Crank is doing something odd..

[ATez]

He's on medications for a RI right now. Baytril, doxy and bene-bac. He's going to be 2 years in april and he's obese, around 690grams. He seems to be acting fine all the time but for the past 2 days i've been catching him doing something he's never done before. He'll just stay completely still. But it's weird because he'll be scartching and then he'll stop, with his back paw still in the air as if he's going to scratch but he's just not moving at all. I approach him slowly to see and as soon as he notices me he snaps out of it.

If i'm able to i'll catch him on film to show you guys. :/

Could he be in pain or trying to clear his nose or lungs?
I've seen him do this 3 times now if i'm not mistaken. It's just weird, i dunno.

 

[temblabamomo]

Could it just be the combo of being a bit heavy and fighting of a RI makes him winded? Perhaps he is pausing to catch his breath.

 

[ATez]

Would a rat pause/stay still with it's back paw in the air? I never read anything about this it just confuses me... :/
It's nothing like the poop stare and he doesn't lie down somewhere for 10 minutes (he does that sometimes) but he freezes.
Untill he gets distracted by me creeping closer. You know how people will sometimes feel inner pain and the automatic thing to do seems to be freeze a second and think "wtf was that?" it's kinda what it looked like.

 

[temblabamomo]

Hm, idk. I've known a few rats to pause mid-scratch with a back foot in the air. I never worried too much about it. Obie actually does it a lot now that I think about it. Usually it appears that something has caught his attention, some movement or sound. I'm only taking a shot in the dark here, but I wonder if that could be any sort of early indicator of the beginnings of HED?

 

[ATez]

Yeah? It's the first time i ever see or hear of it!
What's HED? Crank just started doing it in the past few days.

 

[M0onkist]

Hind-end degeneration - basically a neurological or arthritic problem where the back legs stop working properly.

It usually starts with slight twitches or spasms in the back feet, then more waddling, and gradually they have to drag themselves along with their front paws.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

It doesn't sound like HED to me. I would say that as long as there are no lumps in his belly or any spots that cause him pain when you touch them then it sounds like he's just getting distracted mid-scratch.

 

[xxchelle]

Attention deficit disorder rat? Mid-scratch something shiny catches his eye, then he starts to think about where he left his keys, then he remembers he also has to pee, and completely forgets to finish scratching.

Never mind, I think I was describing my husband there.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

Attention deficit disorder rat? Mid-scratch something shiny catches his eye, then he starts to think about where he left his keys, then he remembers he also has to pee, and completely forgets to finish scratching.

Never mind, I think I was describing my husband there.

:laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4: Poor ForumHubby.

 

[ATez]

Hahaha! THe ADD sounds like me alright...
And HED sounds scary! D:

 

[victoria]

It does sound like HED to me as well. Keep an eye on him and if he starts getting worse look into supplementing some Glucosamine and Chondroitin (do a forum search on it, there's some good info). In the meantime, it's really important to make sure he's got soft, clean flooring in his cage because HED and obesity are risk factors for bumblefoot, which in my opinion, is often worse than HED.

 

[ATez]

Oh wow, i just searched a bit and i saw a second sign of HED would be him dragging his tail? I'm taking him to a vet if he starts to do that!!! But for now he looks okay, i'm going to keep an eye on him. My poor babies!!! I never would've expected health issues like these when i got those little guys, i'm so glad i have them and take care of them to the best of my ability!

 

[temblabamomo]

To an extent, there's really nothing you can do to prevent something like HED. Weight can contribute, but I had one very lean rat show signs of it around 18 months, but over the next 6 months it didn't really progress very far at all past the tail-dragging stage. I believe boys are more prone to it than the girls. Rats with HED can live perfectly happy lives, they just need a bit of extra help sometimes. Besides which, while HED is something you'll want to watch for with Crank, it's still entirely possible he's just an ADD rattie who gets a wee bit distracted mid-scratch, or maybe with his weight and the RI he's got he needs to pause every so often to get his breath.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

Rats tend to drag their tails just from old age so even if he starts dragging his tail it doesn't mean he has HED.

 

[MissGuardian]

I´ve seen my rats do that too sometimes..
Never thought much of it usually, something just caught their attention.. But I think my HED rat also did that a bit.. When he got weaker and didn´t have the strength to continue scratching.. I noticed it mostly with that he suddenly started to really lean into me if I scratched him.. Because it itched and he hadn´t been able to do it himself.

 

[ATez]

Thanks everyone! I'm a bit less paranoid about him now, he's walking around fine and i haven't seen him do it again today. He's also walking with his tail completely off the ground!

 

[ForumHubby]

Attention deficit disorder rat? Mid-scratch something shiny catches his eye, then he starts to think about where he left his keys, then he remembers he also has to pee, and completely forgets to finish scratching.

Never mind, I think I was describing my husband there.

I think I missed this post when I was busy looking for my keys and getting distracted by shiny bobbles.

 

[jorats]

Attention deficit disorder rat? Mid-scratch something shiny catches his eye, then he starts to think about where he left his keys, then he remembers he also has to pee, and completely forgets to finish scratching.

Never mind, I think I was describing my husband there.

I think I missed this post when I was busy looking for my keys and getting distracted by shiny bobbles.

:laugh4: