April

Kali seems to be better. She finished her last courses of medication about three weeks ago and she has continued to be well. She is still having vitamin supplements once a day and I will continue with them for the time being. She was due to go back to the vets for a final visit last week but the vet who had been treating her was on holiday and when I spoke to the surgery they said there was no need to bring her in unless she became poorly again. I can hardly believe that she is finally well again after so long and I am watching her carefully for any signs of the symptoms returning. Unfortunately we never found out everything that what was wrong with her. She definitely had zinc poisoning but some of her other symptoms suggested some sort of gastric problem too. Curiously Kali’s soft poos didn’t completely clear up until after she’s finished her medicines. I’ll let the vet know about this as its possible that the medicine was causing the problem.

I’ll publish all Kali’s medical notes and test results into the ‘Facts & care’ section in the next few weeks. They may be of use to someone else in case their rat shows similar symptoms. I’ll also ask the vet if I can make a copy of Kali’s x-ray.

One positive outcome of her illness is that she is more friendly now than she was before her illness. She seemed to find being stroked and tickled very comforting while she was feeling poorly and this meant that I was able to touch her on a regular basis. I also had to handle her in order to take her to the vet. She is much more relaxed around me know. I have found that I do not need the armoured rat glove at all when I pick her up.