Old Rat foods?

The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

16kacha

New Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2018
Messages
1
Location
Ohio
Does anyone know what to feed an older rat to help keep weight on them, but isnt too much protien for their kidneys?
 
I give my seniors all the chocolate Ensure that they can lap up, and when done I refill their little bowl and set it down near their hideout so that they know it's there, as long as they live alone or else it will be gone when you turn your back, lol

Also.... Ensure is a thick, drinkable, supplement, (or, in these cases, a "substitute"), which, when put into little rounded bottom bowls, can be lapped up by very sick rats with extreme URI issues. If your sick rattie stops eating and/or, worse yet, drinking, it is due to her inability to breathe (or open mouthed inhaling and gasping) and so she won't risk drinking if she's barely able to breath, or else she could choke, and possibly die. With a round, curved bottom bowl she can lap it up from the sides where it's shallow, and not risk choking. ATM I have 1 4 year old male who was on his last leg, so to speak, but I was focusing on attending to his brother until he was pts. I then took a close look at him and saw he was severely underweight. I am ashamed to say that I missed the signs, but fortunately I immediately put him on Ensure and he GAINED weight!!! Not saying he became cured, but he got a lot of weight back on and could drink Ensure quite easily. Believe it or not, this was about 6 months ago! He has lived on Ensure only for half a year!!! Quite impressive to day the least. I regularly offer him any table scraps and soft treats I can, a few of which he will attempt to eat. Anyway, he's coming up on 4½ years old and is in the exact same shape as he was 6 months ago. So I have no plans to pts anytime soon unless his health deteriorates. Ensure truly is a life saver!
 
Last edited:
I give my seniors all the chocolate Ensure that they can lap up, and when done I refill their little bowl and set it down near their hideout so that they know it's there, as long as they live alone or else it will be gone when you turn your back, lol
Oh, and there's several versions with differing amounts of protein, the least amount is 9 grams per serving (people sized serving, lol) Also, if that's too much protein, or Ensure is too expensive for your blood (about $8 per ½ dozen), you can substitute SlimFast, which is not a protein supplement, but a dietary aide, but ironically it is the exact same thing, other than the protein content!!!
 
1. good quality rat blocks (Oxbow, Harlan 2014, Science Select) whole blocks, and blocks soaked in cool water or organic (non GMO) soy infant formula, to make mush

2. Organic (non GMO) soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal - organic soy infant formula is one of the formulas recommended for orphaned baby rats so is full of nutrients and protein levels are not high

Supplement daily with:
baby food
cooked sweet potato
cooked squash
mixed greens
baby kale
ripe banana
cooked real oatmeal and/or organic 12 grain cereal, with berries
broccoli
cooked quinoa
frozen/thawed peas
cooked organic corn (GMO corn contains poisons designed to kill rats and other pests)
etc

Treats:
organic kumut puffs (a natures path cereal) make a good treat as they have no additives
berries, fruit, cooked grains, etc

See nutrition and diet information in the Reference Thread

http://ratguide.com/health/urinary_renal/chronic_progressive_nephropathy.php
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately, Ensure and all those drinks have a lot of sugar and preservatives. I use them only if my rats are sick. Health rats should eat better. If you want to add weight, avocados would be great, it's not high protein but it's the high good fats they need when they are older. And you are correct, too much protein is not good... at any age.
 
Baby foods (whether watered down or not) are a great way for older rats to get their fruits and veggies, especially if they have a hard time standing up or gripping the food.

When my rat Grumpy had a PT scare (the whole nine yards, crossing his front legs, having no balance, unable to stand on his back legs, etc.) baby food was his best friend. It was really easy for him to lean on the bowl lap up the food.

Watering down their rat blocks provides the same ease of eating.

Also, maybe I'm confused with birds, but rats can't have the avocado pit, if I'm correct? Correct me if I'm wrong. Whenever I want to try something knew, I usually have my rats on back up in case I don't like it. Lol.

If I had to give ensure, I'd recommend the kind made for diabetic humans. Too much sugar, just like humans, can be harmful for our fur babies. Plus, I'd be worried about the chocolate content in there.


Oh, and Grumpy doesn't have PT symptoms anymore. Dunno why. He doesn't cross his legs, struggle to balance, anything. He's fine now. Am I saying baby foods cured him? No. He's just showing symptoms anymore, which makes me think it was something else.
 
So glad to hear Mr grumpy is feeling better! No avocado pits. No apple seeds either. They love apples, but like a toddler, you want to make sure you cut the seeds out for them. Also, I like to give mine roasted pumpkin seeds. They LOVE those!
 
With avocado pits, do I need to be concerned with any of the fruit touching the pit? Should I worry about the skin?

Whenever I cut up my apples, I use one of those apple slicers and then still carve out a little divet in my apple slices. Rat love those apple slices! Always funny to watch them drag away pieces about as big as them.
 
I don't know about the skin. But as with humans, you don't have to be concerned about the part that touches the pit. It's when the pit is broken, that's not good.
 
Back
Top