Dipoiios, the chunky little monkey

[Exodog]

One of my females has been, uh, "bulking up" for the winter. I've been feeding them Harlan Teklad, so I wasn't worried too too much about the food. I asked my vet about the weight gain and he checked her over for me. We came to the conclusion she's just getting a bit hefty, and assumed it's due to the colder weather, older age (she's about 18-24mo), and a little bit of instinct.

All was fine, until last night I noticed she was walking funny on and off. It's not all the time, but it's getting more frequent. She kind of drags her lower half dramatically, and extends her legs one after the other in an sort of criss-cross 'walking' motion. I was concerned, so I watched a little more carefully and she seems to be bearing down abdominally when she does it. She doesn't seem in any pain, but it looks to be rather uncomfortable.

She has also taken to nesting in specific areas of the cage. She'll rip up any fleece, even if it's tied down, and drag it over to a corner. Last night I gave her a shoebox with extra clean fleecies so that she could be cozy, and she's taken to it like a duck to a pond.

Any ideas as to what this could be aside from age?
I just want to be sure she's not got a more serious underlying issue.

 

[lilspaz68]

Does she suck in her abdomen and twist at all?

As for bulking up for winter, our domesticated rats don't do it...but she is at the stage of gaining unwanted weight, "middle-aged spread" LOL

 

[Exodog]

Hahahaha! Makes sense! I figured the age was a large contributor.

As for the sucking in, it does kind of seem like it. When she does her little criss-cross, it's slow and extended, and her abdominal muscles look to be contracting.

 

[lilspaz68]

That's an owwie stretch. They can range from mild to very severe, but there's always a suck in of the abdomen and a twist.

Is she eating/drinking/pooping etc properly?

 

[Exodog]

Eating and drinking normally from what I can see.
My other hunch was constipation, since she seems to be pushing. I haven't caught her pooping so far, but I'll keep my eyes pinned on her.

 

[hopefloats]

Stick her on something light in color to check for bleeding. If she is till intact she could be getting issues with her uterus.

 

[victoria]

Stick her on something light in color to check for bleeding. If she is till intact she could be getting issues with her uterus.

I was also thinking uterus at the beginning of your post. One of my older rats looked very round (at first I had also thought weight gain) and the vet felt uterine tumours when I took her in.

 

[Exodog]

I was thinking that too, but I've had a very close eye out for lumps since her sister developed a tumour that ended up taking her from us =c Her belly is a uniform consistency aside from organs, but there is nothing solid or hard; she's just really fat, and the vet has said the same =s

Also, Re: the constipation question:
View My Video

 

[jorats]

From the video... that doesn't look normal. But it could just be because it's a video and not seeing it in real life. The vet didn't feel any mass inside, is he a good rat vet? The fact that he mentioned bulking up for winter, kind of makes me wonder if you should seek a second opinion. Bearing down and owie stretches with those lumps might not be a good thing.

 

[lilspaz68]

I agree with Jo, those lumps are just not right for fat. Fat rats are much more uniform, I have had many LOL...that;s very localized and now you have owwies and bearing down, a very worriesome combo. Did you put her in the tub to see if she would fear poop?

 

[hopefloats]

I am gonna agree, usually my fat rats get fat from neck to butt not just in the middle like that, it is kinda oval shaped. I would say a vet visit is due poor girl!

I know mally had tumors growing in her uterus when I had her spayed. I dont know hers seem up higher than a uterus tumor....

 

[victoria]

That looks a lot like Oreo but worse... and Oreo had several small uterine tumours. I think a second opinion is called for.