So this is more of a story then a question, but I wanted to post it in case someone was having the same problem.
My little sweet gentle guy Jake and his brother Rolo were pretty inseparable in the cage. They snuggled every night and jake would always hang out with him. When outside the relationship was a bit different. Jake was a bit playful and rough and Rolo was a cuddle monster and wanted nothing to do with jakes antics. We always believed that jake had a bit of anxiety or nervousness, he never really liked to be held or cuddled, but when he was in his cage with Rolo it was like he was a different boy.
Sadly Rolo started getting sick, I was told it could've just been an ear infection was given some antibiotics which did the trick. At this time Jake started to Barb himself (another word for pulling out his own fur). At first I thought maybe he was rubbing his butt on jagged things or Over grooming. I took him to the vets and they were both put on revolution for mights. About a month later Rolo's illness got worst and the vet diagnosed him with a pituitary Tumor and he was put on some steroids that may help shrink the tumor. Unfortunately with these little guys the tumor won. By the end of his illness Rolo had head tilt and and lost his motor functions to eat. We made the only decision that was necessary.
After Rolo's passing jake stayed in his cage for about 1 week. He would still eat but would never come out. He seemed scared of the world. When I finally decided to bring him out of his cage he jumped out of my arms and hid under the cage. His fur pulling was not getting any better. There would be tiny clumps of his fur on the bottom of his cage and I would even catch him in the act. Our vet told us that he probably is suffering from separation anxiety and that we should try a few things. 1 being getting him a new friend to anchor him back into comfort, and 2 put him on some anti anxiety medication to help with his obssesive compulsive behaviour he had adapted. We tried everything else, we even had extensive tests done to make sure it wasn't a parasite and we had tissue samples taken to make sure it wasn't a hard core mite that lives in the skin. All ruled out.
Now I myself do not like the usage drugs if not needed but I couldnt very well let Jake live like this. He had calmed down a bit and would now come and walk around a bit. It took him almost 3 weeks to get the courage to walk around his old stomping grounds. So we went ahead with the medication. He started him off on a very small dose, which seemed to calm him down and ease him out of his fur pulling behavior. There was less clumps on the floor of his cage but it was still happening. His tummy, butt and arms were fur-less and while i know some rats loose their fur he was whole hartedly pulling it out. Last month we changed his dosage to double what he was originally taking and he has improved drastically. I rarely find any clumps of fur anymore and his bald spots have been growing back slowly. I don't know which spots of his hair follicles have been damaged by the exstensive pulling but I am just happy that he is a calmer more of himself rat. He now lets me hold him snuggle, but only a bit, and he'll come greet me and climb into my arms. We are still working on getting Norbert and Him to accept each other. But for now they are just merely neighbors, but both super happy dudes.
I wanted to share this story of Jake because I was extremely frustrated with not understanding his behavior but happy that we found a solution. I was told that it is very rare for an animal to adopt an OC behavior but not impossible. Id be more then happy to answer any questions I will update this with the name of the medication and a pic of my guy
Thanks for listening
My little sweet gentle guy Jake and his brother Rolo were pretty inseparable in the cage. They snuggled every night and jake would always hang out with him. When outside the relationship was a bit different. Jake was a bit playful and rough and Rolo was a cuddle monster and wanted nothing to do with jakes antics. We always believed that jake had a bit of anxiety or nervousness, he never really liked to be held or cuddled, but when he was in his cage with Rolo it was like he was a different boy.
Sadly Rolo started getting sick, I was told it could've just been an ear infection was given some antibiotics which did the trick. At this time Jake started to Barb himself (another word for pulling out his own fur). At first I thought maybe he was rubbing his butt on jagged things or Over grooming. I took him to the vets and they were both put on revolution for mights. About a month later Rolo's illness got worst and the vet diagnosed him with a pituitary Tumor and he was put on some steroids that may help shrink the tumor. Unfortunately with these little guys the tumor won. By the end of his illness Rolo had head tilt and and lost his motor functions to eat. We made the only decision that was necessary.
After Rolo's passing jake stayed in his cage for about 1 week. He would still eat but would never come out. He seemed scared of the world. When I finally decided to bring him out of his cage he jumped out of my arms and hid under the cage. His fur pulling was not getting any better. There would be tiny clumps of his fur on the bottom of his cage and I would even catch him in the act. Our vet told us that he probably is suffering from separation anxiety and that we should try a few things. 1 being getting him a new friend to anchor him back into comfort, and 2 put him on some anti anxiety medication to help with his obssesive compulsive behaviour he had adapted. We tried everything else, we even had extensive tests done to make sure it wasn't a parasite and we had tissue samples taken to make sure it wasn't a hard core mite that lives in the skin. All ruled out.
Now I myself do not like the usage drugs if not needed but I couldnt very well let Jake live like this. He had calmed down a bit and would now come and walk around a bit. It took him almost 3 weeks to get the courage to walk around his old stomping grounds. So we went ahead with the medication. He started him off on a very small dose, which seemed to calm him down and ease him out of his fur pulling behavior. There was less clumps on the floor of his cage but it was still happening. His tummy, butt and arms were fur-less and while i know some rats loose their fur he was whole hartedly pulling it out. Last month we changed his dosage to double what he was originally taking and he has improved drastically. I rarely find any clumps of fur anymore and his bald spots have been growing back slowly. I don't know which spots of his hair follicles have been damaged by the exstensive pulling but I am just happy that he is a calmer more of himself rat. He now lets me hold him snuggle, but only a bit, and he'll come greet me and climb into my arms. We are still working on getting Norbert and Him to accept each other. But for now they are just merely neighbors, but both super happy dudes.
I wanted to share this story of Jake because I was extremely frustrated with not understanding his behavior but happy that we found a solution. I was told that it is very rare for an animal to adopt an OC behavior but not impossible. Id be more then happy to answer any questions I will update this with the name of the medication and a pic of my guy
Thanks for listening
