We can say that our old man has not aged very gracefully. Dominic first started showing signs of HED at maybe 20 months of age and has gotten progressively worse over the past year. He is at the point where we know his health is in its' final decline, whether that is a few days or a few months is not quite certain. What is certain is that our 32 month old is having some behavior we are not sure what to make of. His symptoms have progressed so slowly we are uncertain (as he is our first and oldest rat) if these are just old age deterioration or something else. Dom is on basically a maintenance dose of Baytril as he is prone to URI flare ups.
Dom's rears have gotten very weak, and he has pretty much lost all muscle mass in his back legs. When it first started to get bad, he had some behavior that seemed much like neurological issues (difficulty holding food, etc) which we were unsure if they were neuro or due to him compensating for his altered balance by bracing himself with his front paws instead of using them to grab and hold food. As it has progressed, it almost seems like his fronts are being affected. He can't bathe himself well, we get a plug off of him a few times a day, he can't clean his ears well, etc.
He is not head tilting, nor trying to circle, but he is no longer able to eat or drink normally. We found him rather dehydrated a few days ago. He takes Ensure (6-10 cc's twice a day) and some lab block mush, but hasn't been eating block or drinking from his water bottle. Some of his postures look very neuro but they are not always present (curled paws, prayer position, etc) but he goes back to his normal as soon as he moves again.
-Should we try him on Prednisone and see if he shows signs of improvement? I know if he has a slow forming PT Pred could give us days to weeks, but I doubt we have much longer than that with him regardless. We just want him to be as comfortable as possible.
-He has been unable to clean his ears well and shakes his head when you rub them. Is there anything we can do for him, or does this need a vet visit?
-Is he getting enough nutrition with 6-10 cc's of Ensure 2 or 3 times a day? Should we try baby cereal, olive oil, etc as well? He eats very little block mush, and we want to make sure he is getting enough vitamins, etc.
Dom's rears have gotten very weak, and he has pretty much lost all muscle mass in his back legs. When it first started to get bad, he had some behavior that seemed much like neurological issues (difficulty holding food, etc) which we were unsure if they were neuro or due to him compensating for his altered balance by bracing himself with his front paws instead of using them to grab and hold food. As it has progressed, it almost seems like his fronts are being affected. He can't bathe himself well, we get a plug off of him a few times a day, he can't clean his ears well, etc.
He is not head tilting, nor trying to circle, but he is no longer able to eat or drink normally. We found him rather dehydrated a few days ago. He takes Ensure (6-10 cc's twice a day) and some lab block mush, but hasn't been eating block or drinking from his water bottle. Some of his postures look very neuro but they are not always present (curled paws, prayer position, etc) but he goes back to his normal as soon as he moves again.
-Should we try him on Prednisone and see if he shows signs of improvement? I know if he has a slow forming PT Pred could give us days to weeks, but I doubt we have much longer than that with him regardless. We just want him to be as comfortable as possible.
-He has been unable to clean his ears well and shakes his head when you rub them. Is there anything we can do for him, or does this need a vet visit?
-Is he getting enough nutrition with 6-10 cc's of Ensure 2 or 3 times a day? Should we try baby cereal, olive oil, etc as well? He eats very little block mush, and we want to make sure he is getting enough vitamins, etc.
