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Red liquid around my rats eyes

21 17:44:43

Question
Is there anything more i can do for my rat, shes 3 and a half years old now and over the last month has become really old, she struggles moving around, shes always tired , she cannot eat any food which she has to hold herself because she falls over, i'm having to soak her biscuits and cut them into bits so she will eat them, she is still drinking water and just wants to sleep on me all of the time, she now has red liquid  around her eyes which has developed over the last three days, she lets me wipe it away but it comes back i understand that this usually happens when stressed, ill or if they have poor diet. I don't believe shes in pain she just seems a bit confused sometimes, i know i probably won't have her much longer and wondered if there is anything else i can do for her to make her happy, i took my last rat to the vet when she was like this and they gave her an injection which was a type of painkiller, it didn't seem to do her any favours just made her go really quiet and i don't belive she needed it, just thought with you owning rats you might know from a point of view of somebody who truely understands them, thankyou

Answer
 Three years old if quite old for a rat, it's very possible that it's just her time to go.  She may have an internal tumor, which is very common in older rats, or her organs may be slowly failing and causing her ill health.  The red stuff is porphyrin and is normal in times of stress or illness; many older rats have it constantly.  It's nothing to be worried about at this point.  At this point I don't think there is a lot you can do for her that you aren't already doing.  If you think she may be in pain you can give her Ibuprofen in the form of Children's Motrin at a dose of 0.03 mg / gram of her weight.  If she's still drinking that's a good sign, and you will have to continue to wet her food to make it easier for her to eat.  I would recommend picking up some NutriCal from your veterinarian, it is a tube of high-calorie paste that can help a rat put on some weight, plus it tastes really great to them and may stimulate her appetite.  Keep her at room temperature, and if she feels cold you may have to insulate her cage or give her a warm water bottle for the cage, just be careful that she doesn't get too hot.  Hold her and show her that she is loved =)  I'm sorry to hear about your rat, but if she lived until three then she had a great life and was well taken care of.