# Hair Loss in Elderly Rats



## TobyRat (May 24, 2011)

For those of you who've had or have senior rats, how common is alopecia & general fur thinning? 

My old man Wylie, age 2 years & 1 month, is starting to have a lot of fur thinning around his head and shoulders. In your opinion would you say this is a common old-age occurrence or do you think it is indicative of disease? He's been treated for lice and mites just in case. No excessive scratching, no sores on skin and skin is normal except for a slight amount of "buck grease" on his back.


----------



## Jenzie (Dec 26, 2012)

Hm, I dunno how common this is, but my guy Ratigan is about 1.5 years and recently I've noticed his fur thinning a bit around his eyes and ears. He did have/has mites which I treated him for pretty recently though, so that coud have also contributed. Hopefully someone with more experience with elder rats knows more!


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

I've never heard anything conclusive on this... my three older girls started having hair loss around their faces so I treated them all with revolution but it turns out they didn't have lice or mites or anything. My vet said they were just getting old, but I'm always worried something is wrong...


----------



## PurpleGirl (Oct 12, 2012)

I've read that rex rat hair often begins to thin as they age, which was my experience with my one and only rex rat Kain, his fur became thinner and thinner in various places in the last year of his life.


----------



## Minky (Apr 4, 2013)

I have a shelter rat with a thin, patchy coat. The vet did a skin scraping and didn't find parasites on her - I use Revolution and the vet said it must be working. Since this rat came from a shelter, I have no idea how old she is, but I'm guessing she's a senior: she's on the skinny side (the other rats are plump, but she won't gain weight), she's a bit cautious and slower-moving, not as robust as the others, and her fur is thin and patchy across her back and near her tail. 

The vet gave her a clean bill of health. I've read that hair loss is common for elderly rats.


----------



## TobyRat (May 24, 2011)

Thanks for your replies. I'm pretty sure now it is just old age.


----------



## flamegurl (Apr 30, 2013)

My older girl pushing 2 years is losing hair from the top of her head all the way to her mid tummy. She is funny looking but she doesn't scratch and her cage mates aren't picking on her. It is just thinning I think. I can upload a picture, but due to the hair loss she is not as photogenic as she once was, lol


----------

