# Sudden clumsiness



## Yoggy (Oct 29, 2012)

I've had two females since October. They're my first rats. Sharona, who's about 1.5 years old, would always jump halfway up the cage to see me better every time I walked by the cage. She was always climbing around the cage like an acrobat. About a month or so ago I thought she had suddenly learned how to get off the couch, because whenever I had her on the couch with me, she would always go right to the edge and slowly slide over the edge until she landed on the floor. She constantly did this whenever I had her on the couch. I couldn't even leave the room to get a glass of water without coming back to see her on the floor running around.

I thought she was just getting bolder and had learned that she wouldn't get hurt jumping off the couch, and that's why she was doing it so often. But I noticed her falling off higher places too, where no rat would deliberately fall from. She also stopped climbing and jumping around the cage like she used to, and she doesn't go up to the hammock at the top of her cage very often. The last time I saw her up there was last week, when normally she spends all day there.

It seemed like her vision was going, and there is further evidence to support this. When she is in the hammock (when I put her there), and wants to get out, she'll put her head and arms over the edge of the hammock and flail her arms until they hit the platform below the hammock. As if she can't see the platform there.

But there's also evidence that maybe it's actually her balance going, not her vision. She'll be perched right near the edge of the couch or a chair, and start grooming herself and then tip backwards and I have to catch her before falling onto the floor. She never used to fall backwards while grooming herself, on the edge of a chair or otherwise.

She seems to walk properly though, not crooked or unbalanced.

Is there any way I can test her vision to see if that's all it is? Has anyone else experienced this with their rat? It's heartbreaking because I can't carry her around on my shoulder anymore, which she used to love, and I can't let her roam around the furniture anymore either. I let her loose on the bathroom floor to go exploring, but it's not her favourite place. Thanks for any advice you have.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Could be a few things.

Arthritus, it can cause issues like this.

Old age, as they get older their nerve fibers weaken so they can loose balance. This sounds like what it most likely is

Ear infection, normally though it would be more onset and have more symptoms.

PT, let's Hope it's not this. If it is PT then it's in it's early stages and it can be treated to keep it from getting bigger. This would explain the behavioral change though and the clumsiness, but normally symptoms appear in about a day not over the course of a month or more.

I would try to get her into a vet if you can to see if they can do a test to see if she has PT, cause if it's in the early stages then it can be treated. Also would help figure out if she has anything else wrong like an ear infection.


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

In case you're wondering, a "PT" means Pituitary Tumour. Not to frighten you but you need to be aware of the possibility - this is a tumour of the brain and usually cannot be removed and only treated. However this may not be the case so just get your rat checked out first and let us know how it goes


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## Yoggy (Oct 29, 2012)

Thanks for the responses! She seems to be getting better since yesterday, but she's still clumsy. I watched her intently for a long time several times this week to make note of all her behaviours, and what it really seems like is that she has weak hind legs. It would explain everything. Why she wasn't climbing the cage, why she would topple backwards while leaning back on her haunches to groom herself, why she had trouble getting out of the hammock (she would lean her head and front paws over the edge of the hammock and then have trouble pushing herself the rest of the way with her hind legs), and why she kept sliding off the couch (she would look over the edge, but if she leaned too far, she couldn't use her hind legs to pull herself back up).

The biggest evidence of weak hind legs is that she doesn't hold her food to eat anymore. She eats right off the floor, sometimes holding the food steady against the floor under one front paw.

But she's gotten better in the past day or two. I saw her climbing up the side of the cage yesterday, and this morning I saw her in the hammock. I haven't seen her in there in over a week. She can climb up to the open door much more easily now too.

I'll keep an eye on her for the next little while and take her to the vet if she doesn't get better. Particularly, if she doesn't start holding her food in her front paws to eat.


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

Hmmmmmm, could possibly be Hind Leg Degeneration then, although at only 1.5 years of age that's still pretty young to be getting it I'd imagine. Just keep an eye on her and let us know how it goes.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Could also be arthritus. My boy Soda (who is about 20 months old) has Arthritis in his hips (and probably the beginning of HED) often falls over while grooming (it's Really funny to watch him do sit ups, guess he's finally decided to loose all that weight of his) and sometimes has issues walking.

Pumpkin and Cherries are natural Anti-inflammatories that will help. Ginger is also an Anti-inflammatory but also helps with rebuilding nerve connections and can help with HED (Hind end Degeneration, same things as Hind leg degeneration but most people prefer to it as HED since it does affect everything from the hips back).


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## Yoggy (Oct 29, 2012)

I've been following her symtpoms more closely and now I'm thinking it is a PT. I thought she wasn't climbing up the side of the cage because her hind legs were weak, but when I do see her occasionally climbing, I notice she can barely grip the cage bars at all with her front paws. She also doesn't grip her food anymore and makes a big mess when I offer her water in a bowl (since I haven't seen her use the water bottle in a long time). These seem like classic PT symptoms. I had thought that she wasn't gripping her food because of hind leg weakness, meaning she couldn't hold the food in her paws while standing on her hind legs. But when I actually witnessed her on the side of the cage with such a loose grip on the bars, I realized that the problem was definitely her front paws, not her hind ones.

There are a couple things that point away from a PT though. This has slowly been going on for over a month, and from what I've read, PTs act faster than that. She is missing a few PT symptoms too, such as the circular walking; she always walks in a straight line, never crooked or circular.

Either way, I made a vet appt for her for tomorrow to see what the problem is, and whether it's treatable. Wish her luck


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## Yoggy (Oct 29, 2012)

My poor girl, she got worse as soon as I got home from the vet on Thursday. The vet didn't think it was a PT, but then she seemed pretty clueless about rats in general. She said PTs were incredibly rare in rats and she had never seen one in her 10+ years as a vet, but everyone else I've spoken to said they're actually pretty common, especially in females. Anyway, the vet gave me a few days' supply of steroids and also offered to clip Sharona's teeth to help her eat better. Well it made everything worse. Sharona could eat her crunchy treats before, with a bit of trouble since she couldn't grip them. She even ate some at the vet's office when I used them to distract her, but ever since I got home from the vet, she hasn't been able to eat any solid food. I soaked her food pellets in water and I've been mashing up every fruit and vegetable I can think of to offer her to eat, but even then she seems to have trouble swallowing, so she just licks and licks at the food and makes a mess, but not much gets eaten. Now I'm syringe feeding her until her appointment to get euthanized tomorrow 

It's heartbreaking because I've noticed that she's gripping better since starting on the steroids. I even found her in her hammock this morning, and I haven't seen here there in weeks. But despite these minor improvements, she's clumsier than ever, falling over even while walking, and now with the not eating or drinking, I'd rather say goodbye now than watch her go further downhill.

But I'm curious about what would happen that would make her suddenly stop eating or drinking from the second she got home from the vet. Could the vet have messed up the tooth clipping and that's why she won't eat? I'd hate to think that the steroids are working and her not eating is caused by something other than her illness. Poor girl!


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

I'm so sorry 

As for why she suddenly stop eating and drinking. it's either Coincidence, or I've read that anesthesia (did he put her under to clip her teeth?) will make the tumor worse, and basically speed up the symptoms.


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## Yoggy (Oct 29, 2012)

Thanks LightningWolf 

I don't think the vet put her under for the tooth clipping. I wasn't present for it, but it took less than 5 minutes. But she did say that Sharona got very stressed during the clipping, so the vet tech gave her some oxygen to help calm her down. Maybe it was just the stress of the whole experience that put her off eating. But on the other hand, she seems very eager to eat the yogurt and pureed fruit that I've been giving her via syringe, so her appetite seems to still be there, she's just not capable of chewing or even lapping up water out of a bowl. But I'll keep her as nourished and hydrated as I can until her appointment tomorrow. I want her to enjoy her last day as much as possible!


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