RIP Scabbers

[sweety314]

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. 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!!

[frankykeno]

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.

[tigerlily]

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.

[Jay_Bunny]

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.

[bigjerm]

Sorry for your loss.

[ZEKESMOM]

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

[Gooseman]

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.

[Laooda]

Hey, sorry! *big hugs for you*

[sweety314]

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

[frankykeno]

How old is Stewie?