Ratablog

See you in a week

We are headed out on vacation today, back in a week. A vet tech from my mom's vet will be pet-sitting the furries, so they will be in good hands (hands very capable of administering medicine, thankfully), but we won't be making any updates.

Thank you all for you kind words about Arwen, and your good wishes for Misto and Leather. Both are doing ok: Leather isn't very pleased with her small cage (she tries to jump out every time I open the door), but I take that to mean the leg isn't hurting too much. It is still somewhat swollen, but the bruising has gone away.

Misto's breathing is still noisy...squeeky, grunty, or wheezy...and I think his sides are heaving a little more than normal. He doesn't have any of the oxygen-deficiency sighs, though...no blue color, his feet and tail are warm, and he certainly has energy and appetite.

I admit I have mixed feelings about going away...this is a vacation with my family and I look forward to being with them, but I wish the gang were in better health.

The posts have been ignoring the rest of the rats lately, so here are a few pictures I found when downloading the memory card:

Nekkid Arthur and fuzzy Rabskuttle. It looks like they are chatting over the back fence.

Sweet and shy Jack.

Oliver and dinner. You can see he doesn't miss many meals. (Poor guy, he misses Leather.)

Arwen

The bad week got much worse today, when we had to say goodnight to Arwen.

Her tumor (on her left side, you can see it in these pictures) ulcerated yesterday. Dr. F helped her cross the bridge this evening.

Quick update...

Misto seems to be doing much better...he's still got some wheezy noise in his breathing, but he's more active. He's back to stealing food from Rabskuttle, so he must be feeling better.

We spent last night at the emergency vet, though...Leather broke her leg after getting her foot caught in the wire mesh of her cage ramp. I've been thinking, ever since she started dragging her back legs months ago, that we should think about moving her to the one level cage. Unlike Bob and Witter, though, she never seemed to struggle with the ramps...so the first time she did, the results were horrid.

The emergency vet suggested amputation, but the prospect of surgery, particularly the risk of anesthesia, on a rat her age had me very concerned. Our regular vet is a bit more conservative, so right now we're keeping her in the small cage with nothing to climb to see how she heals on her own (with Baytril and meloxicam, that is.)

This has not been our best week here...but both Leather and Misto are tough little ratties, and we're grateful things haven't been worse. Thank you all for the get-well wishes and prayers, we appreciate them and we know they are helping!

Another Misto update

I'd say the little guy is acting almost normal, or at least pretty much the way he was before last weekend. He's still a little shy around Rab and Arthur...I don't think he feels up to playing...but he slept curled up with Rabby in the nest ball, and he's eating and drinking fine.

Here he is with his post-Zithromax blueberry. (I read that "rats love the taste" of the cherry-flavored medicine, but whoever wrote that hasn't met Misto. When it comes to medicine, he's like Mikey: he won't eat it, he hates everything.)

He's also enjoyed some tomato (fresh from the garden) and, just before I sat down to type this, a good-sized corner of the toaster pastry that was my dinner...

Misto this evening

Misto still seems to be in some pain. We gave him some children's Motrin--approximately 0.13cc (from the Ratguide Drug Chart). He'll cry out in pain for no apparent reason; Abita pointed out with a chest injury (in his case, a collapsed lung) sometimes just breathing in too sharply can cause you to cry out in pain. However, he is grooming, as you can see in the picture. If you look carefully you can see where some of his fur was shaved away, just under his arm.

Misto update

Thank you all for the good wishes for Misto!

He had his chest tap today. The vet got nearly 30 cc of air from his chest cavity, but his lung did not reinflate. Today's x-rays were a little more clear that yesterday's, though, and he does have some nodules visable on his lungs.

Our vet considered trying a laparoscopy to see if he could figure out what the nodules are (tumors? abscesses?), but he consulted with a doctor who is ever more of an exotics specialist, and he thought the procedure was too risky.

So, we are back to antibiotics and crossing our fingers...

More Misto!

Misto, a few weeks ago, lounging around and smiling.

Fingers crossed for Misto

Our little guy is still having respiratory issues, and it seemed to get worse over the weekend. An x-ray at the vet today shows why: a collapsed lung. (Why he has that is a mystery.)

He'll be back at the vet Thursday to have his chest tapped. We appreciate all your good wishes.

(Also we apologize for the lack of posts and responses...we owe several of you links and e-mails. If only the rats really could type and help us out with web-page-keeping!)