Nursing a rat from nearly disappearance?
I have a rat that is on the brink of death that the doctor think has pneumonia. I have medicine for him and everything and the doctor say the meds will definitely work just have to do some extreme nursing. I am currently keeping him contained by a box with a lamp heating it as the doctor said to do. I am giving him sugar river for hydration through a syringe. I tried crushing up his lab blocks and put it in water and doing through the syringe but it's difficult as it blocks it. Does anyone know a way to acquire some food in a rat that can't move? I thought about trying to mash up some banana through the syringe. Any tips on keeping him alive long satisfactory for the meds to work is great.
This is how my four week old rat died last month. There is pretty much zilch you can really do. I will pray for him.
You can try to keep him hydrated using the syringe for water, but for food you could try putting some moistened lab blocks or such contained by a blender or food processor. Hope this helps!
Answers: I completely understand. I have owned enough rats to hold have been there dolefully many times. Recently, one of my young siamese girls had pneumonia sprung on her. We rushed her to the vet at 10:30 at dark. She was put on oxygen and we had to give her great dosage of drug. Fortunately, she lived and is thriving once again.
Your boy sounds very sick to me and it will be very hard for him to restore your health. Even if he does, he may keep getting sick. But there are several things you can do to help his recovery. Like people when you hold pneumonia you have trouble breathing. When people have trouble breathing they commonly will inhale the steam of a hot shower. This will help clear the lungs and improve the breathing. If you have a stuffy trunk and take a shower, often you will feel much better after. I would simply put the rat within a small cage turn on the shower close to the hottest you can get it to(do not turn on the fan), put the rat close to the shower but not in it and close the door at the rear you. Leave the rat in there for about 15 minutes 3 times a daylight. You will notice immprovement and I strongly recommend trying this. Also, if you have a humidifier, that can be favourable.
Chocolate is very good for sick rats. Yes, I did say chocolate. It is true that chocolate is bad for you to pet dogs, cats. birds, horses, pigs and poultry but not to rats. Aminophylline is a drug derived from Theophylline and both of these drugs are there to help ease breathing within asthma, pneumonia, and bronchitis. These two ingredients are made from all chocolate and can help the rat in a solid form when sick. Do not crush it because it can create the rat choke. There is also caffine in chocolate which will give your rat more energy. My rats similar to demi sweet chocolate Here is an article with more information about chocolate and sick rats. If he is not eating, he may not help yourself to it but you can always try.
http://spazrats.tripod.com/chocolate.htm...
Echinacea can help boost the immune system. There is a liquid echinacea which is made for children that is to say fruit flavored and alcohol-free. Give one or two drops twice daily. Echinacea shouldn't be given all the time, so one week on, and two or three off could be used as a calendar.
It is very serious if your rat is not eating. If you come down to that, don't verbs about his blocks and store bought rodent food. when you are sick you don't eat salad and the normal food right? Give him anything specifically not poisonous that he will eat. Nutri-cal, mashed avocado, some extraordinary favorite of the rat in baby food form work very powerfully. Offer a variety of soft friuts, applesauce and other things in a shallow bowl. See if he eat anything on his own and keep it there even if he one and only eats a little. If he refuses to get through then you must force him. Use a needleless syringe to try to force some food into his mouth. A rat will swallow the food rather than spit it out once you've managed to find it into his mouth. You will need to feed him every 2 hours in small dosages to sustain to promote intestinal motility during illness and give him energy. It is also essential he does not get dehydrated. If he won't drink from a bottle, force feed him hose. You can try keeping the water in a small, shallow bowl. fresh water, or a glucose mixture of 3 teaspoons of honey within 1 pint of warm water (be sure hose is warm enough to dissolve honey and then cooled of late enough so as not to burn rat’s mouth), or Jello wate, drinks such as Gatorade. Dosage every few hours in small amounts.
Also, the heating oil lamp is not as good as a heating pad. If you must use the hurricane lantern make sure it does not go over the entire enclose so he can choose where he wants to go. For additional comfort, I will boil water, pour it into a mini water bottle and wrap it within a thin rag standing up for him to cuddle against. I also blow dry a small square of a blanket so they can lie on it. Make certain to clean the cage very all right everyday.
Now, the medicine the average vet gives you is a tiny amount in a syringe, right? It seems like way to much money for such for a while amount. My friend is a vet and normally I take my rats there because I can't afford to pay envelope $150 per visit like I did that night. She in general gives me the medicine at a discount and I enjoy the pills (before they are crushed into the medicine you give) in a bag. I crush one and mix it next to a bit of vanilla ensure which is a childs drink at grocery stores that is very sweet and packed beside vitamins and minerals. You mix it together and refrigerate it in a small container. That will generally cure the rat within a week or so. And honestly, vet do not know the exact amount of medicine to give a rat. The give small amounts but honestly, additional will not hurt. When my rats are sick, I make my mixture and give them a whole syringe full of pills 3 times a day until I notice a change which is roughly 2 days. Then I only give them it 2 times a day. I pass more if the rat is a large male. No rat I hold ever owned has died over me overdosing. The vet told me this as well. That should be the least of your worries. I am not certain what the medicine your vet is giving you and the amount but the best medicines for pneumonia are baytril and doxycycline. They can be given separate but they work extremely well surrounded by combination. Your can't buy either from a vet without it being perscribed but I can make available you the website I use and my vet uses to order it if you would like for the adjectives. It is much cheaper having ten pills that you can make at home for 10 different times your rat is sick. You will never stipulation to go to the vet again for pneumonia. I have never had a rat near pneumonia that din't get better from this.
If you have a lot of money you can purchase a nebulizer. It is used for general public but it works for rats as well.
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/albuterol.h...
I do hope that your rattie feels better and I would love to be posted on his condition. If you have any more question, feel free to email me.
