Weight loss - what is normal? Updated 1.11.11

[MissGuardian]

How much weight loss should be considered normal for a rat?
Just noticed that Nirvana has lost some weight(around 15 grams or so?).
I can´t find anything wrong with her(well, more than usual, but she´s been to the vet numerous times and came through clean).
Her teeth look fine, she seems to be eating.
The only change in routine is that I´ve stopped giving treats, but that is several weeks ago, and she´s only lost weight recently.
She´s been a b***h with balder the last couple of days, but I do not know if that has something to do with anything - considering he just turned 6 months, and they have always had a rocky relationship.

Will obviously be keeping an eye on her. Unless it´s a life or death situation, I can´t get her to a vet until Monday anyway.

 

Keep an eye on it!

A while back, my poor Sophie (RIP) ..started loosing weight ..we had her checked at the vets multiple times, nothing was wrong ..but I had a gut feeling there was ..everyone told me to stop be so worried .. 3 months of weight loss, she got really sick and ended up with a really bad case of PT, we never even got time to try meds, the brain tumor busted!

 

[jorats]

Could they have buggies? That could cause a rat to lose weight and be grumpy.
Nirvana is kind of young to be losing weight now. How much doe she weigh?

 

[MissGuardian]

I will definitely keep an eye on her.
She has been sneezing and making noises to some degree almost since I got her as a baby, but nothing has helped.
It is definitely not in the lungs tho..
And it´s not more now than it was..
Her teeth look fine, and I can´t find any lumps or anything..
If she´s lost more weight on Monday or Tuesday, I´ll try to get her to the Good vet.
Could this be the reason she´s annoyed with Balder?
I can´t see who´s starting it.

 

[MissGuardian]

Could they have buggies? That could cause a rat to lose weight and be grumpy.
Nirvana is kind of young to be losing weight now. How much doe she weigh?

I can´t see anything, and it´s not long since they were treated for mites(just in case).
now she weighs around 340 grams. She has been 350-355 the last while.
I must mention that she originally was 280-300 grams tho.

She is acting mostly the same as usual.
Mostly just the grumpiness.

 

I don't consider weight loss normal at anytime, unless they are old, or on deit!

 

[MissGuardian]

I don't consider weight loss normal at anytime, unless they are old, or on deit!

I´ll try to get a hold of the vet on Monday then.
Ironic really.. Stefan needs to lose weight, and Nirvana does... :wallbang:

 

[jorats]

But you stopped giving her treats, and that's plenty reason for her to lose weight. Also a change in routine could make her grumpy until she gets used to it. And... Having an annoying Balder could make grumpy too. lol

 

[MissGuardian]

But you stopped giving her treats, and that's plenty reason for her to lose weight. Also a change in routine could make her grumpy until she gets used to it. And... Having an annoying Balder could make grumpy too. lol

I stopped giving treats in the start of september or so I think. But she just started to lose weight in the last1-2 weeks. Is it still normal? She havent been more active than usual.
She usually takes any changes in a stride.

 

[MissGuardian]

I have tried to get an appointment at the vets now for Monday(online).
A couple of her sisters has already passed away for various reasons, so I want to be certain.
She also started to randomly squeak last night inside my sweater. When I took her out she did not make a sound tho, so I do not know the cause. But it is not like her.

 

[jorats]

It sounds like there's more going on with her. A vet visit is a good idea.

 

[MissGuardian]

It sounds like there's more going on with her. A vet visit is a good idea.

She had the habit of squeaking when she didn´t want something when I got her, but combined with the annoyance, weight loss(even tho she hasn´t lost any more weight - I find it odd that she´s losing weight NOW instead of 3 weeks ago), squeaking and that she´s always made weird sounds, it makes me concerned.. She has also started chewing the cage again the last couple of days(or I would think it´s her because she is the only one who had a habit of it), and she hasn´t done that for a while. I think one of her sisters died of.. I´ll try to translate it..

She died of pneumonia with abcesses from a bacteria and emaciation.
I do not know if it should have anything to say tho, but it do make me more wary of any issues with her..

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

If ur worried take her to the vet!

 

[MissGuardian]

If ur worried take her to the vet!

I will.
As soon as I can get an appointment with the good vet..
They aren´t open until Monday, and he´s fairly busy since he´s only one of two in this part of the country that knows rats..

 

[jorats]

Sounds like her sister died of pulmonary abscesses... that is common in rats unfortunately. But the vet should be able to hear laboured breathing in the lungs.

 

[MissGuardian]

Yeah that was it..
I couldn´t remember the english term for it..
Here it´s just called lung abcesses..

 

[MissGuardian]

The vet was on vacation this week :wallbang:
I got the earliest appointment I could - next Tuesday..

The good news is that she seems better.. She has not argued with Balder for a couple of days(that I know of, but it´s usually during outtime), she hasn´t chewed her cage, and her weight has stabilized, possible gained a couple of grams.
I still want to have her checked out just in case tho.. But at this point I do not consider it urgent.
If she gets worse, I´ll get an appointment with another vet, but I do not trust them to set an diagnosis on her unless she really needs an appointment there.(Don´t get me wrong, they are decent and do their best, but the original vet is better at setting the right diagnosis and is more specialized in rodents).

 

[jorats]

Some rats have "off" days. Maybe she wasn't feeling well and is now doing better. I hope so. But it's good to get a general check up.

 

[MissGuardian]

Some rats have "off" days. Maybe she wasn't feeling well and is now doing better. I hope so. But it's good to get a general check up.

That's what I'm thinking too.. But since it was over several days, I prefer to get it checked anyway.

 

[MissGuardian]

Was to the vet today.
He could not find anything obviously wrong with her. No sign of inflammation, her teeth looked fine, good fur, soft body etc..
However, he did notice that she squeaked when he touched a certain spot near her jaw/mouth. So he´s wondering if she has some kind of toothache. She´ll be on Metacam for 4-5 days to see if that helps. If it goes away permanently, we don´t do anything. If it don´t help, or if it helps and come back, she´ll be getting x-rays taken to see if that reveals anything.