brunel

Health: good but has sneezing jags. Lovely looks and incredibly shiny.
Oct 2007 - Has a squeaky hiccup/cough on occasion.
3rd May 2008 - Cough becoming more frequent. Chest sounds clear.
18th June 2008 - Still coughs. Some scabs - Ivermectin.
18th Oct 2008 - Something wrong with his back legs, walking strangely, but can't figure out why it looks wrong.
20th Oct 2008 - Vet visit. Slightly wheezy and back legs iffy. 0.05ml Dexafort (steroid) to see if it helps his legs, advised to give a course of Baytril (already have some).
27th Oct 2008 - Brunel's legs are much, much better, evidenced by the way he came bounding over for his spoon of Baytril and mayonnaise the other day. I think the wheezies are gone, but I've got about one more dose of Baytril in the bottle so he may as well have that.
21st Nov 2008 - Small abscess on his tail. Bathed with warm saline and emptied out.
1st Dec 2008 - Abscess healed. Still spotty tail.
3rd Dec 2008 - Possible mites. Ivermectin. Maybe this is what was causing the spotty tail?
11th Dec 2008 - 2nd dose Ivermectin. Still has a spotty tail though.
19th Dec 2008 - Final dose Ivermectin. Forgot to look at tail.
31st Dec 2008 - Looking under the weather.
2nd Jan 2009 - Still looking poorly. Slightly chesty. Started course of Baytril.
6th Jan 2009 - Very solid lump under right ear. Worrying it's a Zymbal's gland tumour. Started him on Metacam just in case.
7th Jan 2009 - Metacam helped - looks much brighter. Going in for op on Friday.
8th Jan 2009 - Discharge from ear, smells of infection.
9th Jan 2009 - Abscess drained and left open. Synulox, Metacam.
12th Jan 2009 - Too thick to drain through hole left. Discharge from ear again. Antibiotic sensitivity tests not back yet. Continue meds.
13th Jan 2009 - Got some gunk out. Phone for test results in the morning.
14th Jan 2009 a.m. - Results not back yet.
14th Jan 2009 p.m. - Bad news. The culture found Staph aureus and an anaerobic bacteria, both of which should have been susceptible to the Synulox but there's been no obvious improvement. The options now are to try further surgery to remove the abscess completely, which is unlikely to succeed considering it's been draining into his ear canal, or euthanise him. I've decided to keep Brunel on the meds until he begins to deteriorate and then have him put to sleep. There's enough Synulox to last until Monday evening, so we'll see if there's any improvement by then.
15th Jan 2009 - Draining from hole and into ear. Lump looks slightly smaller.
17th Jan 2009 - Looking fluffed up and ill. New lump growing on his back, about two pence size.
19th Jan 2009 - Permanently fluffed up, losing weight. Put to sleep. Gonna miss you Nellieboo!

Temperament: 25th April 2007 - neutered for hormonal aggression.
Post neutering - very fast personality change. Lovely friendly lad.

About Brunel

Brunel is a wonderfully shiny, beautifully made rat. He was wonderful and friendly and bold when I had him at around six weeks old. As he grew he became cage aggressive. Not a great problem. Then he became play-area aggressive, which was harder to deal with. Then he was just aggressive-aggressive, and gave me a few difficult moments, so I decided to have him neutered. I have never seen such a fast change. He was a different rat within a week. I wished I'd had it done sooner.

Brunel is always eager to come out of the cage for a fuss. He's an absolute treasure who enjoys lying in my arms being stroked and is staying active and reasonably trim as he grows older.

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