Fat rat.. No pics... yet

[littleindiangirl]

I just felt like posting this sad and annoying topic. Weighed my rats last week, my himalayan male rat has reached an all time high.

880 grams, he is double the weight of any other rats in the house

I know there is not much I can do for him, he drinks a ton of water, doesn't eat all the time, gets fed a portion a day... nothing has stopped or really slowed his weight gain. I'm am quite certain it is a medical condition.

A little history, he was one of my original breeder rats and is now a year old. He started to gain weight rapidly around the age of 3 months and just never plateaued like my other male rat his same age who comes in at a healthy and lean 440.

He has gained 200 grams since November.... it just breaks my heart. I know the day is coming to put him down.

Guess I just had to vent. His name is Little Pimp, and he has fathered a few of my hold back females. Sad to see his quality of life is getting worse every month.

[SatanicIntention]

He sounds like a Zucker rat to me. It's a genetic condition that causes alot of health problems such as diabetes and abnormal heart function. A friend of mine had a Zucker female who weighed around 800g. We figured she likely passed away from a heart attack or massive stroke as my friend found her dead on a shelf in the cage, like she had fallen asleep.

This might help:
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/diabetestype2.htm

[littleindiangirl]

Thanks Becky. I always tried to put it in the back of my mind, that he wasn't diabetic, but all the signs are clearly there. I don't know what to do now. Put him down or let him go until he dies like your friend's did. Sucks because he is such an awesome rat.

[scoobyark]

Sorry to hear Little Pimp is not well.

[frankykeno]

Aww poor thing. I don't know enough about his condition to comment on that bit but if he were mine I'd just look closely at his quality of life since he's a big old pet rat.

If he's in no pain, is able to get around and interact with a buddy rat to the best of his abilities well then I'd likely let him live out his likely shortened life span. We don't go around putting down humans with weight issues that affect their health so I don't see that you have to do so with Little Pimp (yes I know he's a rat, not a person ). If you see him becoming very compromised and unable to get around or live life, gasping for air if he can't breathe properly, etc. then it would likely be the time to see about a humane ending.

I know you're likely doing a lot of googling about his condition. Hopefully that will give you some information and comfort.