rat health...

[ratcreature]

Sigh. My rat Dustin is on antibiotics again. He isn't feeling bad or anything, but a while ago he started to make these soft cheeping/squeaking noises sometimes when he breathed, and occasionally he gets this weird hiccup-like thing. Frankly at first it didn't really register as a symptom of anything, because he'd just make these sounds, and then not, and he himself doesn't seem bothered, that is he doesn't change his behavior at all when he starts to make either of these noises, and also eats, sleeps and plays normally. (Obviously if he had trouble breathing or had no appetite or energy I would have brought him to the vet right away.)

But gradually both have become rather frequent, that is he'd have these several times a day this week. So I brought him to see the vet today, who prescribed the antibiotic. The vet also tried whether Dustin would tolerate getting salt water dribbled into his nose (the problem seems to be mostly his upper airways, which I guess is better than if he had trouble with his lungs), but he didn't like that at all, and not even the vet managed it, so I wouldn't have a chance, and that was scrapped. Well, at least Dustin didn't try to bite anyone, just struggled, and squeaked unhappily. Also he seems to be sulking right now.

So the next ten days I'll have the fun to get my rat to take his antibiotics. The symptoms ought to be better by day five, if not I'll have to bring him again, so that something else can be tried. I rather worry about his respiratory problems, because he's still quite young (eight months) and the rats I had previously only had such infection issues when they were older. I mean, perhaps I ought to have brought him to the vet even earlier, but despite a vague "better safe than sorry" approach I have to vet visits, I would have also felt kind of weird to have my rat examined for the first unusual sound right away, when he doesn't seem ill. That's possibly issues from my own avoidance of doctor visits, which I shouldn't let influence the health care for my pets, but well, it's not like he appreciates doctors either.

The inevitable guilt and worry that comes along with keeping a pet, I guess, at least if it's one with a somewhat delicate constitution. And really, you wouldn't think that of rats if you don't have some, but I'm firmly convinced by now that either they solely survive vermin conditions in the wild because they procreate quickly, and a lot--what with their issues of being easily affected by drafts, prone to allergies, infections, and what have you, though there may be hardy exceptions--or that having lab ancestors for two hundred generations or so must have thoroughly ruined their robustness.

Comments

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

::pets your ratty::

I totally know how you feel vis a vis the guilt and worry. I'm usually more convinced that my pets are sick because of something I've done than most of my friends are when their kids are ill.

[ratcreature]

Yeah. I think it's because they can't effectively communicate about their symptoms, so you're always unsure, and also there's this irrational idea that unlike humans animals really only ought to be ill because of injury, because after all there's no vets in the wild or something (kind of like a twisted variant of the idea about human illness that people themselves are at fault, and must have done something that made them sick). So for pets if they're ill you must have done something wrong, and not provided them with the optimal care and surroundings.

And pet books and such aren't helping. I mean really, I now dust and vacuum far more often in the room my rats share with me than in the rest of my apartment, because the pet books and such have told me all about how rats don't react well to all kinds of allergens... it might not be a bad thing that I clean areas so my rats have appropriate surroundings, but before reading pet books I would have never thought that my living space as it was, was not a suitable habitat for *rats*. I may not be the tidiest or most cleaning focused person, but it's not like it was totally gross before, or anything. (With the rats I had previously I didn't bother to read up on much rat specific stuff, but instead just went with general rodent care advice, so back then I at least didn't worry that my slovenliness might make my rats sick... *headdesk*)

[littlegreenworm.livejournal.com]

When I had my rats and they got the sneezles, my vet told me to buy tetracycline capsules from the fish section of the pet store and empty about 1/2 a capsule into their water bottles (which I changed twice a day).

The only way I ever got mine to snort the saline was to scruff them and hold them down- which I just couldn't bring myself to do often enough to make it worthwhile.

Hope Dustin starts feeling better soon!

*ratty scratches*

[ratcreature]

Thank you, I'll pass on the scratches as soon as he stops sulking and is willing to come to me to cuddle again. *g*

I usually give the antibiotic dose in a bit of mush. The vet somehow manages to give it the rat into its mouth with a syringe (one without a needle tip of course), but when I try that method the rat inevitably struggles a lot and I don't get it in deep enough to avoid the rat spitting it out again, and almost no medicine ends up swallowed, so I mix the dose with some of his favorite food. The antibiotic the vet prescribed is fairly bitter, but mixed with these mushy cooked foods (which they love, obviously, but don't usually get) like mashed potatoes, soft rice pudding, or baby food pap, he'll eat all of it, antibiotic included and I can get the dose exactly right.