unco-ordinated

Question
My daughter's rat seem unable to use her "hands" to grasp things, she is lethargic and seems generally weak and unco-ordinated. She also has little sores around her eyes. The vet gave her an antibiotic injection today, and we will be completing the course. He also gave us an eye cream which has already helped the eyes tremendously. He has no idea of what is actually the problem though. Can you suggest anything and how to prevent any recurrence please?

Answer

Hi


I would love to suggest your girl has an inner ear infection.  The symptoms including loss of balance, head tilt, walking in circles or spinning and itching and picking at the ear. The treatment is baytril twice a day for 30 days along with steroids for inflammation. THe reason for the loss of coordination is because there is pressure on the 8th cranial nerve in the brain. This controls equilibrium. If she is not given something for inflammation and has head tilt, it will take much longer for it to get better.

One sign of ear infection is NOT the loss of the use of front or back limbs which leads me to believe that it is NOT otitis media.

I am going to assume your girl is an older rat at least close to 18 months or older and is not spayed?


I dont think she has an inner ear infection.
What is sounds like for starters is she has more than likely a tumor on the base of her brain. Its a pituitary tumor and is common in intact female rats that have past menopause. Their estrogen levels rise very high if they are not spayed and the high estrogen levels trigger mammary tumors and also pituitary tumors. Symptoms of pituitary tumors are alot like that of an inner ear infection, but the loss of the use of her front paws is one of the biggest signs of it being a PT and not an inner ear infection.  

The sores around her eyes, what do they look like? Is it more like bloody discharge caked around the eyes?  

Check my site here and compare to the photos and tell me if that is why your rat has.

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

As for the pituitary tumor, she can be given steroids and some inflammation will be relieved but unfortunately pituitary tumors are fatal.  For more info on them you can check out various sources since I do not like to give a grim diagnosis without having back up.

Check this link for more information on pituitary tumors. If you need more references let me know and I will give you more links.

http://ratguide.com/health/neoplasia/pituitary_tumor.php

What worries me now is the Vet your taking your rat to see. This is a common problem with rats, both ear infection and also pituitary tumors in female rats, and it concerns me that your vet has no idea what is wrong and why your rat has lost the use of her front paws and is uncoordinated etc..  I will assume he is not an exotics vet but is a vet that will see rats for minor things. These are vets that should never see a rat. Its not real good idea for a vet that is  inexperienced to see your rats because there may be a misdiagnoses and something that could be cured may not be due to lack of knowledge and experience. If you want I will be happy to give you names of vets in your area that will see your rat and treat her illnesses properly. If she indeed has a pituitary tumor, it is important she has the right treatment to keep her comfortable and when the time comes that she may need put to sleep that it is done properly. A vet that is not aware of rat care also may not know how to humanely and properly euthanize rats There are vets that stick the rat in the heart with a needle (known as intracardial injection) and tell us it doesnt hurt the rat and its over in seconds. These vets are very wrong and in fact it is illegal in many states to perform an heart stick on a rat that is conscious. Instead they are to be under anesthesia in a deep plane of sleep before the stick because they DO FEEL IT and the last thing they feel before their death is the most excruciating pain they have ever had in their life. Discuss this with any vet however just to be certain your vet knows the proper procedures for euthanasia on rats. I hate to even bring this up but it  has been a huge problem in the past to the point it had to be made illegal in most states to do this just to stop vets from doing this cruel and inhumane procedure if done on a conscious rat.

As for your girl, now you will have to feed her by hand and let her lick baby food from a flat dish or even your fingers. She may lose the ability to chew as her jaw muscles may begin to also be affected by the tumor.

I hope this is one case that I am wrong. Nobody likes to be wrong, of course, but these kind of situations make me WANT to be wrong, but I have a feeling I am right even without seeing her in person.