My poor little rat twilley

Question
QUESTION: It all began right before twilleys 1st birthday, I noticed his right foot was swollen to 3-x its normal size i freaked out! i thought he broke his  leg  in his wire cage so i removed him and put him an aquarium  and took him to the vet she said she didn't see a break in his leg gave me antibiotic and pain killers for him. I followed the directions to the t, it seemed to help him  walk and he started to act normal again. The size of his foot and leg decreased a lot but it still was bigger than the other one I thought he was going to get better and that maybe it had  broke and  it had healed  that way. So we celebrated his 1st bday with gifts and a cake with a candle. I was playing with him last night and i noticed that he wasn't using his right foot again. I picked him up and put my finger under his toes to see if he would grasp my finger with his toes he didn't, i believe that he can not move his toes, he puts very little pressure on his right leg.Please help me I love twilley to death he means everything to me, I got him from the pet store when he was a fuzzie I had to feed him milk from my finger for three weeks, I loved him the min i saw him, I couldn't bear the throught that he can leave so if you can please help me.


ANSWER: Hello Rachel,
wow, twilley does have the life of royalty for pets that is. You have already done everything that you can for your pet. Is he acting normal otherwise? It could be a sprain. If it still doesn't improve he could have a pinched nerve and'that would cause him to not use his leg, but I really think it could just be a sprain, especially since the swelling went down.


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

QUESTION: To be honest he isnt acting like himself he is not has wild has he usually is. He wont jump off the couch n e more hes not as active has before. Usually i put himon the floor and hes gone off exploring, now he will stay close by and he wont go very far before he comes back to me. i took him to the vet on 9.17.07. He did get better but now he cant use his foot he cant even scratch himself with his foot. He will not move his toes at all, that is what worries me is that he never couldnt use his toes before thay just stay curled up together.

Answer
hmmm.... it's been two and very little improvement. He's still not using it worries me a little bit. I mean you really have done everything and he is middle aged right now so slowing down is common. hmmm... lets see, do you use any tpye of vitamin drops? I have noticed that it is great to have vitamin drops. My favorite are Oasis Vitamin Drops. The one that is good for rats is the one with the picture of the hamster on it. I find that vitamin drops can sometimes help small animals heal faster and gives them a nice boost of energy as well.