Could really use some help, Ratties...
My poor rats have been such a headache lately. :(
The main problem child right now is Boomer. To give a quickie history, Boomer was neutered back at the end of September and seemed to recover well... until a couple weeks later, when he suddenly developed a head tilt. I whisked him to the exotics vet for some treatment and, one quick exam of his incision (which was suddenly swollen) and an FNA later, we found an infection in the incision on top of the inner ear infection. Happily, Boomer ruptured the incision himself as soon as we got home and I drained it over the course of the next few days, and the antibiotics for his ear infection seemed to clear that particular problem up. His incision looks all healed now.
Back to the ear infection. After two weeks his head was still a bit tippy, so the vet gave me two more weeks' worth of Baytril. The head tilt seemed to be getting gradually better until Friday. Then I started noticing it again and it's become as pronounced as it was at the start. :( He's still eating/drinking fine and getting around fine, he's using his hands and isn't uncoordinated at all, but that darn tilt is back and pronounced and one of his eyes is protruding (or else the other is sunken), like it was when this first started. (He's also been bruxing a lot throughout this whole ordeal, if that's at all relevant.) I consulted one of the vets I work with, who's worked with rats in the past and agreed to look into it for me, and he said the bacteria that causes the otitis media/interna should be responding to the antibiotics by now, and that we should rule out a pituitary adenoma with head x-rays and maybe a swab of the ear and cytology.
I'm really reluctant to think that this could be PA. Boomer's pretty young, just 10 months now, and I know PA isn't very common in male rats; and my thought was always that the ear infection occurred secondary to the infection in his incision, because it's a heck of a coincidence if not. And he's started scratching at his right ear again, which makes me think ear infection too. (Plus, I don't really have $200 to spend on x-rays right now. :c) What else can I do at this point before we rule out an inner ear infection? I think I'll put him on another two weeks of Baytril, but should I try a combination of drugs, like maybe Doxycycline or Prednisone with the Baytril? Can anyone with ear infection experience offer an opinion? I really hope my baby's problems are fixable. :( Here is His Tippiness enjoying some drug-laced oatmeal:
Thanks in advance for any and all thoughts!
The main problem child right now is Boomer. To give a quickie history, Boomer was neutered back at the end of September and seemed to recover well... until a couple weeks later, when he suddenly developed a head tilt. I whisked him to the exotics vet for some treatment and, one quick exam of his incision (which was suddenly swollen) and an FNA later, we found an infection in the incision on top of the inner ear infection. Happily, Boomer ruptured the incision himself as soon as we got home and I drained it over the course of the next few days, and the antibiotics for his ear infection seemed to clear that particular problem up. His incision looks all healed now.
Back to the ear infection. After two weeks his head was still a bit tippy, so the vet gave me two more weeks' worth of Baytril. The head tilt seemed to be getting gradually better until Friday. Then I started noticing it again and it's become as pronounced as it was at the start. :( He's still eating/drinking fine and getting around fine, he's using his hands and isn't uncoordinated at all, but that darn tilt is back and pronounced and one of his eyes is protruding (or else the other is sunken), like it was when this first started. (He's also been bruxing a lot throughout this whole ordeal, if that's at all relevant.) I consulted one of the vets I work with, who's worked with rats in the past and agreed to look into it for me, and he said the bacteria that causes the otitis media/interna should be responding to the antibiotics by now, and that we should rule out a pituitary adenoma with head x-rays and maybe a swab of the ear and cytology.
I'm really reluctant to think that this could be PA. Boomer's pretty young, just 10 months now, and I know PA isn't very common in male rats; and my thought was always that the ear infection occurred secondary to the infection in his incision, because it's a heck of a coincidence if not. And he's started scratching at his right ear again, which makes me think ear infection too. (Plus, I don't really have $200 to spend on x-rays right now. :c) What else can I do at this point before we rule out an inner ear infection? I think I'll put him on another two weeks of Baytril, but should I try a combination of drugs, like maybe Doxycycline or Prednisone with the Baytril? Can anyone with ear infection experience offer an opinion? I really hope my baby's problems are fixable. :( Here is His Tippiness enjoying some drug-laced oatmeal:
Thanks in advance for any and all thoughts!