, so if you want to use measuring spoon thats fine, give her just about 1/4 of a tsp. or
0.5mls  (using 1/4 of a tsp is easier really, just say about 2 drops, not dropper fulls, but DROPS.

Hope that makes sense.....



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

QUESTION: It just so happens we do have a syringe minus the needle, from the medication she was on a few mos. ago. it goes from (0.2 to 1.0) where on the syinge should I fill it to. And yes a friend with rats recommended the Conejo Valley Veterinary clinic and hospital, Daisy was treated there. I wouldn't mind another recommendation in the Conejo Valley, Thousand Oaks area(91360) Thank you!  Kris

Answer
Oh good, you have a syringe! Go ahead and dose her 0.2mls


Although the clinic your friend gave you treats small pets, they are not certified exotic vets which doesnt always mean its a bad thing. I would ask if they have the resources to keep a critical animal overnight and if they have the resources to treat a critically ill rat. They should provide enclosures that pump in oxygen and also are able to nebulize the rat. They should also be equipped to give the rat IV fluids which means they should have on hand 30 gage needles and they should have every medication from A to Z on hand and should always be able to mix it into a palatable elixir rather than hand people tablets and tell them to crush XYZ part of the pill and feed it to them in food. This is substituting and doesnt need to be this way when there are indeed available medications that have your rat begging to take the meds. My rats grab the syringe and run like crazy with it wanting to lick whatever residue they can from it. LOL
Anyhow, if they have everything they need to accomodate your rat including resources for emergency care (and overnight care which I think I said already LOL, senior moment, I forget easily!) If just about everything had a YES to it, the other vet would be ok, but man on man if only this vet below wasnt 59 minutes from you.
I would keep this name, however, for a situation that hopefully will never occur, that may be too hard to handle for other vets that may not be properly equipped.  The vet below is a highly noted exotic Vet but I did a driving directions thingy and he is an hour from your zip code. Dang!   This isnt so bad but if there was a big emergency such as bleeding or respiratory distress, an hour is an eternity. My vet is 40 minutes from me and I have gotten pulled over before by the NC State Trooper and those southern boys have serious attitudes...luckily I cried and said my rat was gasping and her feet were blue due to lack of oxygen and he let me go. This happened twice. The second time I did get a written warning...but I was hauling my cookies 80 mph in a 65 mph zone which can mean revoking your license if you get more than a few of these tickets.

         



Dr. Michael Rittenberg
Foothill Pet Hospital    
675 Cieneguitas Rd.
Santa Barbara CA 93110
Phone:    805-967-0119
Website: www.foothillpethospital.com

***********
This vet below, Dr. Mary Heiser, is a certified exotic specialist also but I do not know anything about her other than she is indeed certified by the board and is a member of the Association of Exotic animal veternarians.


If you want me to, I can call the vets above and ask them the questions that I just discussed above. I guess I am paranoid about vets now since I work with them closely and have seen so many non exotic vets cause more harm than good. Alot of vets state they see exotic pets and even go as far as to say they they have a "special interest" in them which is misleading to the public and they assume they are true exotic vets, but they arent.
I almost had a vet fired for this years ago (she killed my rat..I have a story about him on my website called WHAT IS A FUGS.  


Let me know how else I can help....