pictures of PT rats prior to the final stages

[Kimber]

I was looking at Baxter today and how he sits with his back legs pushed out pretty far when he's holding something...He did this since I got him and I first though it was to gain his balance where he was pretty dehydrated and hungry when he first arrived. He sort of sits flat from tail to toes.

Percy on the other hand seems more perched with his feet underneath himself and always uses both hands...Baxter will rest on an elbow sometimes and when the food is small enough will usually rest the other hand on the ground.

Do you have pictures of your rats and how they sat prior to the final stages...like, before you knew they had PT or perhaps just thought something was amiss.

Maybe I'm just looking for something that isn't there...but usually when you think it might be something it is....there is absolutely nothing wrong with him otherwise: clear breathing, healthy appetite, interest in what is going on around him and lots of love.

 

[PitLuvs]

I don't have any photos of Cas, it wasn't how I wanted to remember him. Hope Baxter is just comfy with his eating and surroundings.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

Have you ruled out HED?

 

[Kimber]

At about 8months? No, haven't ruled it out....just was curious to if this was something I should be on the look out for more than normal...he seems fine in that he runs around and climbs into stuff (including the perilously high sputnik, lol) without issues.

 

[lilspaz68]

You are sure he's 8 months old? PT showing up at that age is incredibly rare.

 

[PitLuvs]

You are sure he's 8 months old? PT showing up at that age is incredibly rare.

Our Cas was 10m and had PT. I didnt know it was rare with youngins.

 

[lilspaz68]

You are sure he's 8 months old? PT showing up at that age is incredibly rare.

Our Cas was 10m and had PT. I didnt know it was rare with youngins.

Almost unheard of.

 

[Kimber]

We're not sure of his age....this is the guy who I rescued from the snake two week ago. When we got him he was 400g+/- and now is at about 500g. He looks young through his face too, so I don't see him as much older than that anyway.

I was watching him today on free time and I think he sits like that generally because he's SO relaxed. He just lays on the back of the couch and burrows his face into the palm of your hand so you can rub his face all over. He gently takes your finger in his mouth to groom the sides of your nail and just loves to be loved. The BF has fallen for him too and actually talked today about purchasing a CN double so we can keep him and a friend, but still foster (he doesn't know I had already decided to keep him, but was seeing how it played out for him wanting to lol)

Are there any other symptoms to REALLY watch for if it is the beginning stages of PT? He's a clumsy rat most of the time, but I feel it's more too lazy/relaxed to pick his feet up than he can't do it....maybe a little HED starting, but as I said I don't think he's that old.

 

[crumbilina]

You can try the Cheerio test. Give him a cheerio and watch how he eats it.

This is a picture of Eve, she had a PT. Notice the way her hands are in a fist and how she tries to grab the cheerio but is not able to hold it to eat it.

In this picture she was putting her full weight on the hand and trying to eat but her hands kindof pushed the food out away from her face. She also took lab blocks and nosed them to a corner and ate them by propping it against the corner of the cage in her early stages.

I don't know if this is a classic sign, but both of my girls who had PT did this.

 

[lilspaz68]

A very wobbly confused rat is the first stage...I'll pull up Isabella's early PT pic thread.

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=22502&hilit=isabella+pt

 

[jorats]

You are sure he's 8 months old? PT showing up at that age is incredibly rare.

Our Cas was 10m and had PT. I didnt know it was rare with youngins.

Did you get a postmortem to confirm this?

 

[jorats]

This was my Flea before pred actually gave her some quality of life.

 

[lilspaz68]

This was my Flea before pred actually gave her some quality of life.

ohh Flea, I loved that girl!

 

[PitLuvs]

You are sure he's 8 months old? PT showing up at that age is incredibly rare.

Our Cas was 10m and had PT. I didnt know it was rare with youngins.

Did you get a postmortem to confirm this?

No. We are sure of Cas' age, as the original owner bought him from PU, he was "the size of a mouse" when she brought him home in Jan 2010. He passed Nov 2010. I am 100% sure that he had PT, balance issues, sitting with hind legs out, propping food against cage to eat, holding cherios on the floor while sitting on the elbows (to the point where he couldnt even hold them anymore and would chase them around) and the constant burxxing. In the end, he couldn't sit up on his own (if he tried or wanted to clean, he would fall on his back), and was always confused. I would bet my life on the fact that it was PT. Unfortunately, post M's here would cost a fortune.

 

[Scythe]

I was looking at Baxter today and how he sits with his back legs pushed out pretty far when he's holding something...He did this since I got him and I first though it was to gain his balance where he was pretty dehydrated and hungry when he first arrived. He sort of sits flat from tail to toes.

Percy on the other hand seems more perched with his feet underneath himself and always uses both hands...Baxter will rest on an elbow sometimes and when the food is small enough will usually rest the other hand on the ground.

I have a 19 month old boy, Roy, who does this. I actually just asked my vet about it this morning and showed him. He said that it's not HED, and he doesn't think it's PT because it's something Roy has been doing for a couple months. He said Roy bounces and lifts his feet too high for something to be wrong(like HED), causing him to sit like that. He said that because Roy previously had an awful inner ear infection and almost has no natural balance like a healthy rat would, that the way he splays his feet out and sits like that is his way of 'compensating' for the lack of balance.

I wouldn't be too concerned if he's done it since you got him, and there's no other symptom and is otherwise healthy and alert/active.

 

[jorats]

I have a 19 month old boy, Roy, who does this. I actually just asked my vet about it this morning and showed him. He said that it's not HED, and he doesn't think it's PT because it's something Roy has been doing for a couple months. He said Roy bounces and lifts his feet too high for something to be wrong(like HED), causing him to sit like that. He said that because Roy previously had an awful inner ear infection and almost has no natural balance like a healthy rat would, that the way he splays his feet out and sits like that is his way of 'compensating' for the lack of balance.

I wouldn't be too concerned if he's done it since you got him, and there's no other symptom and is otherwise healthy and alert/active.

That makes sense!