Advice! Possible stroke?

[Pulsar]

Hey Rat Shack community. I’m a brand new member and I need some medical advice from a more experienced rat owner.

My rat, Timothy, a 4-6 month old male, suddenly started displaying extremely distressing physical symptoms early this morning, which have only proceded to worsen within the last few hours. I don’t believe he is in imminent danger of a serious medical emergency, but my reasearch has me concerned that he may have had a stroke in the last 24 hours.

His symptoms so far include disorientation and lethargy (he is normally an extremely active rat, but is now moving like a snail), and most distressingly he is dragging his back legs, waddling about with his back legs bowed out, moving in an exaggerated ‘s’ shape, and sucking in his sides as he walks. He seemes to have a normal appetite, is drinking water, and is groggy but alert.

I am unsure if this points directly to a stroke, or if it could be hind leg paralysis, something I’ve heard is more common in male rats, although he seems quite young for such a serious health problem.

I have a limited ability to afford medical costs, so I was hoping to get the opinion of A rat owner with more than few months of experience.

On a more hopeful note, if he survives whatever bizarre condition he is dealing with, does anyone have some tips on caring for a partially paralyzed rat? What dose his outlook on life look like with the paralysis? How will his younger cage mate, another male (Bear), react?

Thank you in advance for any insight!

 

[Luna&Ralph]

I had a rat with a stroke recently. I woke up one day and one side of her body was paralyzed. She couldn’t move either her arm or leg on her left side and was having trouble eating solids, I’m still not totally sure why. I used this medication guide for giving her children’s Motrin (ibuprofen): https://www.myratfriends.com/medication-dosing-guides
I gave her a dose a day, but you can give up to 3 doses a day. I saw improvement every time I gave her a dose of the Motrin (because it’s a blood thinner so it makes the blood move around the possible clot more easily).
It would probably be a good idea to give your little guy a dose as soon as possible to see if there’s any improvement. Whether or not it’s a stroke, it won’t hurt him and will help with any pain that he might have.
Strokes are the best case scenario when it comes to paralysis in rats because they are the most treatable. The fact that he survived the initial stroke (if that’s what happened) is a great sign for recovery! My girl had her stroke about a month ago and is all better now! The fine motor skills in her front paw still need a little work because they were out of use for so long, but that’s to be expected. My girl is on the older side and fully improved in a week so I would expect your boy improve even faster if he had a stroke at his age.

 

[Pulsar]

Thank you so much Luna&Ralph for your advice! I'm picking up the children's Ibuprofen soon, and I'll administer it to Timothy as soon as possible. I'm starting to feel a little less hysterical this afternoon, as the worst of his neurological symptoms have started to clear up. I'll keep a close eye on him for a few weeks, but here is hoping he'll bounce back quickly.

 

[jorats]

Those symptoms could also indicate bladder infection. I would definitely get him some antibiotics asap.

 

[SQ]

Vet appointment asap as Jorats said

http://ratguide.com/health/urinary_renal/urinary_tract_infections_lower.php

http://ratguide.com/health/neurological/stroke.php

http://ratguide.com/health/basics/signs_of_pain_in_rats.php