inflamed disk

Question
QUESTION: I'll try to make this short as possible, but still give you enough info to help (I hope) so please bear with me.  Brownie is a hairless rat we rescued from a family with a young boy that only fed him canned corn.  When we brought Brownie home he was HUGE (fat).  We got all the extra weight off of him and he was a happy boy, but had his days that he didn't want to be held and would bite.  We've had him about 6 months.  About three weeks ago we put him in a new cage.  A few hours later he had gotten his foot stuck and my daughter tried to help him remove it but couldn't because he was biting EVERYTHING.  We weren't home at the time so she wrapped a rag around her hand and pulled him up to get his foot out of the space between the wire.  About two days after this happened he had problems with the foot he had gotten stuck and became even more grumpy to the point that we couldn't handle him.  I called and made a vet appointment and after x-rays and a thorough check the vet decided he had three inflamed disks in his back.  She prescribed 25cc of prednisone twice a day.  We are at the point now that he drags his back end and tries to pick his feet up, but to no avail.  He's eating and pooping fine but has lost a LOT of weight.  We've put him on baby food to try to get more weight on him.  We also had him fixed while he was at the vet.  My question is this, the vet advised us to handle him as little as possible and keep him quiet, but we're also looking at up to 6 weeks for recovery time (we were told).  He CRAVES attention and contact now and will reach for you when you pass his cage.  He has turned into a boy that LOVES to snuggle and be held.  Is there anything we can do to speed his recovery?  If not how can we make him more comfortable while still maintaining the bodily contact he craves so much?  At what point do we decide that it's time to start constructing a ratty wheelchair for his back half (my 11 year old son's idea).  He doesn't seem to be in any pain, and when he is he'll let you know!  I was also wondering about how much baby pain reliever to give him, but I'm not sure of his weight.  On the vet scale it was .30, but I'm not sure what the conversion of that is.  Thank you SO much for your time and attention.

ANSWER: Hi

Wow what a story that is. Sounds like he has nerve root compression of the spine. Is the vet sure this is reversible?  He was fine before this happened I assume?

The neutering is what has mellowed him out and keeping him happy and stress free will help speed his recovery but I would hold off on the baby pain reliever.  You dont want to use any thing that may be rough on his kidneys or stomach (childrens motrin) or anything that could thin the blood (Baby aspirin) and the steroids also act as a pain killer. If he does seem like he hurts I would call the vet and ask for a bit of a narcotic pain killer which puzzles me that you dont have any now for him for rough days.

I need to know how much space he has to roam in his cage and what is the set up?  I assume he is confined to a single level and is not using ramps etc...   what do you have on the floor of the cage? What about litter/bedding?  Let me know and I have a few helpful hints for you to help him navigate around on his belly without a struggle.  I have had several handicap rats that had hind leg paralysis so I have a few good tricks that may help once I get a visual on the way the cage is set up.

As for food...besides baby food, what else is he eating? I cant believe that is all the little rat had to eat was corn. That saddens me. Poor guy. I bet he was in heaven though, rats loveeeeeeeeee corn. Mine go nuts on it. I give them a few spoonfuls of it a day with peas and carrots too and I of course also give them their homemade rat food and regal rat mixed in but my guys are 2 and 3 and a half years old so I kind of spoil the at this stage.   Anyhow, you can also help replace his body weight by giving him boost or ensure. He will love licking this up from a flat dish.  You can also give him soy baby formula. Scramble him an egg a few times a week but mash it up almost like a puree so he doesnt gag on it in case he loves it so much he devours it.  You can also offer him quality animal protein such as white meat from chicken or canned oysters, rinsed.

The way it goes is like this:  He should have a limited space to move around in his cage. A place to sleep that is flat, a litter box area, food on a flat dish and a water bottle that is very very low for him so he just has to lift his head to drink All of it should be within reach and he should not have alot of room to propel around much. As far as you holding him, you can wrap him snugly in a small baby blanket or hand towel to make him feel a bit confined and hold him like a football. He should enjoy being carried around this way. I know some people construct little pouches or purses and put the rats in there and they are really cute and cozy but not enough support and structure to hold him safely and steady.  Anyhow let me know about those few things and we can go from there.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Now that you mention it, she didn't specifically say it was reversible, she more or less hinted around about it.  Kind of a 'give him this prednisone until it's all gone then call me and we'll go from there depending on his condition'.  She's an AWESOME exotic animal vet that takes care of all our guys.  I would bet, though, that she didn't dump a ton of info on me or give me a grim diagnosis because a week before I had lost my 14 year old chihuahua and she had done everything she could to pull her through congestive heart failure to no avail.  She cried with me and afterwards called to check on how I was doing and I also got a sweet card and cute puppy picture book from the staff.  She knew how heartbroken I was and I'm sure she couldn't see giving me more bad news just days later.  About three weeks before that we had taken our hairless baby girl in to have her third tumor removed and she died during the surgery.  She was a few months away from her fourth birthday.  On one hand I want to thank the vet for saving me from MORE bad news, but on the other hand it wasn't hardly fair to send me home with a baby that I had high hopes for.

The vet didn't send any pain reliever home with us, but Brownie doesn't seem to have many BAD days.  Yesterday he slept all day and didn't beg to be held.  He did eat normally and loved an extra bit of blueberry muffin and some extra pieces of cereal.

I have him in a bird cage and his water is low so he doesn't have to stretch to get a drink.  I change the floor of his cage every day that I keep covered with white printer paper.  It's easier to see how he's pooping and peeing on clean white paper.  All of our rats have always bedded in used clothing.  I know that sounds odd, but there are seven of us ranging in age from 6 years old to nearly fourty (blush), so we have plenty of out-grown rags for them to make beds in.  When Brownie came home from the vet his cage floor was FILLED with shredded paper (about three inches deep) he LOOOOOOVED it!!!  We'll be getting a paper shredder next payday so he'll have plenty to play in.

Brownie eats everything we have for meals.  Warm cereal in the morning, sometimes pancakes with his human papa, whatever I dig up for our lunch (Brownie and I eat lunch together since everyone is at school or work), and a bit of the dinner spread that includes some type of meat, a few different veggies and sometimes a yummy dessert.  We have the list of 'ratty no-no foods' posted on the fridge as a reminder.  I'll pick up some ensure this week for him.  Too bad they don't make ratty size bottles.  We may start splitting a bottle of ensure for lunch every day.  Right now he has eggs boiling for his breakfast.  I'll also pick up some canned chicken and oysters.  Can he have tuna or sardines?  How about vienna sausage?  My kiddos love those, but I try not to buy them too often.  What about peaches, pears, pineapples, canned stew, canned beans, rice, frozen tater tots, and sweet tea?  He loves all the above.

Another question I also have is about a dumbo rat the vet gave us.  She had ordered a batch of feeder rats for her snake and Jessica (the dumbo rat's name) was in the cage for three days and the snake just ignored her.  Right after my chihuahua passed away the vet called and asked if I would be willing to take her.  What precautions do I need to take when introducing them to each other?  I would like to keep them in the same cage so Brownie would have a warm fuzzy friend to sleep with.  They are both fixed and Brownie used to have a brother he lived (and constantly fought) with.  Is there anything I can do to smooth the transition for both of them?

Thank you for your time and attention

Answer
Can he have tuna or sardines?  How about vienna sausage?  My kiddos love those, but I try not to buy them too often.  What about peaches, pears, pineapples, canned stew, canned beans, rice, frozen tater tots, and sweet tea?  He loves all the above.


I would avoid the canned stew, vienna sausage, tuna and sardines. The first two have way too much sodium for rats to handle and for the life of me I cant remember WHY no tuna and sardines but something about one of minerals in it that is bad for them. I will be damned if I can recall now though. Of course. Rice is fine, sweet tea, no, too much sugar and of course the caffeine is unwanted to. Fruits are all fine but do rinse them if they are packed in the heavy syrups because of the high sugar content.
As for introducing the new rats, let them visit each other through the bars, putting the new rat next to the existing rat for a few days so they can get used to each others scent but not too close that they can grab each others tails and deglove each other through the bars. This is super painful and can mean a big vet bill should this occur.  

For the most part that, a neutered male should accept a female readily.