My rattie lost weight & disoriented

Question
Mt rat, Harry, is a year and a half old-always a good eater,(still is) but now I see his spine & he's losing weight rapidly. He used to grab his food and eat in "his bed", lately he was eating straight from the dish as if his front paws "gave out"! I noticed a few days ago, he was walking in circles in his cage! Today, I came home from work, (I work at a pet shop-where I bought him as a hairless baby!) I noticed his penis was totally sticking out (Ive never seen this before) andit seemed as it was bothering him--?? He now has no mobility in front paws--I was holding him on my stomach and his paws were "outward" and he was pretty lifeless. Im like ready to cry, because I saved his life (he was a "feeder rat") and was doing great until about 2 weeks ago! He mostly sleeps now, but lately drinks a lot of water.I feel sooo bad,Im basically helpless!! I heard "there's not much one can do" (Im thinking it's a pituitary tumor) But what can I do? Is it better to take him to vet and have him euthanized? My mom says "he'll probably die peacefully in his sleep" (will he? or dop you think Im being cruel to let him suffer?) I basically want whats best for him. I told her Id pay for the vet visit, etc. I just dont want to see him like this!Can u give me any suggestions? Thanks, Elisia


Answer
Hi Elisia

Your right, it sounds like a pituitary tumor. However, it is not commonly seen in males (that doesn't rule it out though)
Another possible cause would be a stroke at some point, but because the symptoms are gradual and there is weight loss involved, that would probably be on the bottom of the list of possibilities.

I would rather be positive and suggest that it is otitis media (inner ear infection)
In fact, otitis media mimics pituitary adenomas so much its hard to tell them apart when first diagnosed. The vet usually will start antibiotics to treat it which MUST be the same antibiotics used to treat mycoplasmosis since that bacteria is usually the cause of inner ear infections in rats. Baytril and doxycycline for 21 to 30 days plus an anti-inflammatory, such as metacam. Sometimes steroids are used in place of metacam but many vets are leary of using steroids since they compromise the immune system.

I would not write him off yet. I would find a vet that knows about rats (I prefer an exotic specialist) especially in this case because many general vets are not well versed on rat ailments, especially when dealing with something like this.

Since pituitary tumors are mostly seen in unspayed female rats over menopause age (they are fueled by too much estrogen) I would say that chances are it may be an inner ear infection rather than the pituitary tumor are high.
I don't want to get your hopes up, but it is worth a shot to treat this like an ear infection first.  If he doesn't improve after a period of time (about 10 days) and is getting the right medications for it as I stated above, or gets worse, we know its the tumor.

I can help you locate a vet that takes care of exotics if you don't have one. I will need your location and what big cities are near you first so I can locate vets for you.

If he indeed has this tumor though, I would not allow him to suffer it out, I would opt to have him humanely euthanized because he can fight this for weeks and suffer all the while.

Lets think positive though and just say that he needs to see the vet for possible otitis media caused by the mycoplasmosis organism and hope for the best.

Sandra