Advice on Old Rats and Possible Signs of Death

Question
Hi,

I understand you won't be able to save my rat's life--only I can do that. I would like some advice on how to make my rat comfy and happy during his final days.

Charlie is a 3 year old hooded rat. He is normally active, bruxes and boggles his eyes,loves to climb, eat to his heart's content, and drink water like there is no tomorrow. Lately, though, his age and possible tumors have been catching up with him. He suffers from hind limb paralysis and his front limbs are getting weak. His jaw is getting weak too and it's hard for him to eat his normal food. My family and I have removed all levels in his cage and keep the cage as clean as possible. We spend as much time with him as we can.

Yesterday he seemed to be in a lot of pain--he was laying around in a corner of his cage, looking at everyone sadly. His hairs were pilierect, and he wasn't eating or drinking a lot of water. He has lost a lot of weight over the past week. But he let me pet him and he still wanted to climb out of his cage. Today, he seems better--he is eating food and drinking water again. But I know pets have their 'good' and 'bad' days, especially right before the end of their lives.

If there is any advice you can give, perhaps on what to do to keep him happy while he is in pain, please let me know as soon as possible. My family and I are very attached to Charlie and hate to see him in so much pain, but it's hard to decide when he lives or dies when he seems okay from time to time. I am worried that if we rush him to the vet it may be too late. We are considering euthanasia but I am unsure if it is even the right thing to do at this time.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

Answer
Sweet old rats....I have such a soft spot for them. I have had many "Charlies" in my life, some living to be 4, and close to it, others that were old before their time and only made it to 2 years old.  Charlie has had a long happy life with you, as you are aware of that already. I can see how you love him so much and its scary to think its close to the end of his life, and your also worried that you may be causing him to suffer when you have the ability to end his life humanely.  Its hard to know how they feel. I have only had two occasions, one recently with my precious rat, Ben, who I had to put down this past March, his brother in April, and sadly, a third brother, and my last rat at that time, I had to put him down in May!  All three had internal masses that I did not know about until a few weeks prior to their death. However, Ben I had no idea.  On a Saturday morning his cage was spotted with blood all over and I mean TONS of blood.  My knees went weak. My heart skipped a beat. Ben was alive when I found him, eating his peas. He had normal stools although alot of blood in his litter box.  Otherwise he was fine. Off to the vet we went, and we both agreed that since he was acting ok and eating and drinking and grooming etc....to leave him be.  What good would it do to even xray him (stress he didnt need, for starters) if there is a tumor, he is acting ok, and we certainly cannot remove it. Surgery for that kind of tumor is super risky.  Its different when its an external mass but internal is another story.  So I brought him home and watched him.  Sunday he was fine too...but Monday, forget it.  This rat wanted held. He wanted something he could not tell me about...off to the vet we go.  By the time we got there (my son drove us, I held Ben close) he was wild with pain.  He was ripping at my clothes screeching and squeaking like someone was stabbing him.  He grabbed my flesh on my cheek and held it between his teeth while I yelled at the stunned vet techs to get us a room and get me a sedative for him rather than stand there in a panic.  I even heard a woman tell her child to get away from that area where the "rabid rat" was.  JERKS!  My Ben could have ripped my skin off my cheek but he never bit down.  We sedated him and did an xray.  Ben had a huge mass in his colon.  Cancer.  That explained all the blood on Saturday.  I kissed him goodbye while he was sedated, and we put him under anesthesia so the vet could give him the final injection. He never woke up.  Tears sting my eyes even now, months later, as I ask myself why I didnt put him down on Saturday when I saw the blood.  Being my status with rats and the experience I have with rat health care (I use the term expert very loose, as I dont think anyone is really an expert in very much, just have a bit more knowledge in a certain field than the norm, perhaps, but I didnt name this site all experts...LOL)  anyhow did I do right by letting him live two more days?  To a rat, thats alot of time since they have such a short life span. And he was happy, or so I want to think.  Dying rats do not eat or drink. They are anxious and needy or very lethargic and weak. They may breathe rapidly or seem discontent. If you have a good relationship with your vet I would suggest a pain medication (a narcotic pain killer, I do not like metacam) rats can safely have torbutrol and it would help any discomfort he may have until he is ready to let go, if ever. Some rats just wont let go and we have to do it.  Like you said, only you will know when its time.  I tell people this and sometimes they do not have the confidence that they will know but they do, and tell me that I was right afterwards. You can also offer him baby foods to lick since he cannot chew well.  This has alot of water content (the stage 1 for infants is best, fruits or vegetables) he may love the sweet taste of the fruits and will hydrate himself at the same time.  I wish I had a better answer but I am confident you will be there for him and do the right thing.  I would not really put him down if he is still trying to survive by eating etc.... to me, that is his right, but once you see he has given up, its time.  Be sure your vet puts your rat under full anesthesia before the injection if he uses the heart stick. Even sedation is NOT enough. In the state of CA, I do believe it is illegal to use the cardiac stick without anesthesia anyhow.  I always have my rats sedated prior to the anesthesia so they are not scared of it.  Some vets wont bother if they figure you dont know any better or do not care etc.... which is why I dont trust many vets.

I hope I helped just a little....