RatCreature (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ratcreature) wrote2006-04-14 10:13 pm
ratcreature) wrote2006-04-14 10:13 pm
Entry tags:
rat health + some photos
Dustin's condition took a turn for the worse today. While he ate the teaspoon of yogurt I mixed his medicine in this morning, he was lethargic during playtime. He came out of the cage, but then just sat, moved around rather slowly if at all, and mostly just napped curled up on my bed. And his breathing has started to sound awful, not just the sounds he previously made, but sounding labored. And he has no energy or appetite, though he did eat the bit of mashed potato pap I mixed his evening meds in, so that's something at least (not that the meds seemed to have helped him much), but he showed no interest in his regular food, and didn't even show enthusiasm for treats he'd normally perform acrobatics to get.
If today hadn't been a public holiday, I would have brought him to the vet. As it is I plan to take him tomorrow morning, because my vet has brief regular opening hours on Saturday morning, which I hope still holds true even though it's the long Easter holiday weekend, rather than waiting until Tuesday which is when I was scheduled to bring him to the vet again. I mean, decided to wait out today, rather than trying to figure out some emergency vet service that might be able to do something for Dustin, but clearly Tuesday is too long the way he feels. For the first time since he's started making these sounds he seems truly sick, instead of just making weird breathing noises. Why do these kinds of things always happen during holidays? All week he was okay, I mean the meds still had no real positive effect, but he wasn't sicker either, and he ate and played, if slightly less energetic, but I was told that the meds supposed to drain water from the lung could be a bit taxing, so here was no reason not to give it time until Tuesday, like the vet said, before trying something else. Anyway, I hope Dustin will hang in there and that the vet will be able to figure something out to help him, because clearly the last vein of treatment didn't do the trick.
Anyway, I thought I share some more recent photos of Dustin to show you all what a terrific, friendly and cute rat he is (even though his fur never quite reached the height of softness and glossiness Ben's has, despite Dustin grooming himself more often).
You can see a whole lot more earlier photos of him and Ben, starting from when I got them only five weeks old and weighing a mere 75g each (rather than the about 400g now) in my rat picture gallery, there's even a few earlier one showing Dustin still naked and a bit later with fur but still closed eyes in a heap with his siblings.
If today hadn't been a public holiday, I would have brought him to the vet. As it is I plan to take him tomorrow morning, because my vet has brief regular opening hours on Saturday morning, which I hope still holds true even though it's the long Easter holiday weekend, rather than waiting until Tuesday which is when I was scheduled to bring him to the vet again. I mean, decided to wait out today, rather than trying to figure out some emergency vet service that might be able to do something for Dustin, but clearly Tuesday is too long the way he feels. For the first time since he's started making these sounds he seems truly sick, instead of just making weird breathing noises. Why do these kinds of things always happen during holidays? All week he was okay, I mean the meds still had no real positive effect, but he wasn't sicker either, and he ate and played, if slightly less energetic, but I was told that the meds supposed to drain water from the lung could be a bit taxing, so here was no reason not to give it time until Tuesday, like the vet said, before trying something else. Anyway, I hope Dustin will hang in there and that the vet will be able to figure something out to help him, because clearly the last vein of treatment didn't do the trick.
Anyway, I thought I share some more recent photos of Dustin to show you all what a terrific, friendly and cute rat he is (even though his fur never quite reached the height of softness and glossiness Ben's has, despite Dustin grooming himself more often).
You can see a whole lot more earlier photos of him and Ben, starting from when I got them only five weeks old and weighing a mere 75g each (rather than the about 400g now) in my rat picture gallery, there's even a few earlier one showing Dustin still naked and a bit later with fur but still closed eyes in a heap with his siblings.
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