Fancy Rats Forum

Hopefully you're sorted with one of those options :) If you want an alternative, I can highly recommend Heron Vets, although it is in Morden so further away from you. They've done castrations for over 30 of my rats, plus tons of other surgeries, and they seem to see quite a few other rats there too,...

Firstly, I'm so sorry you lost your boy :( I will do my best to decode the notes for you. Firstly the diazepam (a sedative) is a concern to me. Rats usually do best when given only gas anaesthetic (like isofluorane). I can't say how much effect this would have had, especially as there is no dose giv...

All of my rats are routinely neutered (unless they are elderly on arrival, or have very poor health), and I feel it's made a big difference to the number of mammary tumours we see. There is also the benefit of not having to worry about things like pyo or other uterine/ovarian issues cropping up. I w...

Sorry to hear you're having a rough time of it :( What did the vet actually check? Did she observe her moving around and eating/washing? Did she feel down her spine and manipulate her joints to check for arthritis type issues? Did she check grip and reflexes to see if there are any neurological issu...

It's great to hear there is going to be another rat friendly vet around very soon :) I tried to complete the survey, but had a few problems in doing so (always one who has to be difficult, eh?! :oops: ). Hope it's alright to post some comments/questions here, as I would like to contribute but want t...

Glad to hear he's doing well :) I agree with RedFraggle though that an ACEi (fortekor or alternative) is needed to actually treat the heart problems, as opposed to just relieving some symptoms. And yep, the tablets are quite easy to split. Fortekor tablets are especially good as they crumble down re...

Most people use fortekor as the ACE inhibitor when treating rat heart issues (I'd expect that one to be your vet's go-to), but benazapril is an alternative. Fortekor is benazepril ;) Apparently sometimes an X-ray can be done without anaesthetic (although I couldn't see any of mine sitting still lon...

Oh that's such good news :D Fingers crossed his neuter and recovery go smoothly, and that the intro plans work out so he can learn the joy of having rat friends :luck: I'm sorry to hear about Anthony, though :cry: At least you had made them aware he wasn't well, so he did have treatment and wasn't a...

Should the vet give her painkillers/antibiotics I would discuss this with your vet beforehand. As I always have oral medications on hand here, I start them on antibiotics the night before the surgery (so it is already in the system at the point of surgery), and continue for about 5-7 days, assuming...

How is Hugo doing now? Hope he's feeling much better

Thanks Beri I would agree re company after ops. Maybe if you do find anything, it would be worth a new topic, could make for an interesting discussion? I don't want to derail this one too much

I can't say for sure what the kindest procedure is, but the method we usually use, and I am most comfortable with, is sedative, followed by gas, then final injection. They have a sedative injection under the skin (I think this is domitor and torbugesic, but don't quote me on it), so they fall asleep...

If I'm remembering correctly, you took in a rat a while back that had been found outside - had he been treated for parasites before having contact with your others? If I've got you muddled up with someone else, then please ignore me

It's difficult to say what the cause could be - it might be that he did some damage to himself when freaking out, it might be that he was already in pain and that's why he went for Maxi, or I suppose it could be an extreme stress reaction. One of my boys has an exaggerated curve in his spine, puttin...

I'm glad you're feeling a little more hopeful :) I don't mind questions, I'll do my best to help :) The dose for Hepatosyl Plus has usually been around 1/4-1/3 of a 50mg capsule once daily. I think we may have increased to twice a day after a while with a couple of them. I'm afraid I don't have a do...