Re Re: My Pet Rat

Question
It is with sad regret that I announce to you that Little Romsca passed away yesterday.  I took her to a local vet that checked her over, with the symptoms that I informed him of, plus what he found, plus an new symptom that arose (bleeding from the nose) it was determined that Romsca was not suffering from an inner ear infection, that it was neurological, and terminal.  I came to the rather painful decision that to easy her suffering, and her pain, it was best that I let her go, and play in that exercise ball in heaven.

I thank you for your assistance.  I wish it was better news...

Steve

Answer
I am really sorry for your loss.

However, I do want to tell you that your little girl was not bleeding from her nose. What she had was porphyrin discharge that appears to be blood from both the nose and eyes but it is not.
Please see my website for information on porphyrin, where it comes from and what it means when your rat has it.  rats that are very stressed often secrete it and it makes the rat owner think they   have blood from the eyes and nose, often referred to as red tears or red snot. again, it is not blood.  I do agree that it sounded like a pituitary adenoma. She had all the signs of it.

I do hope the vet you saw was a certified exotic vet and not just a vet that sees dogs and cats and some pocket pets as a special interest. A certified exotic vet usually works in a clinic where they see no dogs or cats, just small exotic companion mammals and birds etc... there are only 130 of these vets in the entire country with most of them in the United States. Many vets will say they are the vet at the clinic that sees pocket pets and exotics often misleading the rat owner into thinking they are exotic vets but they are not.  However, in this case, I am sure your little girl had a pituitary adenoma which is very common with females over the age of 14 months that are not spayed.  

check out my site again, Sandyscrittercity.com and go to the page on bloody eyes and nose to see the reddish discharge the rats have and you will see that this is what your girl had. I am hoping the vet did not say this was blood. That will kind of bother me that he would not know what porphyrin discharge was.

Again, I am so sorry for your loss.  I had a feeling it was not going to be long before you lost her.  She is at peace now and thats what matters.