Her lungs, however, sound worse. Her breathing is more labored (not visibly, but from listening closely with the stethoscope) and her left lung that was working pretty good a couple weeks ago is now sounding muffled. Her right lung has been pretty much useless the whole time.
She has not responded to any treatment, so all we can do now is offer her supportive care. She has lost weight, but not as much as in between her first two visits. We're trying to get as much food as possible into her and make sure she has more good days than bad days. Hopefully she'll be with us for at least a few more weeks; she hasn't given any indication that she's giving up, despite everything. Dr. Em even said, "For a rat with so much going wrong medically, you sure can't tell by the way she acts."
Donations ear-marked for her care can be donated to the shelter's Little Critter Medical Fund. She sees Dr. Emanuele at Avian & Exotic, since rat care is not WCAC's specialty, and it's the best care we could hope for her. It's not cheap, though, and her tab has run up past $200. Since we've been allowed to keep her as a hospice foster through the shelter, we are certainly planning to pay for her ongoing care. Any little bit helps, though, and the shelter can be reached at 919-212-7387 or animalcontrol@wakegov.com or in person at 820 Beacon Lake Drive in Raleigh.
No comments:
Post a Comment