Is she blind?

[Argent]

I was letting the baby ratties have their run of the bathtub last night, when I noticed Rose being quite quiet again. She seems to panic when I pick her up without making a sound, and her ears are VERY twitchy, like they're her only working sense bar touch and taste. She was just sat in the middle of the bathtub, not really 'looking' at anything like the others seem to, so I started wiggling my fingers at one side of her, her sisters came running, she just sat there and looked the other way. I can bring my fingers right close to her and she won't budge til I touch a whisker and she seems to notice then.

I've been working on holding her until she realises I'll do her no harm but she just seems so out of it compared to the others. At first I thought she was ill, but she is so bright, and seems fine in the cage, where she knows where everything is, so she only seems disoriented out of the cage. She can't half move, and she's quite strong too, though she is a little bit skinnier than her sisters but growing just as well.

 

[jorats]

Some rats are like that, not reacting to movements, she sounds very slow... maybe developmentally delayed?
Regardless though, rats don't really rely on their sense of sight at all.

 

[Argent]

I was trying to bear that in mind but she just doesn't look like she's looking anywhere. She may be slow, she is smaller than the others, but otherwise seems perfectly healthy. It makes me wonder if Mako is something similar since he looks a sandwich short of a picnic himself He's also quite small. Hopefully both are perfectly healthy, just...quirky.

 

[jorats]

It makes sense to me... same with my two cats. I've got two young ones under 2 years old, close in age. Bijou is super smart and Charly is as dumb as a stump. I just can't get over how dumb that cat is. lol The same can go for rats I would imagine.

 

[ryelle]

this conversation is rather amusing

 

[Argent]

Dumb as a stump! XD That's brilliant! Aww poor spesh girl...Rosie's going to be living a very happy life with her sister, Sweet Pea, with my vet in a couple of weeks! They've grown so fast!