coordination

Question
QUESTION: i have a female rat that is housed with another female rat of the same age, they are both 1yr 9months old. i have noticed that one of the rats is no longer able to hold large pieces of food (rat nuggets) and has a poor judgement of distance, she also falls over when cleaning herself. she is less active and has become subordinate to the other rat-of which she has aways been dominant over. she is fed on rat nuggets and fresh fruit and veg. she has lost a little bit of weight. she is still capable of walking and doesnt fall over or go around in circles. she has simply got a decrease in activity, appetite and her judgement of distance is poor. can you please suggest possible causes of this and treatments?

ANSWER: It could be one of two things:

Inner ear infection or a pituitary tumor. Both mimic each other. The rat often falls over, has head tilt and walks in circles because their equilibrium is off due to pressure on the 8th cranial nerve. This is what controls balance.  When the inner ear is inflammed this causes the pressure and inflammation. Antibiotics and steroids are the only thing to cure inner ear infection and it can spread to the brain if untreated and can be fatal.  It will take some time for everything to go away once treatment starts which leads the vet to think it is a tumor on the base of the brain. He often can talk a person into putting the rat to sleep and all along it is just a matter of treatment for a few good weeks.

However, the possibility of a pituitary tumor is very real in a female rat that is not spayed and into menopause age, over 18 months of age.  Estrogen levels rise after the estrus cycle ceases and this fuels the growth of mammary tumors and the dreaded pituitary tumors. The one sign that a pituitary tumor has that the inner ear infection does NOT have is the inability to grasp objects with the front paws. This is often the first sign following loss of balance, spinning or walking in circles and head tilt. The tumor cannot be removed in rats although it can be in humans.  Treatment would be the use of steroids and a hormone called tamoxifen which has been known to shrink tumors in rats with great success.  Without treatment this tumor is fatal, unfortunately. With treatment, it still has a poor prognosis.  The only way to avoid these tumors is to spay female rats at a young age of 3 to 5 months old, well before menopause age. CHances these spayed rats develop mammary tumors or pituitary tumors are less than 70
after an early spay but the chances are high they can develop either if they remain intact. I have lost females to PTs and mammary tumors and now I refuse to own females, only males, until I am ready to spay a handful of females in the future.

Read more about loss of balance etc...on my site here:

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/offbalanceheadtilt.htm
Meanwhile, she needs a vet for treatment so she is not uncomfortable and dizzy etc... if you need a vet please let me know your location and I can help you. You will need a vet that knows about rats and their diseases.

Hang in there

Sandra

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

QUESTION: hi, i just wanted to say thanks for all your help so far, i just wanted to ask one final que. is there any reason why one rat would go down hill so fast when her sister who is the same age is still fit and healthy? and my rat that has become ill has lost a lot of weight, both rats where 400g, my sick rat has now gone down to 280g, is there any food that i can feed her to help her put this weight back on? i have read that cat/dog food can be given and a small amount of cows milk along with the regular rat food.. i just wanted to check that it is ok to give her this as i dont want to make her ill/unhealthy i just want to help her put on a bit of weight and maintain it. i have started giving her 2ml of cows milk a day (only for the last 2days) so that i can be sure that she is drinking- its hard to monitor her feed/water intake when she is with another rat but i dont want to seperate them. i woulod be very greatful of any help that you can give. thanks again

ANSWER: You can ask me a million things thats fine.  If your told you have too many follow ups simply start a new message again, just remind me who you are!  

As for helping her gain weight (that is a huge amount of weight to lose btw..the vet should really look into this with some blood test etc)

Stop with the cows milk now. Rats can become lactose intolerant believe it or not, the cheese and mice thing? Its a myth:) She would do much better with soy milk or even soy baby formula. Cows milk is loaded with fats. You can also offer her ENSURE or BOOST which is a vitamin supplement made into a drink. Just a few droppers of this mixed with soy or even on its own would be real good. You want to also offer her chicken (white meat) even scramble her an egg with be a nice form of animal protein.  I cant remember what her regular diet has been.
You can give her several spoonfuls of the soy per day and even mix it with baby cereal (rice) and let her lick that up too. Baby food is another option.  Sweet potatoes, peas, apple sauce, organic is best.

SHe probably is not as healthy because her immune system is not as strong. This is not abnormal to see, esp if she is a pet store rat.

Hope this helps and feel free to write a trillion times if you want, that is what I am here for !!

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

QUESTION: just to update you, after a second injection of steroids and more antibiotics she showed a lot of improvement over the weekend, she walked around a lot faster and was more alert than ever. she also got her appetite back and was finishing her recommended daily intake of food and water. however, i went to get her out this mornin as i always do and i found her unconscious with possible blood from her mouth, nose and back end. i rushed her to the vets where she was immediately put down. they still dont have any idea what happened to her, but at least it is over for her. i just have one problem now, her sister is still fit and well, weighing in at 400g. i am worried that she will miss her sister and give up, which i have heard is often the case with rats. what are the first signs that she is missing her sister and how can i reduce the chance of this occuring. should i be looking into gettin another rat so that she has company? i dont want to lose another rat and would be greatful of any advice that you can give.thanks

Answer
Sorry it took so long to get to you. I am on vacation and forgot to put myself on hold so I am trying to do fun vacation stuff plus keep up with my rattie friends!

That said, I am sorry for your loss.  She probably bled from her brain as I said it did sound like she had a pituitary tumor. :(

I would get her another cage mate and right away. In fact, I always say to get two of them so they are together since the other girl is older. She isnt "old" but she is up there in age and if you get a young girl chances are she will be alone and you will have to keep getting new cagemates. Two younger rats to play with each other and cuddle with the older rat would be ideal.   
I have lost rats to broken hearts before. They stress out from lonliness and mourn their cagemate. The stress compromises their immune system and they fall ill.  They can stop eating and just seem a bit more lethargic.  Depression from loss of a cagemate with rats is very real.