Eve, Robin, and Ivy

We reached out to Robin, Ivy, and Eve's owner when we noticed they were advertising their rats that were in poor condition; all rats appeared underweight, and Robin had a very large mammary tumour on her thoracic chain.

Fortunately, we were given permission to take on their three rats on the 14th of December 2019.

Once we got the girls home, it was clear they were emaciated and bloated due to malnutrition; weighing around 135g. As we were approaching Christmas, we weren't able to have Robin's tumour operated on until the new year. This was potentially a good thing, as she could've metabolised drugs differently due to emaciation.

Despite being skinny, the three girls were beyond friendly and appeared bright within themselves.

Robin:

As highlighted, Robin was unable to have her tumour removed until the new year.

The tumour was very large and in a more problematic location due to local veins, arteries, and structures. Nonetheless, the vet still believed it was very possible to remove.

The surgery was a huge success! Robin appeared to handle the post-operative pain (she was given pain-killers) better than the restrictions due to her tumour.

Warning: Graphic Content!

Other than some scar tissue, Robin healed beautifully. 

Robin developed a retrobulbar abscess that caused unilateral proptosis.

After several weeks of oral Baytril and topical lubricating eye drops, Robin's eye returned back to its usual position. She's shown no signs of infection since.

Robin is available for adoption with her companion, Eve. The pair love to give out lots of licks and are very friendly. For more information visit our website.

Eve:

Eve was by far the most underweight rat we've ever seen - we've seen Syrian hamsters weigh more than she did!

Fortunately, she gained weight very quickly and soon started to look like a 'normal rat'!

Eve developed rather significant respiratory symptoms that have still have an effect on her to this day.

She developed what appeared to be pleural effusion and pulmonary oedema (cardiogenic?).

Pleural effusion: informally referred to as 'water on the lungs', pleural effusion describes a build-up of fluid in the pleural cavity.
Pulmonary oedema: excessive fluid in the lungs, usually caused by heart issues.

Naturally, we questioned if congestive heart failure (CHF) - cardiomyopathy? - was causing her symptoms. CHF can be triggered by respiratory infections. 

Eve was introduced to oral Frusemide/Furosemide, oral Terbutaline Sulfate, and oral Baytril/Enrofloxacin for several weeks.

Amazingly, Eve isn't on medication anymore. She still has a slightly increased respiratory effort and the faintest respiratory noise when auscultated, but is otherwise ok. We can't say for sure what the exact cause is and she may be more prone to health issues in the future.

For now, we're glad Eve is happy.

Ivy:

Ivy had the most considerable bloat secondary to malnutrition upon arrival. With time and a proper diet, this disappeared. 

We discovered Ivy has a chronic respiratory disease: a common health issue amongst rats. It started with a mild upper-respiratory infection; she was introduced to oral Baytril/Enrofloxacin for 2 weeks. Her symptoms subsided, so we discontinued medication once the course was complete.

Within a week, her URI returned. She was re-introduced to antibiotics, oral Bisolvon/Bromhexine, and non-steroidals for 30-days. As the weeks went by, her symptoms persisted. She was then introduced to Ronaxan/Doxycycline and oral Terbutaline Sulfate.

Recently, Ivy has been considerably dyspnoeic. We discontinued NSAIDs and introduced her to oral Prednisolone/Prednisone, and nebulized isotonic saline (0.9% NaCl).

If her symptoms do not improve or worsen, then a chest x-ray may be prudent.