Strange sudden behaviour

Question
Hi,
I have two dumbo rats, both female and around 3-4 months in age. One gray one called FooFoo, and a black hooded one called splodge. When i got them, foofoo was alot smaller in size, as i was told she had been ill, but was fine now. They are increadibly friendly, got used to my home very quickly, loved to play climb over me and lick me to pieces! They wrestled a little bit but not really much, and they loved people, always poking there noses out and trying to climb up people.

the problem is that the otehr day, they were both on my bed, not near each other, and suddenly, literally as if someone had clicked thier fingers, foofoo darted under the duvet, and wouldent cme out, the next couple of days she ran from you, did nto want to be touched, wouldent even go in her cage, which is very strange since usually she loved it in there, and also sat at the top of the cage, in a hunched position for almost a day, and when i moved her she had pee'd and just been sitting in it. Now we took her to teh vest, and she said there was no physical thing wrong with her that she could see, and gave me some antiinflamitaries, and antibiotics tio give to her, and also told us she was underweight. Now since then, the medicine hasent really helped. She is a little better, will run around the bed, and occasionally lick me. But wont ever come out in the open, and when shes in her cage she still sits either at the top, or on top of thier house in a hunched position, and today peed herself again. I have no clue what this could be, and the other rat seems to be fine!
Apart from for about two days, splodge would constantly grab foofoo's scruff of her neck and really try and pull her, making her squeak, but after a couple of days foofoo started to wrestle back and pin hwer down and such.
Any help would be great as im really worried about what happened to my loving friendly playfull rat, to make her scared and withdrawn all of a sudden.


Answer
 Hmmm, that is quite strange!  It's possible that she smelled something that frightened her like a cat or dog or other predator and now she is scared to leave the safety of here cage.  She may also be developing a mental problem or a neurological problem that affects that part of the brain.  For now as long as she is still eating and drinking and grooming herself I would try to take things slow with her and see if she gets any better.  Don't try to take her out where she is scared, just pet her inside her cage, or if you do take her out try carrying her in the front pocket of a hoodie where she still feels safe and hidden but is with you.  She may just need some time to get over whatever she was afraid of.

 If she doesn't improve in the next week or two, I would consider a mental or physical problem, though a vet may not be able to help.  I don't know if there are any anti-anxiety drugs for rats (there are for dogs and cats, believe it or not) but you may want to discuss this with your vet.  Please let me know how things turn out; this is certainly an odd situation and I'd be interested to find out what happens.  Good luck!