[mis.kay]

Alright! I was holding back because I have recently posted a ton of concern threads for my boys. But I've tried everything I can think of!

Renegade had his neuter on Monday, was fine on Tuesday, lethargic on Wednesday and didn't move at all on Thursday. They are in my sisters room so I wasn't able to monitor and apparently asking her to do it was asking too much.

Anyway, I brought him to the vet because when I brought him out of the cage I saw he had lost weight and was very wobbly on his legs, to the point of falling over. Once we got there the vet and I both immediately noticed blood, not porphyrin, blood around his nose. She theorized that breathing in the anesthesia when he went under did some damage to his lungs and we put him on Doxy and Baytril. Also, we concluded that he was very dehydrated and not eating so I came home with prescription A/D canned dog and cat food for urgent care recovery.

I worked all Friday so he came to work with me (I work at a vet clinic so it was acceptable lol) and I syringe fed him 2.5mL water/canned food, and 4mL of water. Now he is eating just a little bit. Ate one single lab block, some baby food, cheerios, bananas and cucumbers (for additional water). He ate some lab block mush (watered down lab blocks for Cheshire cause he can't chew solids). But he's still hesitant to eat a normal amount and he isn't drinking. I tried sugar water. Cheshire loves it! But Reny sniffed it and walked away. I really don't want to keep forcing water down his throat. Any suggestions? Also I'd really appreciate some rich foods that will give him some energy to get moving cause he's pretty stationary.

 

[Kal.burk]

Both of my boys recently had a respiratory infection and stopped eating as well. I bought them Enfamil soy baby formula and mixed up 2oz at a time. They went right to that (fed out of a baby bottle). After that I mixed it with baby food and baby rice cereals and they went back to eating their normal diet.

I hope your rattie gets to feeling better!

 

[Isamurat]

Is there any swelling or heat around his neuter site? The most significant risk when neutering is an infection getting in and tracking back up into the abdomen which can cause sceptacemia, this is particularly risky if your vet didn't close off the inaugural canals (something vets who aren't regulars in specifically rat neuters can miss as you don't do it in most other speicies). I would have a good look and feel round there and possibly ring and ask your vet about that as if it is sceptacemia you need to move fast and get him on a high end dose of Amoxycillin, ideally injected (it acts faster, especially if he's not eating) twice a day. This tends to show itself as extreme lethargy and often they feel cool too, they can also get swollen joints (sceptic arthritis) elsewhere.

Another thing I have come across is a bad reaction to certain anaesthetics, though if she used isoflourine its unlilkey

In terms of getting him to drink, if he's bad then take him along and ask for some sub cut fluids. this is a first aid / emergency measure which can give them the fluids and give them a temporary boost of energy in order to drink on there own. I'd try offering different flavours, I recently had luck with cold tea with a badly ill rat, fruit juices, honey water etc can also be good. Syringing can help temporarily but can also cause aspiration.

I do like baby food at times like this, but you can bulk it up if he's eating it reliable with some soft cooked carbs like cooked rice, egg noodles, pasta etc. Senior dog food is also handy, especially some of the nice quality natural stuff

 

[mis.kay]

Thank you Isamurat. He's better now, eating and drinking. And it wasn't anything wrong with his incision site, that looks amazing. The doctor knew what she was doing there. He just must have had a bad reaction though Cheshire went under the same stuff and was fine. Reny may just have weak lungs. Thanks to both of you. I may need this for future reference.