An old granny rat....

[frankykeno]

Some of you will remember various posts about HoneyChild over the past couple of years. She's my favorite and first female breeder rat. She's the lovely beige and white hooded that I've had since the very beginning, she in fact produced my first ever rat litter back in December 2005 (fathered by good old Casanova, whose still going strong). Honey was bought from a pet store as a young rat and as far as I can figure is about 2.5 to 3 years of age now.

Here's Honey with her first litter...my favorite picture of her....


She was such an amazing mamma rat.....


A picture from a number of months back, not long after she turned about 2 years of age.....


She's been a great granny rat since her breeding retirement, keeping the other females company, helping to raise and socialize every new future breeder female, even diving in to settle down a big group of female weanlings in the feeder bins. A total sweetheart of a rat is my HC.

A few days ago I noticed Honey has started to drag her back legs a bit. Mostly when she rises (she's sleeping a lot now), sometimes she gets those old legs working, sometimes she sort of half drags one leg, half walks with it or on the front rather than the pad of the foot.

I'm just not sure what to do here. I don't want to keep her alive just because part of me doesn't want to lose her but I don't want to put her down if it's too soon for that. She doesn't seem in any sort of pain, she's eating just like always, cuddling with her cage buddies, grooming herself, no red tears or nasal discharge. The other female rats she lives with aren't rejecting or picking on her and she's not soiling herself or anything like that. Do you think this is just like old people getting creaky as they get really old or perhaps she's had some sort of small stroke?

I just feel so awful to think of losing her. I know for some that would seem overly emotional, she's "just a rat" but she's not to me (or Mike for that matter). Both her and Casanova have been just wonderful animals, happily producing top quality feeders and future breeders for us, never biting, never anything but lovely creatures. I keep telling myself getting emotional over a rat is just not smart but geesh guys I can't help but feel rotten about this rat whose really became so much more than just another breeder female in the colony.

Part of me dreads finding her gone one morning when I do my morning colony check but a far greater part of me dreads having to make the decision to end her life if that's what must be done.

So advice folks...am I doing the right thing letting her keep on like this with her back legs less than functional? I don't have a lot of experience with really old rats so this is new territory for me both with HoneyChild and with Casanova whose about the same age (though he's in better physical shape right now).

[SatanicIntention]

Is she in a tank or a cage with ladders and levels? When they start getting the hind-leg paralysis, I put them in a 1-2 level cage, with low incline ladders and low levels in case they fall. The Super Pet cages are good for this as you can adjust the heights and the ladders are solid.

As long as she's eating and maintaining weight, doing normal, ratty things, then I'd say she's fine. I had one of my girls live to be 4 years old, and she was happy up until the day before she was helped over.

For a pet store rat, Honeychild is OLLLDDD!

[ADEE]

awe, thats awesome shes so old shes a pretty girl, reminds me of our kitty (the rat is named kitty)

[frankykeno]

She's in a one level enclosure Becky. Just keeping company with a few other females she's known all their lives (one is actually her last daughter by Casanova....the big black and white hooded female...Big Bertha, whose between litters). There's a nice young female in there too, Violet, whose growing up to be a breeder. Honey isn't truly content unless she's got a younger rat to mother on.

Do you remember Becky...HoneyChild was that silly weanling rat that couldn't figure out how to use the rat wheel I had back then. All the other females would play in it properly. Poor HC would stand upright beside it, madly spinning it with two front paws, then trying to hop it and it would stop. She'd try again, get it really going this time, add in one hind paw to help...then get spun off balance by the wheel since she was teetering on only one foot by this time. LMAO! Silly girl never did figure out how a rat wheel works but she sure knew how to be a good momma rat.

You know for a pet store girl she has done so very well. All the other females from back then eventually passed on. Only Honey and Casanova have just kept keeping on. That particular store did buy some rats from outside sources but a lot were actually ones they bred or private rat breeders brought them their extras so many Honey and Nova just have good genetics. I know they've never produced anything less than a perfect offspring and I remember you saying that some of their hooded babies were show quality looking. I know they aren't sibs as I bought them at different times but from the same private store.

Mike and I are checking on her 4 times a day minimum to see if anything significant changes but I'm reassured by your post that it should be okay to let her be for now and just provide a safe, loving place for her to spend these last weeks or months. I know I'm going to be broken up when the old girl passes on....she's really worked her way into my heart.

[frankykeno]

awe, thats awesome shes so old shes a pretty girl, reminds me of our kitty (the rat is named kitty)

Thanks Ashley. I don't know if it's just me and my rats but I can say I've never had a moment's trouble with any Beige Hoodeds. I really like them as breeders especially when paired with Black, Agouti or Cinnamon Hooded rats. Honey started out with 15 pinks her first litter and produced exactly 15 every single breeding until her last one which was only 6 but they were HUGE babies. Even when she was popping out 15 at a time they were always some of our biggest and most hardy pinks. She never lost a single baby either. She's truly a supermom that one.

[Sunny1]

I am not that experienced with rats, but I have seen something similar in aging dogs. My older dog is doing this a little with his back legs (although with dogs you can help them out with glucosamine and chondroitin *sp??*...... wonder if that would help rats out??) usually when he is getting up from a long nap or after he's been outside running with the puppy or the kids. But I would think that it is a little too soon to think about putting her down, if she is still able to get around without being in a whole lot of pain and is still doing all of her normal ratty things. I would think that at the moment it is just from her older age.

[SatanicIntention]

Rats do get arthritis(I have a dwarf blue hooded female who has arthritis in all of her joints), but they mainly get paralysis, and supplements won't help that. At least with paralysis, it's not painful, and they do ok with it. Just make sure their feet don't have problems and they can clean themselves. My little girl with arthritis gets glucosamine/chondroitin supplements as well as anti-inflammatories when she needs them.