My rat is sick, please assist!

Question
QUESTION: Hi Sandra,

My rat is a female, she cant be much older than two years. Up until now she has been fine. Although she did have an inner ear infection about a year ago which was treated.

Recently though she started falling over in her cage. I assumed it was another ear infection so gave her some more antibiotics. Which had no effect whatsoever! She would move ok but fall over regularly. This got better, then it got alot worse. I started hand feeding her, and the only thing she would eat is cat food chopped up really small. She seemed to be doing even worse! So i was about ready to get her put down at the vets, left it the weekend, and come monday she was back to her old self! She was up, walking around, balance not 100% but a good 80% improvement for 2 days! I gave her some mixed fruit, some normal rat food, and some weetabix. Nothing high in protien like cat food.

Last night i noticed her water bottle wasnt working to great, so i helped her out with that, it now seems she has deterioated AGAIN! She has her back legs right by her head and is all cramped up, every now and then i feel a muscle spasm.

I can only conclude that this could be kidney failure?? Or some sort of tumour on the brain that gets better and worse randomly?

Im at a loss, just when she looks like she has another year in her, she goes rapidly down hill. She is skin and bone right now, and hasnt moved position all night,  yet an hour prior to her drinking water, she was fine! It seems if she eats or drinks alot, she goes back to being all wobbly and in a cramped position.

One more thing i have noticed. She has hardly any poo/wee in her cage despite the amount she eats. This is concerning!

please help if you can

regards

Lee

ANSWER: Hi Lee

First off, I wanted to ask, what kind of antibiotics did you give your rat and how old were they? All medications have an expiration date so I wanted to be sure that they were still within the expiration date. If not, that could explain why the rat did not improve.


However, it could be neurological (as you suggested when you  mentioned brain tumor) instead of otits media.

I forgot to ask if your girl is spayed or intact? If she is intact, this may apply to her:
Being she is around 2 years old, this is the prime age (menopause and post menopause between 18 months and 2 years old) for problems to occur once estrogen levels become erratic and start to elevate. Estrogen causes alot of problems for the intact female rat, anywhere from polycystic ovaries that can contribute to non specific vaginal bleeding to alopecia (hair loss) and also high estrogen levels are the most common cause of mammary tumors in female rats. The most unfortunate of all estrogen related ailments in the rat is a pituitary adenoma. Commonly seen around menopause age and older, but has also been noted in younger intact females and also in some males, although not very common to occur in males, it has happened. Anyhow, pituitary tumors (I will abbreviate and refer to it is PT for the rest of the post because not only do I dislike the ailment, I also cant pronounce it for squat and thank goodness for spell checker because this is one word I misspell regardless of how often I write it!!  LOL!!)

Sorry to get off track, thats a bad habit of mine! :-(

PTs mimic Otits media (inner ear infection) from displaying head tilt, walking in circles, rolling, loss of balance etc...with the exception of loss of use of front limbs which is one big sign of a PT that is noted, sometimes before the head tilt and rolling begin. The rat will also not respond to antibiotic therapy which is when the Vet will start to suspect PT.
Steroids can help a great deal, but steroids also compromise the immune system and can cause a secondary infection especially if the rat already has a weak immune system. Broad spectrum antibiotics should be given in conjunction with steroids regardless if the rat has active infection or not. I am hoping this is not the case with your rat though since it seems to wax and wane. I do want to ask a few questions though.
How is the function of her front paws? Is she able to grasp anything with them, or hold food?

It could be kidney related, but with kidney problems, you would notice an increase in urine production rather than a decrease. If anything, she sounds a bit dehydrated.
Weight loss is also a sign of kidney disease but weight loss is also a sign of oodles of other ailments, from heart and kidney disease to PTs and other cancers..the list is endless. Also, I have had many people write to me with the chief complaint being an itchy rat with no signs of ectoparasites. This is often allergy related and one common problem is food allergies and allergies to protein in the food. This is usually resulting from pet store foods that are very popular such as Kaytee and Mazuri rodent blocks. The seed mixes are usually full of fats and the other types of kibble contain high protein. Ideal protein should be between 15 and 18 percent.

What kind of diet has she been fed most of her life?  It seems you were already aware of protein in the cat food you were giving her, which also leads me to assume you realize rats do not do well on a diet high in protein so I can only assume (seems I am basing this on alot of assumptions huh?! :-) that her diet was kept fairly low to normal protein levels.  Regardless, if this would be kidney related, reduction in protein in the diet and steroids among a few other things can help her feel better and provide her several months more of quality life. Several months more to people that do not own rats will groan over that statement but we all know that even 3 or 4 more months is alot for a rat since they have such a short life span of around 2.5 years to 3.5 years.

There are other things to consider with your rat, from infection or swelling of the brain due to infection (mycoplasmosis is one culprit) to possible mini strokes,although the part of it being random doesn't seem to fit in with stroke.

I do want to ask again if she is spayed or not. This can help shed alot of light on aiding in this sketchy diagnosis although it doesn't replace the diagnosis of a Veterinarian that is certified in exotics or at least holds a special interest in exotics and they are also skilled in the treatment of rats and other exotic pets. Exotic doesn't seem to apply to our rats, does it? Actually they only use exotic to basically say "the rare and unusual" or not so common household family pet!  ;-)

It may be something simple as a relapse in the inner ear infection and the fact the antibiotics had expired which will render them useless and sometimes dangerous (I will explain about that in a second) OR that the antibiotics may still be potent but the organism causing the illness wont respond to this specific antibiotic which is very common if its mycoplasma bacteria since it doesn't have a cell wall and most antibiotics attack the cell wall of the bacteria to destroy it and without the cell wall, the medication wont work unless its structured to still work regardless of the lack of cell wall.  Confused?  Me too...thats why its easier to let the vet deal with it. :----)

Anyhow, hopefully my banter wasn't too dull and you are still awake and alert here and I will be expecting a follow up with answers to the few questions I asked earlier. In case you forgot one more re-cap:

Diet she has been on longest?
Bedding or litter used ?
Was she spayed?
How old is the antibiotic you used?
What is the name of the antibiotic you used?
What dose and strength is the antibiotic you used and how many days did you use it for?

Hope to hear from you soon so maybe I can help shed more light on the situation and help the little sweetie.

regards

Sandra


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

QUESTION: Hi sandra thank you for getting back to me. In response to your questions.

Diet she has been on longest? Usual rat mix from the pet shop and mix that with some nuggets (almost like big brown balls with all her vitamins etc)

p.s this is a great site, but its taken me 32 attempts to get the anitspam check to accept my password, and my eye site is brilliant :(
Bedding or litter used ? I use a towel for her to walk on now, but before i was using paper bedding.
Was she spayed?No she was not
How old is the antibiotic you used? To be honest, i dont remeber, a month or two
What is the name of the antibiotic you used? Baytril
What dose and strength is the antibiotic you used and how many days did you use it for? 1ml in morning and 1ml in evening for 2 weeks with no response whatsoever, before she responded within 10 days.

You asked one very specific question. Does she have the use of her front paws. The answer to this is no, that was another issue. Her front left poor moved position to under her chest, and now her other poor isnt so good either. She cant pick food up with her hands, she has to get it in her mouth, fall on her side and then eat it that way.

Like i say the strange things are:

Loss of balance totally.
Sometimes if she eats to much (not really that much) she acts lethargic! like she wont move at all and body goes limp. For example i gave her 1/4 of a banana as a treat and i thought she was dead!

I was giving her cat food, due to her being the one who would walk out the cage and push the cats out the way. It wasnt for a few days that i realised the high protien content. SO immediatley stopped her doing that.

What bothers me most, is how she was 90% better over the weekend. CLimbing the cage, standing and balancing on two legs, and then later in the day...she simply deteroated!

So with bad front legs, bad balance....id go with the tumour thing....is there anyway i can know for sure by feeling her body? I know what an inner ear infection is and how it affected her last time, and it really does not seem to be anything like it. No head wobble etc..

ANSWER: Thanks for answering my questions. To make this easier since your having trouble with the site, you can write to me at
Sandyscrittercity@yahoo.com so we can continue to talk there.

I will say this though...it does sound like a Pituitary tumor for sure. Its found located in the base of the brain so there is no way to feel for it. It can wax and wane if there is change in inflammation from possible fluid accumulation.
Unfortunately there is no cure for it and little treatment other than steroids for inflammation which can help a great deal. The other treatment that is just starting to be used is is the hormone LUPRON. One reason for Pituitary tumors in rats and also mammary tumors is when menopause takes place, estrogen levels rise and the rise of estrogen fuels the development of these merciless tumors. Lupron is a hormone that works by stopping the production of estrogen and has been successful in shrinking existing tumors, both mammary and pituitary tumors too and it also works by preventing new growth. The problem is, not many vets are well versed on its use and are not aware of it.  I have been advising people to suggest it to their vet and if there are questions they can ask me and I can provide more information. It is also used widely to treat adrenal gland disease in ferrets in which most exotic vets are aware of this treatment. It also works for polyscystic ovary disease in rats as well.
Just something to think about.
Do you have a vet that you can take her to for this that is experienced with rats?

Again, reach me either here for a follow up or via my e-mail at Sandyscrittercity@yahoo.com

regards

Sandy

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

QUESTION: Hi Sandy

The problem with my vets here is they dont regard rats as worth alot. When she got an ear infection he was very negative. Same with my other rat, she died, due to his incompetance. So i try my best to do what i can now.

Without medication for this tumour are there any home remedys?

Failing that, please dont take this the wrong way, but would it be better to put her out of her missery? IS there anything a home person can do to put them down nicely? Reason i ask is, the way the vets put them down looks very nasty.

Thats my last resort. Quality of life is my main concern.

Answer
That is such a shame that the vets there have no regard for a rats life.  It disgust me.  We care for every animal that comes in the door be it a gerbil, snake, rat, bunny, bird...what kind of vet would have disregard for any animal? Probably the problem was that the vet had no real idea what to do with this rat so he did whatever he thought was the best choice.  I can find you a vet that cares if you let me know where your located.  I understand totally about wanting to euthanize your rat if she is terminally ill, but at this point she may just be suffering from another inner ear infection and a better vet can help her.
As for putting her down, I don't even think I want to know how the vet there does it but here in most states it is ILLEGAL to do it inhumane. The rat is first usually put totally under a general anesthesia and put into a deep induced sleep just like surgery was about to take place. After that, whatever the vet does wont matter so usually the fastest way is through the heart. The rat is totally asleep and will feel nothing at all so this is the fastest way. Some people prefer to be there the entire time so a different way to inject the final dose of medication is used, often in the belly. Again, the rat is already asleep and will feel nothing.
There is no way to put her to sleep on your own that is inhumane.  So many methods fail, from dry ice to people actually freezing the rat in the freezer thinking the rat will pass out fast and die but this is not true. They suffer. Dry ice method is also inhumane.  I can go on and on so the real truth is, only a decent vet should put your little friend to sleep and it appears that you have no decent vet you can see so I can help you or else you can take my advice on how to properly euthanize her and demand the vet you see now follow the instructions.
I am so sorry about your rat.  Again, it does sound grim but it really may just be another inner ear infection that has her totally off balance, but the loss of the use of her little paws tells me otherwise.

Please let me know what you decide and I will support your decision either way and help you find someone to help you and the rat both.

hugs to you

Sandy