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Question
QUESTION: Hello Sandra.  It is Jill again. I must tell you that something very strange is going on. My little rat girl is doing so much better today. She is still a bit weak but her eyes are clear, her breathing is normal and she is able to walk under her own power even though she is still a little unstable. This is the same rat that looked and sounded like she would not live through the night on Saturday. Thanks for the suggestion to feed her baby food and or ice cream she ate a little of the baby food but took to the melted ice cream really well. She has recently even been able to hold a piece of soft food and feed herself her own.  She even managed to climb up into her hammock.
The vet I used to use when I had a dog does not see rats so I am in the process of tracking down one that does. My vet's office did however say that it does sound like a tumor, they added that it is possible that she could have had the flu. I did not know that was possible. Have you heard of this? These 8 month old rats I have now are my first. I have had them since they were 5 and 6 weeks old. So I have a great deal to learn. Thank you so much for taking the time to try to help those of us looking for answers when these little ones get sick.
Jill

ANSWER: Hi Jill

That is great news she is improving. As for the flu, no, not possible for rats to get the flu. They are immune to the flu virus.

If you want to try to find an exotic vet in your area, let me know your location and I can find an exotic vet that is legit and not self proclaimed which are the ones to watch out for. Its confusing because the vet will say they have an "interest" in exotics and most of the time that means they are self taught and not board certified and did not take the continuing education needed to be a certified exotic vet.
I can have a name for you by night fall if you want!


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

QUESTION: Hello Sandra. I am really just letting you know what has been happening since I last wrote you. I have found a vet who treats exotics but too late to do anything yesterday. Here is what happened last night. My little rat girl had been improving all day long and then in the early evening I saw blood coming out of her ear. I checked her thoroughly there was no cut or scratch to be found this blood did appear to be coming from inside the ear. Anyway about 10:30 last night she just stood up on her hind legs began wind milling her arms while looking as though she was trying to bite the air, in the end she simply collapsed.  It was one of the most frightening sights I have ever witnessed. I assume she was having some sort of seizure. I isolated her last night and went to bed feeling as though I would not find her alive in the morning. Now this is to me unexplainable. This morning and in fact all day today she is her normal self. It is as if the last few days never happened. I am not fooling myself I imagine she will most likely relapse but at the moment she has regained all of her strength, motor functions, balance and has a great appetite. She has resumed her regular duties as barber for her cage mate. Have you seen this sort of thing? It is obvious to me that this is not and was not an ear infection. If it is a tumor do they have periods of time when they are fine? I find this all very very strange. But at the moment I am just happy she is not suffering now. I will be keeping a close eye on her for sure.
Just thought I'd fill you in on this odd situation.
Jill

Answer
Hi Jill

Wow, that did sound odd (her behavior, that is) and I agree that it may have been a seizure. I have seen this before (the flaring of the limbs, biting the air etc...) and afterwards, the seizure had exhausted the rat to the point she collapsed.
As for as it with it being a tumor though, it should not progress and regress like that, but heck, who knows any more.

What it does sound like is neurological in nature as I think I said before. I would like to see her on some aggressive antibiotic treatment along with steroids. Steroids would really really help.
She also needs her blood tested too. Blood can tell alot. She may even
have epilepsy and although not seen alot, its not uncommon to occur.
Having a seizure and coming out of it and acting fine afterwards like she is makes me even more suspicious that is what it may be. I say it may be it, of course, but its impossible for me to know which I know you know that. Did that make sense?
LOL
I would also like to see her on valium twice a day, low dose, and it wont stone her or sedate her either. Rats have such a fast metabolic rate that they react alot differently to things than we think they would.
I have a rat here that we were never able to diagnose that is showing severe neurological signs such as walking in a circles and waving his head wildly like his neck was broken, and he will lift his head straight up pointing his nose to the ceiling and he will look backwards at you. Its not the typical head sway that rats do (not sure if you have seen this before) but a red or pink eyed rat (sometimes dark eyed rats too) will sway their head back and forth real fast and this is simply from them trying to judge the depth on something they see and this also helps them judge distance from the object by helping the focus. Its really cute when they do it, but what Smudge is doing is totally different. He also acts blind and in fact we are almost positive he is in both eyes now. It may have been a stroke but all the tests are negative. Its so crazy. He is alive though and ok, in fact he is doing great. He has a type of rat cerebral palsy, so to speak.

One thing about this vet, be sure he is an exotic vet, not that he just treats exotics. Big huge huge difference. Many vets see exotic animals and "pocket pets" and have a "special interest" in exotics but did not take the required continued education needed to pass their specialty boards and so these vets are self taught and self proclaimed exotic vets by saying they have a "special interest in exotics"
The vet should be exotic certified and a member of the Association of exotic mammal Veterinarians to be a real exotic vet. Of course this doesn't mean that they are NOT good with exotics but unfortunately we have had many people come to us with very messed up and sick rats because the vets that they saw and that told them they see exotics didn't have the proper implements to do testing nor did the doctor have the right education to do surgery and its a total disaster waiting to happen. Sometimes these vets do more harm than good. I would ask this vet how many rats he has seen if you have not already checked. Now I May have just wasted my breath and the vet you have in mind is top notch blah blah blah so just ignore this last part of the message. LOL
I just know that sometimes in a situation like this if the vet is unsure because of lack of knowledge with exotics and rodents, he may say STROKE just because its more common in rats and of course an easy guess too.