Sick Rats

Question
Hi Sandra,

I have two rats (Kanga and Roo). They are both just about a year and a half old. Kanga had an infected mass that was just recently cured with Baytril. While Kanga was being treated she was kept in a different cage than Roo. About two weeks ago, after the antibiotics were gone, I went on a weekend vacation and when I came home i noticed Roo had a slight head tilt. The next day it seemed to be gone. But recently it's gotten worse she has an appointment to see the vet tomorrow. Other than the head tilt she shows no other symptoms, both rats are eating well. Here's my question are my rats lives coming to an end? Will Roo be able to survive what ever is making her head tilt and be off balance?

Answer
Hi

While its hard to say when a rat will succumb to illness, I can assure you your rats are not yet even at the age to be considered elderly rats.  Around 2 is often when people think the rats life is about over, but this is not the case for many rats.  While we are happy our rats make this milestone, this doesn't have to be considered the end of life, either.  With proper diet and husbandry rats can live to be well into their third year or longer.  My rats average 2.5 years to 4 years of age or very close to it.   With proper Vet care (and of course the proper Vet!!) your rats can overcome many ailments.  Head tilt is ofter attributed to otitis media, which is inner ear infection.  Sometimes they are off balance because of the inflammation on the vestibular cochlear nerve which can also be helped with medication for inflammation along with the right antibiotic.  
A pituitary tumor is another cause of head tilt but there are many more neurological signs missing to even consider this is the case such as loss of the use of her front limbs, hind leg weakness, problems chewing and swallowing etc....  so there is no reason to worry that your rat has anything more than an inner/middle ear infection which is easily treated.  Sometimes head tilt takes a bit of time to subside so don't worry if it doesn't go away fast. It varies from rat to rat.

Hopefully this has made you feel a bit more comfortable about her condition and know that it indeed can be treated easily with a full recovery!