Medical question..please read

[JulesDoug]

This has been a very bad weekend  :'(This morning I came downstairs to find that Babs the friendliest and most adventurous bright rattie had anaged to escape.
I found her in my dogs mouth.
Winnie my whippet had her in her mouth but had not clamped on her, I rescued Babs.. there was no skin broken judt very soggy..I thought we had got away with it..we hadn't.
Babs was Very cold ...I warmed her on a hot water bottle and travelled 2hours to get to my rattie vets emergency practise. By then she was dragging her back legs, nothing was broken just shock. Vet gave her an antibiotic shot just in case and a pain killer just in case, via an insulin needle to minimise the pain. He expected her to improve slowly.
Babs hasn't got any better she is ruffled breathing heavily and lethargic...won't come out  of the cage..have givin her sugar water on vets advice to stop her becomming hypoglycaemic..
She has nothing broken , no internal injuries but she looks like shes on deaths door this is over 12 hours since it happened PLEASE any advice ASAP waoul be great.

[Ali]

Oh Jules, what a weekend, I'm so sorry to hear about Babs  .

I don't know anything about this, but if the vet's sure there's nothing broken, and no internal injuries, it sounds like she has just gone into shock. I don't really know how you treat it except keep her hydrated and warm. I know in humans it can be serious, but its treatable and I hope you'll find she comes around very soon. As long as you're doing all you can for her physically, she can cope with getting over the mental shock. Ask Andy how you treat someone going into shock, he might know something else you could do for Babs.

Is she still in with the other girls? Hopefully she'll get some comfort from them. Also, I know you've had a crap week and probably need to collapse, but I'd stay up with her as long as possible if you can (probably a daft thing to say, I expect you're planning to).

Poor baby, and poor you. For me it's a bit of a case of 'there but for the grace of God....' reading your message. I put the boys to bed last night about 10 and didn't touch the cage until I went to pet them mid-morning today. It was then I discovered that I hadn't shut the cage door properly last night. You've got the same as me - the doors open in such a way that it's hard for them to get out even if you haven't fastened it, but Fly has got the knack and does it easily. All that time the door was open the cats had been wandering around and everything. I nearly had a heart attack. Just wanted you to know that this kind of thing happens to us all - you were just unlucky today.

Sending you and Babs loads of love
Ali

[joolzratbag]

I think, as you say, she is suffering from extreme shock from the stress of being in the dogs mouth - the most important thing is to keep her as warm as possible, and leave her in a warm, dark, quiet place - only disturbing her to give her the sugar water - which should also be warmed up - so that it feels warm to the touch.

Although she may have no broken legs - is there a chance she has damaged or bruised her spine? - was the painkiller also an anti-inflammatory? -  that would be helpful.

If there is no improvement over the next 12 hours - she may need another vet visit - could the vet visit you instead of stressing her further?

Sorry I can't help more
Good luck to her!

[emmamay]

 :ooh dear ! lot of rattie hufs and kisses , and all our love and support.
maybe if you talk to her calmly, i know when something happens like that its hard to stay calm!
but lots of love and support
best wishes

[Dearpie]

My first thought was if she's not injured, then I'd be carrying her around tucked in my shirt.  Then you'd be able to talk sweetly to her, keep her warm,  pet her and know exactly how she's doing at all times.  Poor all of ya's .....     Rattie hugs to your entire gang there.

[scout]

My first rat had a similar experience - a dog jumped up on my back and grabbed her off my shoulder. I rushed her to the emergency vet with symptoms very similar to your girl. The x-rays revealed no broken bones and no internal injuries. She stayed overnight on oxygen and appeared to get better.

I took her in to my regular vet 2 days later (on a Monday). My vet looked at the x-rays, did a thorough exam and decided that my poor baby had a herniated diaphragm (which won't show up on an x-ray). Her liver had penetrated and collapsed her lung on that side. She said it might be possible to operate, but that because the chest cavity would have to be opened, the rattie would have to be rescusitated. She didn't have equipment with fine enough calibrations to do that for a rat. The only place that did was the University and that would be more than I could afford ($1800 US).

I opted to try to keep her comfortable as long as possible. The vet put her on antibiotics and aminophyllin to keep her lungs as open as possible. She lived about a month more before she quit eating and moving around. At that point, there was no other choice but to help her to the Rainbow Bridge.

I'm sorry this is such bad news, but it sounds so much like your girl's experience I thought I ought to share it. I'll keep you in my thoughts and send healing energy your way. Good luck.

[ckhs]

Oh my god...this is just to sad,my girls and i send you and yours all our love.
ckhs

[rogermerriman]

ooh sounds like you and babs are having a bad time. Hope she pulls though, best of luck. Roger and Rats

[Vouivre]

I also had my rattie go into shock once. She was shaking like a leaf with her back legs practically dragging behind her. It was going to be just over an hour til we could take her to the vet.
So at first i just sat with her and talked to her, she seemed to relax a little and curled up under my hand.
Then after about 30 mins i left her in a small cage with some towels and checked on her every few mins.
By the time we got to the vet she looked better, and the vet said there was nothing wrong, she must've been really shocked, and didnt charge us for the visit.
so i left her in her small seperate cage for the rest of the day, but next to their normal cage so she wasnt entirely alone.

[Sabriel]

I'm so sorry to hear about Babs!  We'll be crossing our fingers and paws that she gets better soon!

[Manderine]

That sounds awful, poor babs! Lots of rattie hugggsss and kisses, hope she pulls thro. Good luck and more huuggsss

[Chic 2000]

That sounds so bad.  Is the dog usually friendly with the rats?  Maybe this one escaped and your dog was just going to bring her back home?  I hope that the predatory instincts didn't kick in and she grabbed Babs.  But rats know what predators are and your poor Babs was scared almost to death by being caught by the dog.

Rodents die more from the shock more than any injury in a predators clutches.  Whenever one of my parents cats caught a wild rat it was unharmed, just dead and stiff from the shock it expereinced for being pounced upon by surprise.  I know that sounds icky but that's how they are.  

It sounds like the meds where not needed and she may have been a bit overdosed.  Keep a good eye on her, keep her warm, take her to the vet if you need to.  Best wishes.