Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / February 2006

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it. Here are some answers to your
questions  and comments.

--Did you see a rat savvy vet?
A) The vet hosipital we took her to is recommended on www.rmca.org. I
believe they are good. Other than that I dunno what to say :)

--What antibiotics is she on?
A) "Baytril liquid suspension"

--Why did the vet decide it was constipation? Did he feel a hardness in

her rectal area? Did he check for a blockage? Have you seen her feces?
A) I am not really sure why the vet ("she") thought it's constipation.
She said the xrays didn't find any masses and no sign of respiratory
illness and then mentioned "constipation" because she said Frenchy's
having some pain in her stomach as she "squealed" when she was held and
touched around the stomach. The rectal area does not show any signs of
illness and her feces are just as normal.

--I have noticed a rat in pain will do a lot of chewing/eating useless
stuff.
*) She eats her food better than 1-2 days ago.She still likes the
Gerber baby's Mango baby food. We gave it to her yesterday and today in
addition to her normal food (Reggie Rat stuff she usually liked very
much before getting sick  - now she's a bit selective and picks certain
parts of this Reggie Rat mix)

--Not wanting to come out of the cage, another sign of pain/sickness.
*)She does come out of the cage and enjoys running around. But not as
enthusiastic as before. I have noticed that the fingers on her "hands"
and "legs" do not have as much grip as before. Previously she could
easily climb wired stuff - almost like the "pet birds" do. Now, she can
not go on steep inclined surfaces because she does not have a good hold
with her fingers. Maybe related to some "nervous/neural condition"?
For e.g. if she is kept on top of the cage, she is shaky and nervous
because it's a wire cage and she is afraid her legs will slip thru the
holes between the wires.So she pretty much prefers flat surfaces
(floor, carpet etc).

--The vet was able to take xrays? Did he sedate her first or was she
lethargic enough to not move during the xray?

*) When the vet took x-rays she spent the night before in the hospital
and she is pretty sick the day before. I think she was not sedated for
the x-ray because the day before x-ray she was pretty much sedentary.

--What do you usually feed her?
1) Reggie Rat  2) Forti-Diet (Kaytee brand)

--She does sound like a very sick rat. But I would bring her to a
second
vet, one that is more experienced with pet rats.

*) She is doing much better and I hope this continues to get better. I
wonder if she continues this way after we stop giving her the
anti-biotic (it'll last 2-3 more days)

Things that still concern me are:
1) not enough (or "no") response to my calling sounds.
2) still prefers to go into her cozy "home" inside the cage.
previously (before the sickness), she is mostly eager waiting to go out
of the cage and only goes inside her "home" if she is bored/sleepy or
tired after exercise.
3) still eating paper!

But overall I am (and she is) much happier than when she got sick 5-6
days ago.