HED in one leg??

[mia9_28]

Is it common for rats to have HED in only one hind leg to start with?
I have noticed that Smokey has lost some of the control of his left back leg... is this the start of HED or is it something else?
His foot is cramped, and he can't move it anymore, but he can still move his leg to walk around and he pretty much just walks on his ankle.
Does that sound like HED, or something more serious like a stroke?
A broken foot/leg maybe?

I'll upload a video of him walking later.

 

[jorats]

It's not common to have HED in one leg. I'll wait for the video.

 

[mamarat]

I've had rats who start with weakness in one leg first, off and on and over time develop HED in both legs.

 

[mia9_28]

Here are the videos:
He can still walk almost normally... he just can't move his foot. :/

[BBvideo 425,350:2cp5ixpa]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_qUAxTv90g&list=UUbEY81xF7tBa1RH5pKldRtg&index=7&feature=plcp[/BBvideo:2cp5ixpa]

[BBvideo 425,350:2cp5ixpa]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXU7kGrgiHQ&list=UUbEY81xF7tBa1RH5pKldRtg&index=6&feature=plcp[/BBvideo:2cp5ixpa]

[BBvideo 425,350:2cp5ixpa]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h6kdsFrs-M&list=UUbEY81xF7tBa1RH5pKldRtg&index=5&feature=plcp[/BBvideo:2cp5ixpa]

[BBvideo 425,350:2cp5ixpa]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDY9Pzx7tQc&feature=autoplay&list=UUbEY81xF7tBa1RH5pKldRtg&lf=plcp&playnext=1[/BBvideo:2cp5ixpa]

 

[Joanne]

After watching him walk around, I would say injury. It is not at all like my rats and their HED. How long have you noticed this?

 

[mamarat]

It looks like an injury to me too.

 

[mia9_28]

I have noticed this within the past few days... maybe 2-3 days ago.
I thought it might have been an injury since it was so sudden... but he doesn't seem to mind when I touch it.. :/
Also, he is currently living in a cage with no levels at the time, so I don't see how he could have injured it.. other than falling from a hammock of course.

He seems to be able to walk better tonight... but his foot is still like paralyzed.

 

[mamarat]

If it's not an injury he may be starting arthritis in that leg.

 

[mia9_28]

Is it worth taking to the vet?
Deno has an appointment tomorrow.. so I'll call and ask tomorrow morning to see if I can bring Smokey too.

 

[mamarat]

The vet could say for sure if it is an injury or arthritis. I know it's always better to know for sure what is going on. Then take it from there.

 

[mia9_28]

As for Smokey's visit to the vet.... she checked his leg, and felt it everywhere and she didn't find anything wrong... she then took an xray just to be safe.. and we didn't find anything broken in there, or anything wrong.. but she says that he's starting to have a bit of osteoarthritis (or something along those lines) but nothing serious enough to do any damage really.

Well, I'm not sure if I should be happy that he doesn't have anything broken, or disappointed that we didn't find what's wrong with it...

At least he came back with some metacam for a week, just in case he's in pain..

 

[jorats]

The metacam should help and you'll see if he walks better on metacam. If he does then you know it's some type of injury or arthritis and not typical HED.

 

[mia9_28]

Smokey is now able to climb up to the top hammocks as long as they're pretty close together...
He also walks quite a bit better.

I don't know if the metacam really helped him walk... or if he was just learning how to live with his paralyzed foot. He isn't on meds anymore but he's still getting around okay.

It's still so sad to see him like that though.

 

[mamarat]

Rats adapt well to their infirmities. I know in humans arthritis can make the limbs stiff. I'm glad he's feeling better.