What's happening with Watson? (and now, his brother - PT?)

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Nekopan

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2010
Messages
174
Location
Canada
Watson is 23 months old. Healthy other than the occasional URI and a fatty lump under his armpit. Quite recently he's stopped using his back legs and is just dragging his hind end. I really hope this is HED (which I know is manageable) and not something more serious. Thoughts?

[BBvideo 450,375:1oigsxzr]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4Qd7DCryQU[/BBvideo:1oigsxzr]
 
I would feel his back and hips to check for pain. A video on the floor might be easier to see that bedding is harder for him to walk on. Did this happen all of the sudden? HED is gradual so you would see this right away.
 
As Peggy says HED is usually pretty gradual, so if it wasn't, I would check his urine and see if he might have a UTI...sometimes in males a UTI can render this hind end paralysis and very quickly.
 
Regarding the UTI - his urine seems very normal and he didn't appear to be in any pain.

However, Watson seemed to become increasingly out of sorts, with a rapid change in behaviour last night. He kept falling out of the hammocks, looked very confused and started cramming his mouth full of litter pellets. When I checked on him just before I had to go to work, he nipped my arm and I think he was head bumping when I touched his head (anyone have a video of that?) Jason said that he was bitey all night, and drew blood from his finger. Poor guy has clearly lost control of his body, as he's spending his time laying flat, peed on himself and is drooling. He doesn't want to be cuddled and gets very upset if I touch his head.

Could this be late-stage PT that he's hidden very well up until this point? There are a lot of similarities to my other two PT rats. But at the same time, it's different - could it be something else, like a stroke?

His littermate, Blooper, also seems under the weather today. I gave him a tiny piece of cookie and he kept dropping it. He didn't want any banana either. He's also fallen off the shelf once or twice which is very unusual for him.
 
There haven't been any changes that I know of. We are starting moving preparations and our landlords have been in a couple times, to take measurements and stuff. I'll ask them if they've sprayed anything while they were here.
 
Blooper is getting worse, I found him sitting in the bottom of the cage and staring at the corner. When I picked him up his feet and tail were cold to the touch. He's drooling and refusing food.
 
Drooling is an uncommon symptom with the rats usually related to choking, but I would check his teeth and smell his mouth just in case there's something going on in there. I am trying to remember if my rat who had seizures drooled during/after...I think he did. It could be a stroke :(

Are you able to get food and liquids into him?
 
The drooling I thought was unusual but I checked his mouth and there was nothing there. It stopped a couple hours later.

Blooper spent most of the night in my lap, since his extremities were cold. He was increasingly "out of it" as the night went on, his eyes looked pretty vacant. Watson was far more alert, but his movements were uncontrolled, he kept jerking from side to side. He seemed to appreciate a cuddle this time around and even bruxed a little. I syringed them both some water and mushed food, and set them up in the carrier for the night. I still need to go out and get some Ensure.

They both survived the night, but Blooper passed this afternoon while I was out getting some groceries. Watson was grooming him. :(

Watson is still hanging in there, and he's trying to groom, but now he's exhibiting some more classic symptoms of PT - clubbing his front feet, sticking his hind legs out, trying to eat without using his hands. Today I rubbed him down with a warm, damp cloth and tried to steady him with my hand while he was grooming.

I got a picture - sorry if it's not in focus. He looks rough. I don't expect him to stick around very long like this.

sPIJY.jpg
 

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