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).