Goliath's Age Is Showing

Goliath still gets up and around a lot. But he's gotten a bit skinnier. I'm going to be switching him and Beanin to the Oxbow young rat probably to make sure that he's eating as much and getting as much nutrients as possible probably. They get peas and veggies every day that I can remember (so almost every day).

He's a bit skinnier, his fur is very sleek feeling, but always in disarray and his silvering from age is really obvious. There are spots where he obviously doesn't clean (darker colored slightly)

We just lost Alex in early February shortly after we got Goliath (Alex was already quite sick) and Loki has really developed a "This is my rat now" with Goliath so I am afraid of what may happen when Goliath passes.

He still gets up and around and adores his hammocks now that he knows they are made of comfy, but besides making the cage geriatric which he isn't showing HED at all so I don't feel that is necessary, what can I do to make sure he maintains and good life right now?

Goliath had been with his previous owners for a year before we got him at the end of April so we aren't sure what his age is.

I know he's a dapper old man rat now, what can I do to make sure he stays comfortable as time slows him down?

My old man is almost 37 months.

He's skinnier than he use to be, about 100g, but he still eats like a champ. He eats Oxbow Regal Rat, fresh veggies and he also gets soy infant formula mixed with infant rice cereal once or twice a day. I personally wouldn't use Oxbow Young Rat because the ingredients are worse and the protein is higher. I'd much rather give him higher fat foods.

My boy still cleans himself great. But his brothers stopped cleaning themselves almost completely. I washed them with a sensitive baby wipe or wet wash cloth if necessary.

I let my guy come out of the cage as much as he wants. He pretty much spends all day with me on the couch. He loves it. He just sits on my lap and cuddles. I give him extra fleece in his houses so he can stay warm. I also put a water bowl in his cage (along with a water bottle) in case he can't get to the bottle. He has food and water on each level of the cage just in case he can't get up or down. I lowered his hammocks so he can almost walk into them.

simonsmom is right, at his age, you want lower protein not higher. If you are concerned, you can always soak some of the oxbow, some rats go just over mushy oxbow.
I currently have a 30 months old, 2 24 months old and 2 21 months old and they all eat the regular adult oxbow along with fresh veggies daily.
It's normal for older rats to lose some weight. Check to be sure you are not feeling his hip bones or shoulder blades, if you do, then it would be time to supplement with baby cereal but nothing with high protein. You could add olive oil to baby cereal. Higher "good" fat can help kick start his metabolism and stop the muscle mass loss.

Alright, so no kid-rat food for Goliath.

Currently we are enjoying an abundance of seedless grapes (on sale at my work *does a dance*) and peas and carrots and regular stuff. I'll have to look into what else I can give him like baby cereal.

I've never even seen the stuff, so I'm not sure what to do with that.

Guess I don't need to mention the protein. I will however mention in my older boys, but mainly when they get sick, I grind up the oxbow and put it in baby cereal w/ensure or soy formula - that way the still get the nutrients they need from the oxbow. Enjoy your oldies their lives are just too short...

Little_Vixen said:

Alright, so no kid-rat food for Goliath.

Currently we are enjoying an abundance of seedless grapes (on sale at my work *does a dance*) and peas and carrots and regular stuff. I'll have to look into what else I can give him like baby cereal.

I've never even seen the stuff, so I'm not sure what to do with that.

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I hope the grapes are organic----non-organic grapes are usually pesticide-laden. That said, do your rats eat the entire grape EXCEPT the skin?! That always cracks me up!

I'm impressed that you're looking into ways to keep Goliath comfortable as he ages.

dspch911 said:

Guess I don't need to mention the protein. I will however mention in my older boys, but mainly when they get sick, I grind up the oxbow and put it in baby cereal w/ensure or soy formula - that way the still get the nutrients they need from the oxbow. Enjoy your oldies their lives are just too short...

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I used to grind up lab blocks and/or Oxbow kibble using a coffee bean grinder until the blades got dull. Then I discovered soaking them with water works just as well.

AboutPetRats said:

I used to grind up lab blocks and/or Oxbow kibble using a coffee bean grinder until the blades got dull. Then I discovered soaking them with water works just as well.

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I use the blender...

I actually sliced the grapes into sections of 3 so that he'd have a better chance of sharing with Beaunin, his young cagemate. I can't recall offhang if they are organic however I do at least make sure to wash any veggies and fruits before giving them to the boys.

I'll try looking for some baby cereal or ensure, but ensure always comes in expensive 6 packs and I can't pick that up until the dust settles with bills.

However... cucumbers and grapes are still on sale So is salad mix >.> Hmmmm

Goliath is very quickly approaching the Rainbow Bridge. He's lost weight, he's finally showing signs of a URI. He's puffing when he's asleep. He won't leave the top level of the cage and hasn't since he climbed up there yesterday morning. The most we can do is make him comfortable.
We've talked and when he passes, we are going to look for a younger rat to be a new companion for Beaunin(Dumbo Ninja).
Goliath was a lone rat for most of his life. So when Beau came into our lives as a rescue/foster... and I found out that Goliath had no adverse reactions to the wee one, we went through intros so that Goliath could have a buddy until the time that he passed which we knew would be closer rather than farther away time wise. At which time we would have hopefully had Flux fixed to integrate in with Beau. Sadly, Flux still isn't fixed, but we don't think Beau will do well long without a companion.

Please keep Goliath in your thoughts while we make him comfortable. We didn't think he'd last the night last night and he did, but we are not optimistic that he will last the week.

He's getting whatever he will eat, he isn't drinking though from what I can see because he hasn't moved from his spot in the top of the cage. Yogis, pieces of pork roast from last nights dinner, carrots. Mostly soft stuff. Picking up some babyfood and more yogis so he has his favorites.

I'm sad to see this happening, but I knew he has had a good life.

I'm sorry to hear Goliath's health is declining. You haven't mentioned....have you taken Goliath in to see a vet experienced with rats? There still could be some things you can do to improve his health and possibly give him more quality of life for a longer period of time.

Thinking of you and Goliath

Unfortunately things got extremely tight the last few weeks with paying rent, the last part of the pet deposit and everything else to the point that our internet at home will be off for an indefinite amount of time so that we only have one other bill (lights/water) to worry about right now. He's around 2 or 2 1/2 we think so he's not a youngster either. I'm hopefully picking up some babyfood to mix with water and see if that'll get his attention so we can get fluid in him, but honestly I'm not optomistic. We don't have any money to spare (literally at all, I'm rolling coins right now) until Thursday pay day because of how tight things got so we cannot afford vet care and they probably still won't approve me for care credit. Sigh.

He hasn't really pooped in days since he moved himself up to the top shelf. His underside is wet and smells gods awful like lots of rat pee does which may indicate that he's lost control of his bladder. He's still losing weight and barely eating no matter what yummies we offer. Sometimes he'll take it and eat, sometimes he'll hold it awhile of if he isn't that interested in it, he drops it to the bottom of the cage from the top shelf. He doesn't have a lot of strength anymore. I have only seen him try to clean himself once since all this seemed to come to the fore.

Honestly, we think it may be Kidney Failure. I have only seen one tiny pea-sized poop since he moved himself up to the top shelf (when I put him in the bottom, he climbs right back up there), he's not drinking anything, he eats only the tiniest bit we offer so long as it's pork or something soft and yummy. We are now out of yogies which are his favorite thing in the world so need to pick some up.

Goliath passed away somewhere around 1pm today...

:'(
So . Sorry to hear that.

I'm sorry to hear Goliath is gone. He sounded like such a sweet guy. May your warm memories of time spent together help comfort you and know he will live on in your heart. Thinking of you.