Our happy, fun loving, little Bourbon has died. For almost 2 weeks he had been having intermittent problems with his breathing. He would get in a terrible panic and not be able to get his breath, it was very horrible to see him so upset and distressed. He began to loose some weight and condition and became very depressed. We took him to our vet who gave him a very thorough check over. He was not suffering from a respiratory infection, but she thought it could be a problem similar to asthma. He was given an injection of steroids. We were warned that it may not help, but if it was going to Bourbon would be feeling better 24 – 48 hours later.
The next morning we got up hoping for the best and sure enough Bourbon was feeling much better. After seeing him feeling low, it was nice to see him enjoying himself again bouncing around and getting into mischief. Our vet advised us to bring Bourbon back again after four days for some more medicine, a slow release steroid that would last him four weeks and help him build his strength up. The first treatment was already showing signs of wearing off, so we took Bourbon for his treatment on the 26th March. Unfortunately his condition continued to deteriorate and he died peacefully in my hands on the Wednesday morning.
Cookie, Coral & Clover are all doing okay. They love being picked out of their cage and handled, especially if there is a treat in it for them. They are all even getting used to the cats and don’t mind when Custard gets too curious and puts his nose up to the cage. I do warn him though one day he will get it bitten. Things won’t be the same without Bourbon, he had a very special way of making sure he was everyone’s favourite rat.
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