RIP Scabbers

After 2.5 months, multiple vet visits and various antibiotics, renting an O2 bottle/setting up an oxygen tank, A/D food, echinacea.........Scabbers died this morning. :tears::crying: :crying: We owned him just over 2 years (which made him about 2.5 or so).

Baytril didn't work, the doxycycline worked, while he was on it for awhile. Then after ending the treatments, he got bad, belly breathing again, so the vet had him on doxy and prednisone. That was good, until the end of THAT treatment. Scabbers' latest visit, Dr. F had me start the doxy/pred in the Nutri-Cal again with O2 as needed, but yesterday he had a really rough time of it. He'd been losing weight the last three months, from 600g to 484g.

I had him in the O2 tank, but it wasn't helping this time. He started jumping up and climbing and it turned into staggering convulsions. When I picked him up to hold him, he gasped a couple times and died. :( :( :(

Since Stewie is having breathing problems too, and is being treated (fairly) similarly < Dr. thought it might be asthma/allergies > I went ahead and took Scabbers to OSU's vet diagnotic lab for a necropsy. Got the call this afternoon........Scabbers had an abcess in the chest cavity compressing his lungs and heart. I was afraid I had asphyxiated him on too much oxygen, but Dr. Heidilin(sp) said the abcess was 2" across & was just too much for Scabbers Rat. Dr H will try to get a bacteria swabbing for culture, to see what sort of drugs might have worked.... and for Stewie maybe. Dr F, my vet will be getting a copy of the report, and I'll discuss the possibility of x-rays on Stewie for the same thing (especially since Stewie is Scabbers' son----Stewie is "Scabbers Two"). Stewie and Scabbers were quarantined together, since they were "suffering" the same breathing issues.

Robin is w/her dad, and I've called to let her know of S's passing, and she wants to say good-bye w/a funeral, but with the necrosy, she wouldn't be able to SEE him. I've told Dr. H to keep Scabbers for training, but I may just bring him home and inter him in the back yard before Robin gets home. I don't know. I have to decide by biz hours at 8 a.m.

All I know is, I've been bawling like a baby off and on all day long :( and feel like crap here at work.

Part of having pets, I know, but I HATE IT when they die this way....he was a loved pet and it hurts my heart that he died in such a stressful/painful way. The first treatments, he improved, but then he declined again, until yesterday morning.

I don't want to be second-guessing Dr F. but I'm wondering if there wasn't something MORE to be done. I don't have a warm fuzzy feeling about the treatment applied here but I'm not sure if it's b/c of his dying or b/c of it being a abcess that wasn't detected. I'm not made of money, but when asked, Dr. didn't feel x-rays were indicated.

D*** I HATE this!!

Awwww I'm so sorry to hear of Scabbers passing. 2.5 years is a good long life for a rat though honey so take solace from that if nothing else. A condition like that isn't common and it doesn't sound like much could have been done really, more than the treatments tried. It's never, ever easy to lose a pet and I'm sorry that Scabbers is gone but his suffering is over now and in the end that's the best we can hope for with anything we love dearly.

I'm sorry to hear that Scabbers has passed on. I know it must have been terribly difficult to tell your daughter on the phone, and I'm very impressed at the lengths you have gone to for your beloved pet. Truly, there isn't more you could have done.

Maybe you can posts some of your favorite pics of him to celebrate what wonderful memories you have of him. It sounds like he had a full, long life. :hug:

I'm so sorry to hear this happened. The passing of any pet is hard. They become like your children. Crying is often times the best medicine in a sad situation. It gets all your emotions out and in the open and you feel slightly better after, so go ahead and cry. You have plenty of e-shoulders to cry on here.

Sorry for your loss.

I'm so sorry for your loss of Scabbers. You really did all you could do....RIP Scabbers.

Sweety, atleast you know you did EVERYTHING possible with you knowledge you had. It's sad that in the end it was all for naught, but it's always comforting to know that you did your best even if it wasn't enough in the end.

R.I.P Scabbers.

Hey, sorry! :( *big hugs for you*

Thx, everyone!


Just like Smudge and Happy, it's still VERY hard, and ppl here at work just don't understand that they're family.

I think the hardest part is that he'd look and say "Heeeeeeeelp Meeeeeee" when he couldn't breathe. It looked as if he couldn't understand why there wasn't any air.

They're such intelligent, loving creatures. I don't care what anyone else will say...they're NOT just "dumb animals". Snakes have personalities and quirks like ppl, but the rats are something else entirely! Scabbers wasn't a lap rat, but he was a lover and the last time at the vet, he hugged and stayed in my arms. When the vet tech had him, he kept trying to get away from her and come to me....so I just held him while the tech did the necessary stuff.

I stayed in town and got him back from the lab. When Robin gets home, we'll have a funeral for him and put him out in the back pasture with Butterscotch, say goodbye. I won't let Robin SEE him, but she can at least see the bundle for the goodbyes.

Now the poem The Rainbow Bridge is even MORE poignant, but ***, my heart HURTS!!!! I miss him soooooooo much. What a 18 months! Stripe, Smudge, Happy and Scabbers.

Now Stewie is big man on campus, and unfortunately he's snuffly too. If necessary, I'll have radiographs done this next week to see if he has an abcess too. I don't think so, tho. He hasn't lost wt. like Scabbers did. We'll have to see how things go. I don't know what I'll do if I lose him too. :(


Thanks again, for the "e-shoulders"!

RuLyn

How old is Stewie?

I am so sorry; it definately sounds like you did everything humanly possible for him. May he rest in peace.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

How old is Stewie?

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Jo,

He's one we bred when we decided to start raising our own, and Scabbers had become a pet. He was a year this March.

He's a squishy, lover too. I'm REALLY hoping his IS just allergies, or asthma. He's snuffly, and a rare sneeze, but NO porphorin at all....that's why the vet didn't think anything of Scabbers...more along the lines of asthma or allergies. I'd really HATE to find out Stewie has an abcess, too but no use borrowing trouble. I'll wait for Dr. F to get the necropsy report and then discuss if we'd need to get radiographs.

Until then, I keep dosing him w/the doxycycline/pred like before and watch to see that he doesn't start belly breathing. I'm tempted to return the O2 bottle b4 another month's "rent" is due on it, but I want it on-hand, should Stewie start to need it.

Robin will be her for M's D. Haven't decided yet whether or not to suggest the funeral for Sunday, or Tuesday, when she comes back to spend the week with me.

:( :( :tears:

If it IS allergies, try some Triaminic Orange(chlorpheniramine liquid). If it works, then it's allergies.

You can also do a Baytril/Doxy combo as the pred will reduce his immune system enough to make him sick.

Try the antihistamine first though and see how that works. I've had good luck with it and Benadryl children's liquid.

Sorry about your boy :(

Becky, Do I free choice the antihistamine (or cold medicine)??? Or is it a dosage on a schedule. Do I need to compound it down for the rat size/body weight?


Dosing rats is a lot different for me vs. horses/cows, but I'm learning each time I have to do it, and then I file it away for later reference.


Thanks for your help and suggestions! I'll talk to Dr. F on Monday about the baytril/dox combo as an option.

BTW, Stewie does have some echinacea in a water bottle as free choice, but I remove it every few days for about 5-7 days so he doesn't develop an immunity to its affects.

Spoke w/Dr. Heidl on Tues. and got the written report summary today.

Scabbers' abcess swab culture was identified as actinomyces and the reading said "3+" under GROWTH. And according to both vets, any broad spectrum antibiotic should have killed it. Both Dr. Heidl and my vet, Dr. F didn't know why the doxy and baytril hadn't worked. There was another entry saying pseudomonas with a "<1+" for GROWTH. ???huh? Either there was minimal growth or some growth but not much. I'm going to call Dr. F tomorrow and find out what it means. I do know that Pseud. is one that tends to be a secondary infection.

Dr. F called me yesterday and wanted to discuss the report. He did offer words of encouragement, and that he was "impressed" that I had had the necropsy done, and that I am caring for our pets, but still.......... :tears: :tears:

Just thought I'd post the results here, so maybe someone else won't have to go thru this like we did. :(


R.

You can give the antihistamine every 4-6 hours depending on how he feels. It's children's formula, so I would give maybe 0.1-0.2ml 2-3 times a day. You may have to mix it in something as it tastes like booootay, or just make him take it, LOL.

How long has he been on the steroids? If you can try to wean him off of those and see if just the triaminic orange helps, then it may just be allergies. I have a few that get all snorty and snuffly during the winter(really dry air) and during the summer(pollen, mold, etc in the air). So really it never stops, LOL.

If the antibiotics aren't doing anything, then I'd try that for a week or two and see how he does. Children's Liquid Benadryl works well too.

www.ratguide.com is a great site for dosages and other fun stuff.

Thanks sooooooooooo much for the link Becky!! I've set it as a favorite.


You're always a big help for my ratties.

Western Oregon is meth capitol of the world right now and I can't get the ORANGE Triaminic. Would the cold/allergy Dimetapp work too? I've gotten him on the children's benadryl, but there isn't any improvement yet.


I'll try the grape Dimetapp and see what happens.