Bobby is loosing his leg muscle

[MaryCayden]

Well Mr Man hurt his foot over a week ago and I treated with pain killers. Well he started walking funny, it was like his left side was sunk in like he was starved on one side of his body only. So I took him into the vet today and she felt his leg and he has muscle atrophy on his left leg. :sad3:. So he really hurt himself badly. So i'm going to continue the pain killer until hes better. The x-rays are all normal no dislocations, fractures, breaks, and he has nothing going on inside his body. :joy: No lumps or bumps or spot or masses :thumbup: So he is a healthy old man except for his leg. :cuddle: It was some cool to see his xray with all his little bones.

 

[temblabamomo]

Poor guy. I hope the pain killers are helping him and he eventually starts feeling better again without them. Lots of healing vibes to him.

 

[DadRat]

How old is he?

We have noticed in our HED boys they lose muscle mass quickly as soon as the legs are not working well.

 

[victoria]

Aww, I'm sorry. It does sound like HED, rats ofter hurt themselves when their legs don't work the way they used to.

 

[Joanne]

Yes, it could be 'the chicken or the egg' scenario. Is the muscle wasting because of a leg injury, or did the leg injury occur in the first place because his muscles are weak. Time to take him to the physiotherapist ! LOL
A couple of my rats have hind end degeneration and my oldest girl now almost drags her hind feet. She's still bright and happy though, so she keeps on trucking. I have added a shelf to my Critter Nation though, so that if she falls, it's not too far.

 

[MaryCayden]

He's over 2. But he still walks normal he just doesn't bunny hop like he used to anymore. So you think its HED? :cry4:

 

[Joanne]

My rats started by having to sit really far back on their bum to eat. Now my Jazzy can't hold food in both hands to eat because she has to hold herself up with one hand. (Different than PT though.) I noticed she started dragging her bum when walking. Now she's to the point where her hind feet flip out behind her while she waddles/drags herself around. She's just a senior citizen with limited mobility. She still gets around though! I noted someone mentioned muscle tremors in the hind end, and when I felt for it, I could feel her muscles twitching (I thought she was just nervous!) But, she's still happy and that's all that matters.......

 

[MaryCayden]

So they can still live and be happy with HED? How long can they live with it?

 

[Rattus]

Oh yes they can still have a happy life with HED dont worry :cuddle: Most of my ratties never got it bad but my boy Nero lived to be 2 and a half years old and I only had to then put him to sleep because of a severe lung infection he wasnt beating. After he hit 2 his back legs started to get weak.. eventually he could almost completely not use his back legs at all.. if they are strong enough they'll drag them selfs by their front legs and usually it doesnt seem to bother them too too much, they adapt. My Nero was a happy old scruffy boy, he'd drag himself around all the time with a smile on his face.. he was still pretty fast too. sometimes when he wanted to walk around Id hold his bum for him and hed walk faster, he liked the help LOL When it gets bad and his balance is going off you wil need to have him in a 1 story cage so he doesnt hurt himself and you'll have to put his water low and his food because they can not reach up well when it gets really bad.. HED usually takes months to get bad..

Im sure some rats dont enjoy having HED but just watch his personality and as long as hes happy you know its not bothering him.

 

[MaryCayden]

Mine doesn't live in cages. They free roam. So I don't know how thats gonna work. He loves to sleep in the cat carrier that's up higher on a old cage.

 

[Godmother]

:tumkiss: to Bobby. It will definitely cramp his style, although he may be able to do some limited climbing for a while. My Raylene has some HED, and she can still motor around. Sad to see her lose her former agility, though.

 

[victoria]

I've had rats with HED adapt really well, even one girl whose back legs were practically paralyzed that managed to do everything she needed to - eat, drink, groom, use the litter box. Just make sure everything's accessible to him (food - may need soft food, water, a comfy place to sleep) and keep an eye on him to make sure he's not getting hurt or losing weight.