Help - what's wrong with my boy?

[Serenity]

Please watch this video I took tonight of my Siamese boy Yang, doing some unusual tail wagging. We first noticed it yesterday when he was cuddling on the couch with the hubby but it didn't last too long. Tonight he seems agitated and is bombing around the cage and doing this tail wagging/thumping. This is unusual behavior for Yang. He is normally a very laid back boy and is approaching 2 and a half years old in June.

The only changes I have made to his diet lately is I have started giving my trio a small dose a berry flavored liquid glucosamine/chondroitin/msm. Yin and Squeak (our 3+ year old girl who is already showing signs of HED) don't seem to be showing any adverse affects to the liquid. Could this behavior be caused by the gluco? I have only been giving him 0.1ml of the liquid (0.3ml to the other two) but I am going to stop immediately and see if it makes a difference.

Also, I am aware of the tumor under his armpit and am doing my best to save up the money to have it taken care of....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6ELC72H0Rk

 

[lilspaz68]

Hmmm I watched the video, expecting to see a very intense rat wagging his tail, they do do this during times of extreme emotion (happiness, fear, etc) but his is very random, like he has no control over it. Does his tail feel more limp than it usually is? Could he be starting an spinal nerve degeneration and its affecting his tail first? Have you gently felt over his hips, down his spine and carefully felt along his tail for sore spots?

Btw I love your hammocks and liner, they are so cool for a boy. :thumbup:

 

[jorats]

First thing I noticed...awesome liners and hammock!!

If I were viewing the video not looking for anything wrong, I'd say it looks normal. Some rats will do that, especially when looking down or out on a ledge, their tail searches for something to grasp. But... the fact that this started out of nowhere and it's made you sit up and notice, then I'd agree with lilspaz and would be thinking that something is up in his back end. Is he pooping normally? Can you feel anything "off" at the base of the tail, I noticed it's rather rigid there all the time.

 

[Godmother]

Lilspaz & Jorats have a lot of expertise, so I hope that puts your mind at rest that it is unlikely to be anything major. As they said, if you are noticing something different, you need to respect that. Problems usually show subtle signs at first, things that are obvious only to someone who sees the rat every day. At 2 1/2 years, it would not be surprising if his back end lost some mobility and that he no longer had as much control over the tail. Did he hold it off the ground when walking until recently?

He is a cutie! And I love the hammocks and liners. The flowered tube looks like a MMak hammock. The geometric patterns on the lower level are great. Did you make the liner and hammock, or are they from lj or Momrat?

 

[Serenity]

Hey ladies,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I really appreciate them! As do I appreciate the compliments on my liner and hammock :bow: I made them myself from a brand new fleecy blanket I bought from Value Village for $3.99. The one blanket had enough material for one liner, that hammock and the tube below Miranda's of the same material We have Squeak, our girl in the same cage so we have both girly and boy things in there :heart:

As far as I could see there was no irregularity in his stools and he's never really dragged his tail at all. I ran my hand along his back and the tail and other than the usual squirmy stuff they do when you do that

There seems to be improvement in Yang today. I observed him tonight and saw maybe one tail flick that didn't look normal so I am hoping it was just a reaction to the tiny dose of gluco/chondroitin/msm he was getting the prior few days (he didn't get any today). I have heard gluco can have both bad and good side effects....

And yes! The tube is a MMK creation Good eye godmother!