Rat losing weight

Question
Hi there,
My pet rat Rowie is a rescue rat and he has been blighted with problems ever
since I got him. I've just managed to get him through a nasty case of myco,
changed his diet due to excessive protein and now he has a skin condition
which I think is making him lose weight. The skin around his paws and front
legs has inflamed which means that he can't hold his food properly, and is
more concerned with scratching than eating. This means his weight has
plummeted: he is now underweight for a rat. I changed his diet to the
Shunamite diet, but since he seems to be having trouble with solid food I'm
trying to get his weight stable by giving him creme fraiche and banana which
he can eat straight off the spoon. He's been given a steroid shot, anti-biotics,
anti-mite/flea solution,and steroid cream to apply directly to his paws. I just
wondered if you had any advice about what I could feed him until he can hold
his food again. I'm so worried he will keep losing weight and will starve to
death. One more thing, he has quite a lot of buck grease which I've been
cleaning off him (or attempting to), and he also smells quite bad. I've put it
down to him not washing properly due to feeling poorly. Thanks so much.

Answer
Hi

You can also offer him baby food, stage 2 so its not watery.
Ensure or boost, just a few teaspoons a day for a week but do not use it long term since it is very high in calories and vitamins and reports of obesity and also constipation are coming in left and right from rat owners so pleased with the results that their rat is gaining weight again and they make this a part of their daily diet.

If he doesnt improve, I would see if the vet can possibly take a look into this skin condition more and see if he doesnt have a fungus rather than a bacteria going on. The fact he has an odor to him leads me to believe he may have possibly a fungal infection of the skin, which is not uncommon too.  Since you dont know  what all he was subjected to before his rescue (and I am so happy you saved him!!) there is no telling what he has been exposed to. I am not talking something like ringworm, but a systemic infection caused by a fungus. This can even be a cause of some cases of bumble foot. I have seen bumbles ignore all treatment and once they were finally biopsied, lo and behold, instead of the normal staph infection that often causes bumblefoot, it would be a fungus and once treatment started, the rat was as good as new!