How to make a lonely rat happy

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krystalleigh

Member
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
7
Location
British Columbia
This morning, my rat Scabby passed away unexpectedly. This leaves just his brother, Premee, alone. They were best friends and had never been apart at all, besides when Premee had surgery a couple weeks ago. I don't what this might do to him and am wondering if there's anything anyone has done that has helped a lonely rat. I can't leave him out of the cage unattended because we have other pets, but will of course take him out when I can keep an eye on him when i'm home during the day. I just feel so bad for him that he's the most active at night and there won't be anyone for him to play with. We've made the decision not to get any more rats, we get so attached and they're with us for too short of a time. Any suggestions? :(
 
Premee needs a friend.
Perhaps you could foster a rat and gradually intro them or find him a good home with rattie friends.
How old is he?
 
I also recommend fostering. But...if that's not possible, put a small stuff toy in the cage. You'll need to try and spend lots of time with him, mostly evenings and mornings as rats are crepuscular.
Is the cage in the main living space of the home so he can see and hear daily life? That might help.
 
Thanks for the replies. He's getting closer to 2.5 years now. I would hate to have to find him a new home, where I couldn't ensure his well being. What does fostering a rat include? I'm not sure i've ever heard of that.
 
at 2 1/2 years old I would not worry about getting him a new friend. I think if you give him LOTS of out time with you and have his cage set up where he is with the family he will be fine on his own. I know rats are very social and enjoy the company of an other rats....but at his age and your not wanting to get anymore rats I think it is an acceptable solution.
 
He is doing really well, health wise. Last month, I noticed what I thought was a tumour and took him to the vet. I didn't trust the first vet's opinion, so I went to get a second opinion at my regular vet. He had surgery there and it turned out to be what they thought was a deep abscess. The surgery was successful and he's totally healed now. Other than that, he hasn't had any other serious health issues. He seems to be moderately active. He uses his wheel every once in awhile and will still do almost anything for a treat and likes ripping things to shreds, but he has of course slowed down over the last year.

I'm in the Thompson Okanagan region, in the interior of BC. I would consider fostering a rat, if that's a possibility. I just don't want another rat permanently, or I will be in this situation again in the future. Do you think it would stress him out to be introduced to a new rat now that he's older?
 
krystalleigh said:
I would consider fostering a rat, if that's a possibility. I just don't want another rat permanently, or I will be in this situation again in the future. Do you think it would stress him out to be introduced to a new rat now that he's older?
Click to expand...

IMO -- probably this will not stress him out.. probably it will give him a lift!

I'm in a similar situation. I have one girl rattie left, and she's also about 2.5 years old. Unfortunately, in her case, however, she's got 4 tumors, but she is still happy and energetic for her age in spite of it. Anyway, I was fortunate to find a couple of rats to foster two months after my girl was widowed. And even though she seemed fine alone, she really perked up once the other rats arrived. She's not cohabitating with them still, but they play together daily, and it seems to be a very good thing for her overall.

So, that's why I'm inclined to think it may be a good thing for your guy too.
 
ChrisK said:
krystalleigh said:
I would consider fostering a rat, if that's a possibility. I just don't want another rat permanently, or I will be in this situation again in the future. Do you think it would stress him out to be introduced to a new rat now that he's older?
Click to expand...

IMO -- probably this will not stress him out.. probably it will give him a lift!

I'm in a similar situation. I have one girl rattie left, and she's also about 2.5 years old. Unfortunately, in her case, however, she's got 4 tumors, but she is still happy and energetic for her age in spite of it. Anyway, I was fortunate to find a couple of rats to foster two months after my girl was widowed. And even though she seemed fine alone, she really perked up once the other rats arrived. She's not cohabitating with them still, but they play together daily, and it seems to be a very good thing for her overall.

So, that's why I'm inclined to think it may be a good thing for your guy too.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the rat and how well he gets along with other rats, if he's friendly and accepting, I'd say go for it. (Though my experience is slanted towards having a rat who doesn't seem to want a friend, so now I have two singles and I feel pretty guilty about it.) I think that if you do foster, you should get a pair, so that if intros are difficult the new guy doesn't end up lonely.
 
I'm in the same situation as well, although I have two girls remaining and I'm trying to introduce them to my young group. One has internal tumours that I think are bothering her and the other has a pituitary tumour that started showing symptoms in the past few days. We have been doing intros for a month and they hate the other rats because the young ones are always trying to dominate them and they are no longer strong enough to put them in their place but will not submit to them either. Maybe things will change when there's only one left, but I have my doubts these rats will ever live together.

I strongly believe rats should live with buddies, but with an older rat there's always the possibility intros will only stress him out. You can look around for foster opportunities but if he's coping well on his own he just may be ok. Don't rehome him unless you can't take care of him - it will only cause him more stress.

ETA: Spork is right, get a pair to foster. If there is an age difference, they are less likely to pester your boy and they will not be left alone when he passes.
 
Hmmmm. How does fostering work? Do you have the rats until someone adopts them? If they don't get along with your rat, do you still have to provide a home for them? I'm a full time student, a part-time worker, and have pets besides my rat. If I did foster a couple of rats and they didn't get along with Preemee and had to live separately, since I can't have anyone out unsupervised, i'd be scared I wouldn't have enough time to properly care for everyone separately. I'm not really sure how he interacts with other rats, as he's only ever lived with Scabby. They would have a scrap every once in awhile, but nothing serious. I definitely won't rehome him if that would add more stress, I am able to care for him and spend my free time with him. Besides, I don't know if i'd even be able to hand him over to someone else.

I haven't really noticed that much of a behaviour difference in him, but of course i'm usually sleeping when it's his time to shine. I will try putting a stuffy in his cage tomorrow night. I don't know why I didn't ever consider what would happen when one of them died before. I guess I just thought it would be such a long time until that happened that I didn't need to think about it yet. Thanks for all the suggestions and opinions, it gives me a lot to think about.
 

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