[Monkey]

I haven't posted much since asking questions about Chihiro's health.

This last week I noticed our beloved rat Chihiro wasn't eating like she usually did and she has slowed down considerably. We have reached the three month point our vet gave us after we had a cancerous tumor removed and we just found another one under her left front leg.

Up until a few hours ago, Chihiro was still moving around quite a bit but just sleeping a lot and still would take food from us. She is now dragging herself and can't hold her food in her front paws.

I don't know what to do for her. My daughter is just holding and cuddling her. I think we may lose her tonight.

We are so heartbroken

Deb

 

[OnlyOno]

oh i'm so sorry to hear that. rats can go downhill incredibly fast since they are often the type to try to hide any injury or illness until the very worst. best of luck to you and your girl, i'm sure your ratty knows that you have done the best you can for her and she is thankful that you are there for her.

 

[twitch]

that almost sounds like a PT rather then cancer. i've experienced both and the malignant cancer is a slow, drawn out death whereas the PT or pituitary tumor is much more sudden. they go from normal to not being able to hold anything and toppling over themselves in about as much time as it take to blink to it would seem. but that can be a long death as well. Lyiint, who i suspected of having a stroke until the vet diagnosed the PT, lasted full week of nursing care before i had her put down, i don't know how long it would have taken for her to go on her own. but the symptoms of a PT and a stroke are also very similar. when you hold her look at her head from above and see if one eye is larger then other. if it is this would be the pressure of the tumor in her brain pushing everything out of alignment.

for future reference though, all tumors are cancer but not all of them are malignant (makes them sick). most tumors a rat gets will be benign actually. however, the placement of some and the way they are attached to the body can make difficulties for our rats. even the PT is benign, unfortunately they do not have tools small enough to remove the tumor from the brain and it causes problems as it grows and pushes against the brain.

for further reading on these subjects you will want to go to ratguide.com, there's a lot of good information there.

 

[Monkey]

Re: Chihiro not doing well-Update

We took Chihiro into the vet this morning as she made it through the night. After talking with the vet and holding Chihiro for a couple hours, my daughter who has raised her since she was a baby made the decision to put Chihiro to sleep.

She was just wasn't the same. From about 8:30 last night until this morning she went from playing, eating to not being able to crawl on her feet. She would pull herself around or just lay still to be cuddled and loved and sleep. She no longer could hold food between her paws to nibble on it, raise herself to her water bottle to get a drink. It was shocking to see how she changed in a short 12 hours.

As hard as it was to do this, probably for the best as we knew this wasn't how Chihiro was. She was the little rattie who would roll her roll around ball from the living room to my daughter's room. She was the one who when she saw you near her cage, would run to her door to get petted and held or to receive a treat.

This is just heartbreaking!!