ViciousCurse
Well-Known Member
As some of you know, I have a trio of elderly boys. Grumpy, Ni, and Lil' Chu are all turning two years old over the next couple of months. Of course, I see the telltale signs of old age. They're slowing down, sleeping more, becoming more cuddly, giving way more kisses, etc. We also have Owen at currently one and half years old, but he's only slightly slowing down. Still very little interest in using me for affection (he at least takes food and tolerates quick head and neck scratching).
However, Grumpy's given me a bit of pause... I know strokes seem somewhat common in rats and Grumpy's sudden behavior has me worried. I want to know if he's just aging faster than his two non-littermate brothers, or if it was a stroke.
Let me preference this:
Grumpy is eating and drinking. He is sleeping fine. At least on the most basic of levels, Grumpy is fine and does not seem to be in pain or distress (but we all know how well our little furbabies can mask their pain and discomfort). I have done the "rat phone" with him, I don't hear anything wrong with his lungs and his heart sounds normal. I don't see anything in his ears. His eyes look fine. He isn't having a build up of porphyrin around his eyes or nose. I can't see or feel any growths developing on him. The only issue is the external parasites (which, yay finally got a decent scale, just waiting on the vet for Revolution).
However...
I see the signs of a stroke in a rat. He doesn't have the "classic" droopy or apparent one-sided weakness. It just... feels like the light that burned in him is fading. It's break my heart. I've told my grandmother it feels like he's fading. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but my fur and feather babies mean the world to me.
When he eats, he sits on his back legs, but his front legs are on the ground while he's hunched over, munching the food item. He does this with grooming as well. I don't let him groom on me, unless my hands or body surround him, since he's falling over (but he is trying to reach the area above his tail, which I notice older rats have a hard time reaching in the first place). Overall, it feels like his balance has gotten bad. It obviously takes a bit more effort for him to walk. His fur looks a little unkempt, but not in a dirty way. Just his fur looks a little crazy. No feces or urine build up anywhere on his body.
As I type this, he's up and crawling around, albeit it much slower than everyone else (it's about 11:30PM/23:30).
I've noticed the other rats are picking on him a little bit more. I see it from more than one of the younger rats. People tell me it's because Arthur, Lucifer (the TV show and DC comic books character, not the actual devil), and Owen are allegedly sensing a power shift, now that the "alpha" is growing old and sick. And it's apparently an instinctual thing to "get rid of" the old, elderly animals. Lil Chu and Ni are being picked on, but not quite like Grumpy. Grumpy was my "alpha" rat and I'm pretty sure Lil Chu was just below him on the hierarchy. Although, Arthur and Lucifer seem keen to now take those positions.
However, the thing that has me the most bothered is he and I had this little thing. I'd call his name, or one of his many nicknames, and he'd come scampering out of his hide, stand still, and then let me pick him up and we'd exchange kisses. I kiss his forehead, he kisses my chin and hands. It's a little thing we've had for almost a year. Now... I do those things and he opens his eyes and he looks at me, but he doesn't get up. It's like he knows, but doesn't know what that means. Sometimes I get a response, sometimes I don't.
I guess all in all.... Thoughts? Comments? Advice? I'm still holding and kissing Grumpy. I still hold him like a baby and smother him in love, but it sometimes feels like he's not completely there. But then those fears are washed away when he starts bruxing and boggling.
However, Grumpy's given me a bit of pause... I know strokes seem somewhat common in rats and Grumpy's sudden behavior has me worried. I want to know if he's just aging faster than his two non-littermate brothers, or if it was a stroke.
Let me preference this:
Grumpy is eating and drinking. He is sleeping fine. At least on the most basic of levels, Grumpy is fine and does not seem to be in pain or distress (but we all know how well our little furbabies can mask their pain and discomfort). I have done the "rat phone" with him, I don't hear anything wrong with his lungs and his heart sounds normal. I don't see anything in his ears. His eyes look fine. He isn't having a build up of porphyrin around his eyes or nose. I can't see or feel any growths developing on him. The only issue is the external parasites (which, yay finally got a decent scale, just waiting on the vet for Revolution).
However...
I see the signs of a stroke in a rat. He doesn't have the "classic" droopy or apparent one-sided weakness. It just... feels like the light that burned in him is fading. It's break my heart. I've told my grandmother it feels like he's fading. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but my fur and feather babies mean the world to me.
When he eats, he sits on his back legs, but his front legs are on the ground while he's hunched over, munching the food item. He does this with grooming as well. I don't let him groom on me, unless my hands or body surround him, since he's falling over (but he is trying to reach the area above his tail, which I notice older rats have a hard time reaching in the first place). Overall, it feels like his balance has gotten bad. It obviously takes a bit more effort for him to walk. His fur looks a little unkempt, but not in a dirty way. Just his fur looks a little crazy. No feces or urine build up anywhere on his body.
As I type this, he's up and crawling around, albeit it much slower than everyone else (it's about 11:30PM/23:30).
I've noticed the other rats are picking on him a little bit more. I see it from more than one of the younger rats. People tell me it's because Arthur, Lucifer (the TV show and DC comic books character, not the actual devil), and Owen are allegedly sensing a power shift, now that the "alpha" is growing old and sick. And it's apparently an instinctual thing to "get rid of" the old, elderly animals. Lil Chu and Ni are being picked on, but not quite like Grumpy. Grumpy was my "alpha" rat and I'm pretty sure Lil Chu was just below him on the hierarchy. Although, Arthur and Lucifer seem keen to now take those positions.
However, the thing that has me the most bothered is he and I had this little thing. I'd call his name, or one of his many nicknames, and he'd come scampering out of his hide, stand still, and then let me pick him up and we'd exchange kisses. I kiss his forehead, he kisses my chin and hands. It's a little thing we've had for almost a year. Now... I do those things and he opens his eyes and he looks at me, but he doesn't get up. It's like he knows, but doesn't know what that means. Sometimes I get a response, sometimes I don't.
I guess all in all.... Thoughts? Comments? Advice? I'm still holding and kissing Grumpy. I still hold him like a baby and smother him in love, but it sometimes feels like he's not completely there. But then those fears are washed away when he starts bruxing and boggling.
