Walking funny

[mvZD]

My boy George is my oldest rat, he turns 2 years old on Valentine’s Day. The last few he has been walking funny, almost limping. He has been getting around fine and has been climbing stuff like a maniac, but there’s definitely something going on with his back legs. I first noticed this about a week ago watching him in his cage, it was just for a second that he seemed to not use a leg, but then he looked ok after. But the next day when he was out for play time I could immediately tell something was off.
Could this be the start of hind leg degeneration? I’ve never experienced that before and all the videos I’ve seen are more extreme. He doesn’t seem to be in pain, no squeaking when I touch his legs. I got a couple videos of him walking:






Sorry they’re not the best videos!
Just wondering is anyone else has seen this before? If it’s the beginning of HLD or if he maybe just hurt him self. Thanks!

 

[Luna&Ralph]

Wow, I haven’t had a rat young enough to hop around like that in a long time. His walking seems fine to me, but if it’s unusual to him maybe it’s just an injury. Could you post a video of him walking from the side?
From what I’ve read about HLD/HED, it’s not painful. I’ve also seen videos of rats with it who were still very active like your boy. Does he ever drag either of his legs? They might not do that until later on in the process. My guys who had it would kind of flip their feet back every once in a while when they walked near the beginning of it. If it is HED, I’ve had good results from giving half of an omega-3 pill and around 1/8 of a glucosamine tablet every day. I mixed them in with baby cereal and a savoury baby food, preferably a strong tasting one because the omega-3 was incredibly fishy.

 

[mvZD]

I thought I saw him drag it in his cage, but just for a second. That’s when I first noticed there was something going on. But I haven’t seen any dragging beyond that, mostly hopping. I’ll try to get a better video tonight, I keep missing the best moments and when I get my phone out he doesn’t move

 

[mvZD]

A couple more videos

 

[Luna&Ralph]

I’m wondering it’s it’s just because he’s getting older. When they’re young, they run around and hold their tails in the air but they start to hold up their tails less and drag them more when they’re older. I would keep an eye on it and see if it gets worse. There’s nothing you can do to stop the progression of HED anyway, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing him down so it’s probably not an injury.
If he starts to drag his feet more, try the supplements I suggested. That will help him stay mobile for longer in his back legs. The great thing about HED is that they can still have completely normal lives with it and adapt well. Especially at his age while he’s still so mobile, he will start to get stronger muscles in his front to drag himself around when he needs to eventually if he does have HED.

 

[mvZD]

Thank you! You made me feel much better about this. I’ll definitely look into those supplements for him if it gets any worse. I’ve read that some people give B12 to help as well?

 

[Luna&Ralph]

Oh good, I’m glad! I had an old guy who had HED pretty recently and he still got around pretty well. The worst part is us having to watch them drag themselves around but they adapt really well despite how scary it looks. The supplements I suggested were the only ones I tried so I only have experience with them but I found trying supplements to be very trial and error because it’s not actually treatable. I think you should definitely try the B12, but maybe stagger when you start the supplements so you can tell if one works better. If you find that something doesn’t work to help mobility, you can stop using it and then try something else. I started the glucosamine at the same time as the omega-3, so I’m not actually sure which one worked. I had omega-3 pills anyway so I just thought I’d try them too. The glucosamine probably is what helped if your little guy doesn’t like the fishy taste of the omega-3 pills.

 

[mvZD]

Thanks for all the info and advice! Staggering is a good idea, I’ll definitely do that! I’ve been reading good things about glucosamine so I may get some either way. I have 4 more boys so it might be good to have on hand.

 

[Luna&Ralph]

You’re welcome! I’m happy to help when I can. I think I saw a few of the other boys in the videos and they all looked so cute and happy. I really liked using glucosamine and I think that you can just use it for aging joints in general so I think that’s a great idea. The bottle I got was pretty cheap at Walmart, I got the Webber Naturals one.