My Rattie George

I'm sad tonight. George, (the first rat I ever brought home), an all brown rattie that I saved from being snake food from some dirty-ass pet store, has been ill for over a month now. He has been on two antibiotics at once, Albuterol, and Prednisone twice a day for the past month... and there was only an improvement for a couple of days.

He is constantly wheezing, and doing this coughing thing... trying to cough up the phlegm in his lungs... but rats don't have the ability to do this successfully. When I've been home, I carry his cage from room to room with me (which stresses him out, so I'm leaving him be tonight)... so I can make sure he's OK and so he has company. This may sound silly to some, but I love my rats like they were dogs or cats (of which I am allergic and not crazy about either anyway). My rats are my passion, my "palm dogs."

I came home from work this evening, and George had this red blood-like substance called Porphyrin, coming from his left eye. This means that he has severe respiratory distress, and it is causing him a lot of stress. I imagine he feels like I feel when my asthma is acting up, but I can use my inhaler(s), he cannot. He's just in a constant state of wheezing and difficult breathing. He's still walking around, up and down the levels of his cage, eating and drinking... but he's not doing well. If only he could let me know if / how much he is suffering!

I called my Vet, (the most compassionate and kind man I have ever met), who loves rats and has been treating George this whole time, and we agreed to try one more really strong medication on him for two or three days, see if we can see any improvement. I started him on it about 1/2 hr. ago. Now's the hardest part, which I talked about with Dr. Bock... What do I do if he doesn't get any better by Thurs.? I tried and tried not to get emotional on the phone, but I lost it. I found out my options, and if George hasn't improved by then, then he's not going to and I will have to make an unbelievably difficult decision on what to do. I won't type them here, because it's too difficult to even think about right now. I had my cry earlier and now I'm going to think good thoughts and hope for the best. (I'm in my bedroom, and I can hear him wheezing from the dining room.)

*sigh* This situation is so sad... and so am I.