rats bag legs splay out from underneath her

Question
My pet rat Trencher had bumble foot on both heels but after a course of baytril for 10days they heeled up well, although one occasionally bleeds every now and then. i took her to the vet again afterwards as i was worried about her back legs, which when she walks are splaying out from under her and shes finding it very difficult to walk now and climbing up the ramps in her cage she often topples off as she has no strength in them. I asked the vet if she thought the infection could have spread to her legs and caused this but she said she didnt think so. She checked her breathing and it was fine. She said as she is 2 years old it could be arthiritis or she could have a neurological problem and she cant do much. She has given me pain killers for her, which are metacam. I just wondered what your thoughts were on this. Thank you.

Answer
Hi Sarah

She may be developing hind leg paralysis.  This is very common in older rats, esp if they are on the chubby side.

Here is an article on aging rats and what you can do for them when they start to develop this type of condition.  They CAN be made comfortable so dont worry. What you need to do is remove her ramps so she is on a single story from now on. Its best to remove the litter/bedding and put it in a litter pan, even a shoe box with a little door cut out for her will work. She will most likely use the litter box with no problem. For the rest of the floor of the cage, lay down a blanket of fleece. This is soft on her bumbles and will promote healing. When bumbles are subjected to a hard surface, they will bleed. They are ulcerations on the bottom of the foot and get very sore on hard plastic or wire floors, so having her on the fleece will really help alot. You can pad it with several layers of it if you want to.  Offer her white paper towels to make a nest with in a little hidey house and lower her water bottle, keep food trays shallow.  

Seems vets all over the world are metacam happy.  I myself do not really like metacam. It is nothing more than a fancy ibuprofen/motrin.  Metacam, like ibuprofen, can cause kidney problems if used long term.  Its ok for short term, but not long term. I would like to see her have a steroid injection.  Many vets fear the use of steroids due to the fact they are not familiar with its use in rats. It is a great drug and when used short term, does not have any unwanted side effects.  It is much safer than metacam although many vets fear it will cause the immune system to become weak, which is only true if the rat was gong to be put on it for the next 6 months or longer!  
If metacam is all your allowed to have for her, its better than nothing, but I would not give it to her if you dont see any improvement.  It "should" work just fine, though, but again, there are things much better out there that can be done.

Please check my website. There is a recipe a reader sent in on how to make a nutritional supplement that has different vitamins/minerals that when used together, there are claims it has helped the rat with hind leg paralysis/spinal degeneration and nerve root compression.

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/careoftheelderlyrat.htm

Also, check out what happens when bumble foot does spread to the rats legs/bones on my site here:

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/swollenfootinfection.htm

Hope this helps!