When a rat falls?

[hopefloats]

I just had a rat take a horrible fall off the FN..... what signs can you look for? He is fine, hasn't even stopped playing but i am freaking out a bit. I keep feeling his stomach and body to see if anything appears to hurt but nothing. He did not hurt any bones, but internally I worry.... I never dealt with a fall but I heard the horror stories from what can happen. I dont remember seeing a post covering this so i am looking for more info!

 

[jorats]

You might not realize anything until a couple of weeks... There's really nothing that can be done. Do you know if he fell on his feet?

 

[hopefloats]

He was in a basket so he fell with the basket... It was one of the little guys. I am not sure, He got up there, and I didn't see him, I feel awful....... but the boys never get up there but now they do.... I fixed the top so they cant get up there, but i think the basket i had setting up there just was unstable and he fell with it

 

[jorats]

Hopefully the basket soften the blow. I've had so many rats fall from quite a distance and only twice it was serious. Keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be just fine.

 

[hopefloats]

Well what type of symptoms would I look for?

 

[DadRat]

When Quilt fell from my shoulder to the hardwood floor (about five and a half feet) we knew he was he was hurt immediately, and quite badly. He landed face and forepaws first. He went into shock immediately and had a busted lip, broke a top tooth (we found that out a week later when it fell out), and seemed to sprain all four paws on impact. He recovered amazingly for 2 weeks, with little signs of lasting injury other than seeming a little "fuzzy" in the head for several days. Sadly, he had a massive fatal stroke about 2 weeks after the fall, which our vet believes was from a dislodged blood clot from his fall and suffering what was basically a full system trauma.

But, as mentioned, his fall was very bad and it was immediately apparent he was seriously injured. For your little guy to have had a cushion and to have gone right back to playing is a good sign in my book. All you can do is watch for any changes. But I'm hoping he will be fine.

 

[jorats]

One of my mom's rat, didn't have any symptoms... until he started to slow down and die. A postmortem showed his liver or kidneys, can't remember which had suffered trauma which is what eventually did him in.
What to look for, I'd say lethargy, change in behaviour, loss of appetite, being cold. If you see these things, keep him quiet, warm and hydrated and pray for the best.

 

[hopefloats]

When Quilt fell from my shoulder to the hardwood floor (about five and a half feet) we knew he was he was hurt immediately, and quite badly. He landed face and forepaws first. He went into shock immediately and had a busted lip, broke a top tooth (we found that out a week later when it fell out), and seemed to sprain all four paws on impact. He recovered amazingly for 2 weeks, with little signs of lasting injury other than seeming a little "fuzzy" in the head for several days. Sadly, he had a massive fatal stroke about 2 weeks after the fall, which our vet believes was from a dislodged blood clot from his fall and suffering what was basically a full system trauma.

But, as mentioned, his fall was very bad and it was immediately apparent he was seriously injured. For your little guy to have had a cushion and to have gone right back to playing is a good sign in my book. All you can do is watch for any changes. But I'm hoping he will be fine.

I remember, that is exactly what caused me to post this. I remember quilt passed two weeks later. But I wasn't quite clear on what to look for...

One of my mom's rat, didn't have any symptoms... until he started to slow down and die. A postmortem showed his liver or kidneys, can't remember which had suffered trauma which is what eventually did him in.
What to look for, I'd say lethargy, change in behaviour, loss of appetite, being cold. If you see these things, keep him quiet, warm and hydrated and pray for the best.

So far, he is still up to stealing food that the others have stashed LOL so that is normal, and he is quiet fast at taking pieces of my salad and running to the cage..

I just hope he stays ok....

 

[Kimber]

The smaller (lighter) they are, the easier it is for them to be ok after a fall. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[hopefloats]

you know I will, I will be crying in chat if i let him get hurt.........so far he appears OK but I will stick check on him quiet often. More than usual. I was hoping since he is so little that he doesnt have a lot of weight to bounce around during a fall, but i guess that could go both ways.

 

[MomRat]

Yeah, Quilt weighed close to 2 pounds, landed with all that weight on his face, and immediately went into shock/almost unconsciousness. The fact that he survived the first two days after was a triumph, the fact that he was super recovering and died from a blood clot two weeks later was devastating - we had chosen to not give Ibuprofen in case of internal bleeding, and he ended up dying from a clot. I miss my Quilt.

Definitely watch for limping, neuro signs(as you would for pt) swelling, lethargy, etc, but if he bounced back that well he's probably(fingers crossed) fine. =)

 

[jorats]

Yeah, Quilt weighed close to 2 pounds, landed with all that weight on his face, and immediately went into shock/almost unconsciousness. The fact that he survived the first two days after was a triumph, the fact that he was super recovering and died from a blood clot two weeks later was devastating - we had chosen to not give Ibuprofen in case of internal bleeding, and he ended up dying from a clot. I miss my Quilt.

I didn't realize you had a postmortem done.

 

[DadRat]

We did not, as they are expensive.

But we left a message with our vet, who called us back the next day she was in the office and talked to us for a good ten minutes about what we saw watching Quilt, how he had acted, and so forth. When we told her about him being in the prayer position, being weak on one side, and having a seizure a few moments before he died, her opinion was a stroke probably caused by a blood clot. We cannot be for certain, but it was her best guess with out a post-mortem. Her concern had been a clot going to his lungs, which in her opinion is survivable, but would require immediate medical care. So if a post fall rat starts showing signs of respiratory distress, seek a vet.

We also got a hand-written sympathy card from her a few days later. And another one a few days after we took Dominic in to be put down. We loves our vet, so very much.

 

[Joanne]

Oh, I hope your little fella does OK. I guess you can't really feel like you've dodged the bullet for several weeks. I've had ratties have falls before - I put padding around the CN because my rats climb on top of it all the time. I find the younger and lighter they are, the better they do. If he's acting and eating normally, I wouldn't worry. Hopefully his fall was cusioned by the basket. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[MissGuardian]

One of my boys have fallen down from the top of their cage(pretty much identical to a CN), in a box several times, and he´s fine thankfully.
I hope yours are too!
My ratties favourite place to be is the top of the cage*sigh*
I always monitor them closely if they fall tho..

 

[lilspaz68]

These things happen, rats are little acrobatic daredevils, and I have had many falls with only a sprain or 2 as the consequences. But just keep an eye on him for the next little while and you're probably good to go.