Advice needed

Hi All!

It's been a few weeks since I last posted, been so busy and had a week's
holiday aswell. One of my friends looked after my two rats whilst I was
away and they were spoiled rotten! An interesting observation that we both
made was that my ratties breathing problems seemed to ease quite a bit
whilst they were with him. My boys are at the vets quite frequently being
treated with anti-biotics and the like for respiratory problems, yet one
trip away and their healths seemed to improve drastically. It must be where
I live, as if I think about it I have been suffering more than usual with
allergies since moving to this flat a few years ago. I live right at the
side of a very busy main road and above a printers - could be a mixture of
the pollution from the road and paper dust etc from the shop below me. My
poor little rats' chests. Sometimes our animals get ill and you don't tend
to think of things like air pollutants.

Oscar, the eldest of my two boys, is in a bad way at the moment. He hasn't
been in top health since Christmas, when he lost a lot of weight and never
re-gained it. But he's plodded on and has been content to lounge around
outside his cage bruxing away! On Thursday night however I noticed he
didn't seem good at all, his balance had gone to pot and he was acting very
disorientated. I thought it seemed like he had had a stroke or something.
I took him to the vets on Friday and he thinks it could have been a stroke
or is possibly a middle ear infection. Anyway he was injected with baytril
and betsolan and I am treating him with baytril at home. He has been on the
anti-biotics two/three days now, but there is no improvement. Oscar isn't
eating much at all and won't even have water, not even a few drops off my
finger. I managed to tempt him with a little baked bean juice, a tiny bit
of chocolate and half a grape earlier, but I'm so worried about him not
drinking. He is such a skinny little thing and has no energy for anything.
However, he seems comfortable and not in pain and sits grinding his teeth
when I take him out and cuddle him. I would be grateful for others
opinions - would you force him to have some water (thought if I used a
syringe and gently put some drops in his mouth it would be okay)? Am I
right in assuming so long as he's grinding his teeth it means he's content
with things and isn't suffering?

Your replies would be much appreciated!

Tracey

Hi Tracey, I have the understanding that when an animal wants to let go-
they normally stop eating AND drinking. If anyone else feels this way or
disagrees please add. Is he also having much more cuddles than usual, as
they always seem to get so cuddly when it is time for them to go? Which is
nice in a way as you get some real nice time with then, especially if they
have been non cuddly the rest of their lives.

I believe that he may be shutting down. Let me know what happens.
"Tracey" <talton DeleteThis @members.v21.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3f240b98@news.greennet.net...
> Hi All!
>
> It's been a few weeks since I last posted, been so busy and had a week's
> holiday aswell. One of my friends looked after my two rats whilst I was
> away and they were spoiled rotten! An interesting observation that we
both
> made was that my ratties breathing problems seemed to ease quite a bit
> whilst they were with him. My boys are at the vets quite frequently being
> treated with anti-biotics and the like for respiratory problems, yet one
> trip away and their healths seemed to improve drastically. It must be
where
> I live, as if I think about it I have been suffering more than usual with
> allergies since moving to this flat a few years ago. I live right at the
> side of a very busy main road and above a printers - could be a mixture of
> the pollution from the road and paper dust etc from the shop below me. My
> poor little rats' chests. Sometimes our animals get ill and you don't
tend
> to think of things like air pollutants.
>
> Oscar, the eldest of my two boys, is in a bad way at the moment. He
hasn't
> been in top health since Christmas, when he lost a lot of weight and never
> re-gained it. But he's plodded on and has been content to lounge around
> outside his cage bruxing away! On Thursday night however I noticed he
> didn't seem good at all, his balance had gone to pot and he was acting
very
> disorientated. I thought it seemed like he had had a stroke or something.
> I took him to the vets on Friday and he thinks it could have been a stroke
> or is possibly a middle ear infection. Anyway he was injected with
baytril
> and betsolan and I am treating him with baytril at home. He has been on
the
> anti-biotics two/three days now, but there is no improvement. Oscar isn't
> eating much at all and won't even have water, not even a few drops off my
> finger. I managed to tempt him with a little baked bean juice, a tiny bit
> of chocolate and half a grape earlier, but I'm so worried about him not
> drinking. He is such a skinny little thing and has no energy for
anything.
> However, he seems comfortable and not in pain and sits grinding his teeth
> when I take him out and cuddle him. I would be grateful for others
> opinions - would you force him to have some water (thought if I used a
> syringe and gently put some drops in his mouth it would be okay)? Am I
> right in assuming so long as he's grinding his teeth it means he's content
> with things and isn't suffering?
>
> Your replies would be much appreciated!
>
> Tracey
>
>