Female Fancy; Central Nervous System issue; Cortisone treatment.

Question
My female Fancy, Gerdy, hasn't been herself lately. Starting about 3 weeks ago, she was acting a bit more reclusive than normal. She's usually a "shoulder rat" and doesn't want much to do but be on my neck or in the armpit of my sweater. About 2 weeks ago, I noticed she had lost a bit of weight, which wasn't much to worry about (I had thought she was upset/depressed at no longer being the dominant one in the cage) and last Sunday (May 2, 2010) her weight was obviously a concern. She was more lethargic, and her balance was getting worse. I've been giving her baby food and squirting water in her mouth every 1 1/2 hrs the last few days, as she wasn't able to hold food in her hands; she would stick her face in it and eat as best she could, which was one of many signs that she was heading downhill fast.  Her left side isn't as mobile, but it wasn't a stroke-her muscle function was still there, but it was like she didn't know how to make it all work right. Not to mention she wasn't sitting or laying down like usual.

Today, Friday, I took her to the vet and he diagnosed it as a Central Nervous System issue. I'm positive Gerdy has never been injured, and there are no chemicals or foods she could have gotten into. Vet gave her a Cortisone shot and said this could be one of many viruses, so I guess I'm wondering what those viruses are. I have several other rats and desperately don't want the others to suffer this fate. I was also wondering since Gerdy has received a Cortisone shot, I was unsure if signs of improvement would be obvious or if there will be permanent damage from the virus. I would also assume that if she does not show improvement over the next month or so, that this issue has resulted from an injury?

Thank you for your time, it is most definitely appreciated.
Jessica

Answer
You need a new Vet.

Your rat sounds like she has a pituitary tumor. Please read my website, sandyscrittercity.com and refer to the page on pituitary tumors.  Once you read it, please let me know if this describes your rat.  At first, this mocks an inner ear infection since rats lose their balance from it due to the inflammation on the vestibular cochlear nerve.  However, with the loss of use of her front paws, this has me worried its the pituitary tumor.  Its no shocker that the Vet is clueless about it.  This is why I am a rat care specialist, because there are Vets out there that have no clue what they are doing and they simply guess their way through an exam!!!!!
In fact it makes me SICK to think of how many rats are being misdiagnosed and dying from lack of proper vet care.

Your rat does NOT have any kind of virus that attacked the CNS, trust me. She has most likely a pituitary tumor which is inoperable. Again, please go over my website and the page on it and you will probably agree that I am 100% on the nose and your vet needs to stop seeing rats.

How old is she? Something tells me she is older than 18 months or pretty darn close to it.