Ben won't make it through the night

[Jay_Bunny]

We have a pet rat named Ben. When one of our friends was moving, he couldn't take his rats with him so we adopted Ben and one of his cagemates. For some reason his cagemate died soon after we brought them home and from that point on Ben has been very cage aggressive and will not accept any other rat. So we kept him by himself and he's been eating Mazuri 6F and dog kibble on occasion when I didn't have any lab block. I have made sure he had food every day and he has a 32oz water bottle. I've been noticing him getting a bit scrawny looking. We have no idea how old he is and we've had him for about a year now. So he's probably 2-3 years old.

I went to feed everyone tonight and he was curled in his food dish, barely moving. Having lost a ferret recently, I feel really crappy about this. I tried giving him some Pedialite (spelling) and baby food since he seems unable to eat on his own, but he was uninterested. He urinated once while I was trying to give him some Pedialite. I put him back in his cage but I doubt he will make it through the night. What makes it worse is my mother in law has grown attached to Ben. She buys him little treats and goes into the animal room to talk to him. Is there anything I can do for him or should I just let him go. I'm not sure if 2 years old is old for a rat, but he won't eat or drink.

[bad-one]

I'm so sorry

I don't what you could do for him, I suppose just try to make him comfortable.
2 years old is fairly old for a rat. I've read that 2-3 is average, of course I've heard of some making it to 4.

[RichsBallPythons]

Can be the old age or the dog food. As dog food has meat in their products in which rodents cant digest properly and causes kidney failure and loss of hair.

[Jay_Bunny]

He passed away last night. He didn't eat dog food on a regular basis, only when I didn't have Mazuri and had to wait a day or two to go to the store.

[Muze]

I'm so sorry. I hate the fact that they have such short life spans.

[Jay_Bunny]

I wasn't particularly attached to him. My mother in law was though. We have not told her yet as she is at work. He always tried to bite me though, so I didn't really bond with him.

[SlitherinSisters]

That's why I don't keep rats as pets anymore I had one girl before I ever had snakes. She was a such a sweetie and made it to the age of three. She stopped eating and looked very skinny and sickly by the end. She even started to loose hair, she looked like she was 100 years old.

I'm so sorry for your loss

[littleindiangirl]

Can be the old age or the dog food. As dog food has meat in their products in which rodents cant digest properly and causes kidney failure and loss of hair.

Sorry, rats are certainly capable of eating meat in their diet. They are omnivores like pigs and humans and eating an omnivore diet like many cheap dog foods can be maintained. However an all meat diet can be detrimental, but dog food is usually a mix between meat and plant product. Cat kibble is higher in animal protein and in the long term will cause kidney and liver failure.

Sorry to hear the sad news Jay, the rats make it hard to keep getting them as pets with such short lives.