Bumbles - RIP 8/17/2014 (Hair loss)

I'll start by saying - yep, missed it again -don't know how long its been going on!!! Dang, I suck!! Thought he was just depressed that he lost all his cage mates... Aghhh!!! Anyway, nothing I can do about it now. Went to get him out of his cage today since we've been a bit preoccupied with Peanut and he was a bit dirty and had a plug so I went to wash him up and noticed his hair was falling out in clumps.... He has quite a bad case of buck grease, but as I tried to clean that his hair where the buck grease is its all coming out. He's turning into a nakie.. Should I keep removing the buck grease with the hair??





The worst news is he's not using his paws, teeth grinding, and boggling his eyes. I've seen it enough now to know he's in PT stages! I knew he would get it - he had those eyes just like his dad and Kona. We have bromo and dex left over from Kona. So what is my plan???? Bromo is in a 2.5mg pill and this time I'm not giving the whole pill or 9 days straight of dex shots. So, what is my plan???? 1/2 a pill and 1 dex shot??? I hate PT.....

He's around 28 months, maybe we should just let him go. He also has a large cyst/abscess/lump on his side.

Perhaps I'm wrong on the PT, and its actually HED or very early stage PT. He is trying to climb up me with his front paws, but has nothing in his back end the feet have no response.

Hed is the back lets generally you see their hips get smaller in size as hed starts. Pt has always affected the front paws and balance but you can see the difference of off balance because the difference in the leg movement. Pt they can start out still able to climb but smaller tasks such as grabbing things start to become harder. His buck grease is out of control I dont know if oil olive daily would help I have always heard that it does but I am not 100% sure on if it actually does. He isnt grooming himself well at all. I personally would keep washing him till alll the buck grease comes off and let the hair go with it. I would be worried about bacteria forming in that ick there.

I've seen sebum that bad in older males before and washing them seem to make it worse with the hair falling out but I don't think it's a biggee, nothing to beat yourself up over.
As for the PT, from your description, it sure sounds like it. I wouldn't give up on him yet... a cyst is not a big deal either. You could do the dex only if you like and not prolong anything other than give him some quality of life. But you never know... the bromo might give him much more time.

So you guys think I should just remove the rest of the buck grease and make him half a nakie.... There is some fur going underneath. Start and bromo and one shot of dex as a jump start. I do think its PT starting. He lays in the same spot in the cage most of the day. He did eat his bowl of baby food. This boy was the one I was most worried about getting PT so there is no excuse for missing it...

Has he always been so greasy? Hormonal disturbances are sometimes a symptom if PT - but I'm not sure if overproduction of sebum is a "hormonal disturbance". Sid has terribly itchy skin that wasn't helped by anything during the weeks leading up to his PT symptoms, our vet said the itching was likely related, so just wondering if Bumbles' sebum is similar. If he's always been that way, maybe not. But if the excess ick is not his norm, I'd be suspicious it's linked to PT, especially with his other symptoms.

If it is bothering him then maybe best to keep washing. Even of it's not, as hope floats said all that grease could cause further skin problems for him.

I would think cleaning it off and starting new would be better. I would worry about that stuff being so thick on the skin and causing an irritation. Poor fell but at least it is still warm He has a few more months of streaking time left.

don't know if this will help but Norry had awful buck grease towards the end and was starting to lose some fur too, I gave him just a warm water bath, no soap and that seemed to help quite a bit without making anything worse.
I didnt' scrub, I basically just let the water rinse off any excess crap and then gently toweled him off.

This actually seems to have made the other guys more interested in grooming him, which is what he needed, a buddy to help him. They do it so much better than we do, it seems lol

Norry had to have a little "sitz" bath every day cuz he couldn't clean his nether regions

might help your guy.

So the vet doesn't think he has PT, but my gut is telling me to start the bromo. Hubby came home with 3 holisitics - agghh, I really wanted to see the other vet since she is more receptive to steroids, etc. He said to just wash the rest off too, but hubby bathed him and didn't take it off he was being way tooooooooooooo gentle on the Bum man, it just wipes off, but he was afraid to hurt him. I came home to Bums in the top portion of the DCN wrapped up in fleece (daddy tucked him in) and is hand feeding him so he doesn't have to get up - not that he really does anymore anyway. We thought moving him from the bottom to the top might make him happier and we took out the shelves. We've noticed a spot higher up on his neck that appears to have hair regrowth since its different in texture and color from his other fur - hmmmm, when did that happen???? We see him everyday pretty sure I'd notice a bald spot... He's had buck grease, but not this bad - he's just not grooming anymore and he no longer has cage mates. I know him and Peanut would make great friends, but neither are up to intros - both are slugs though...

I have seen the issues with the overproduction of sebum in an older rat...it just started one day and got bad enough that I was worried about a bacterial infection.

I have seen boys like yours, but I have only gotten pics of Malcolm's issues

With him I bathed his greasy bits with Dawn dish soap, it will actually cut the grease which is why they use it on oiled seabirds. Then with Malcolm I found that the hair in the follicles were so loose i was able to pluck the fur out with no pain or issues. I plucked the parts I could, and eventually the fur grew in again, with no excess grease.





Here after a bath, you can see the plucked area and the hair regrowth

I used a little dawn when I washed him since I had read that on here and that is exactly how the fur was coming out, but daddy was too scared to pluck it. The fur was just coming out in my hands so I know it wasn't painful daddy was afraid it was. I'll wash him again tonight. I saw some fur already growing when I removed the fur yesterday you just cannot see it in the picture.

Just got the word that Mr. Bumbles the last of "The Boys" past during the night ... RIP my precious Bum Bums... :heart:

I am so sorry
Be free big guy and watch over your mama.

I'm so sorry.

oh I'm so sorry!!

Oh bless him. I'm glad he got lots of attentions at the end.

Awwww, I'm sorry you never really had an opportunity to get him all sorted out. I'm glad he didn't have a prolonged illness.
:hugs: