(Potentially) starved rat emergency

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Issuissaissy

New Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2024
Messages
3
Location
Usa
I had two rat sisters that were staying at a friend’s house for a month or so. In my current living situation I couldn’t keep them, but I’m moving in a couple of weeks. They are less than six months old.
This morning one of the girls had passed away and the other looked fine. Friend said he removed the dead rat, dumped food into the cage, and went to work. When he got home, the living rat was lethargic, completely immobile, and covered in ants but alive. He removed the ants and found that there was food stuffed down her throat, which he then removed. He also said the ants had chewed on her tongue and it was bleeding.
When I went to see her, she was skin and bones. Her ribs and spine are sticking straight out and she’s barely breathing. It looks like starvation. When I asked him if they’d been eating, he said he’d “forgotten” that he had the rat food and had been giving them Hawaiian rolls and Triscuits every few days. I saw them two weeks ago and they were fine.
I’m assuming they didn’t have proper nutrition and when she was given the actual rat food she tried to devour it and choked.
I went to the store and bought chicken noodle baby food and a syringe. I gave her a tiny bit of it and some sugar water. She’s wrapped in a heated blanket. There’s not a vet within five hours that will examine a rat, plus I’m a college student and I likely can’t afford the fees without help. I’m staying the night to keep checking on her.

TLDR I think my rat is starved of nutrition. Does anyone have ideas or suggestions for care? She’s barely moving and can’t eat on her own.
 
Oh god what a horrible situation and I'm sorry to say, horrible friend.. she does need medical care immediately it sounds like especially if her tongue is bad and she cannot even eat. Can you get hold of high calories food such as ripe avocados and baby foods in jars? Please check that the baby foods don't have onion in them because that is bad for rats. Anything that is something like chicken with rice (purreed in a jar) or potatoes with rice and carrots will do the trick. Anything soft like cat foods from jars that is a purree would be fine also. You can cook her up some pasta really soft (no salt) and some rice too and she if she will eat that.
 
Oh god what a horrible situation and I'm sorry to say, horrible friend.. she does need medical care immediately it sounds like especially if her tongue is bad and she cannot even eat. Can you get hold of high calories food such as ripe avocados and baby foods in jars? Please check that the baby foods don't have onion in them because that is bad for rats. Anything that is something like chicken with rice (purreed in a jar) or potatoes with rice and carrots will do the trick. Anything soft like cat foods from jars that is a purree would be fine also. You can cook her up some pasta really soft (no salt) and some rice too and she if she will eat that.
Alright thank you! Right now i can only use liquid foods like baby food, I found out the ants were eating her tongue and it’s bleeding. I feel so awful for her, she’s still just a baby. I can’t believe this happened, they were totally happy two weeks ago
 

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