# Deaf? etc. (Warning: Very Long)



## Terpsichore (May 28, 2011)

This is Favorite, yes that is her name lol, and no I do not have a favorite pet. I am pretty sure that she is deaf or at least has extreme hearing impairment. I was wondering if anyone else has experience with deaf rats, or what they think about her.

I believe she is deaf because I have never seen her react to an audio stimulus. I think the first time I really noticed it was when "The Brothers Three," as I call them, had hit that dicey 6 month mark. There was a fight going on and I noticed that all the females had stopped what they were doing and become very alert. I am assuming it was because of the fight. They can hear, but not see the males. Well, all girls had stopped what they were doing, except Favorite. She was happily busy trying to hoard the entire contents of the food bowl. As far as I figure, she is either the most aloof animal I have ever seen, or deaf. I have, on several occasions, tried to see if she will respond to any noises.

In some respects, it makes a lot of sense, because she is VERY vocal. Sometimes, it sounds like someone must be chewing holes in her from all the noise she makes. More often than not, she has a piece of food in her mouth, and someone else walked by and she assumed it would be taken. Although, she is 99% of the time assuming wrong. They are really just walking by lol. She not only makes a lot of noise, but it is VERY loud. So, I started to think that if she was deaf, she might never have learned the appropriate volume and situations for vocalizations.

I know I am going on here, but I would like some advice and/or opinions on other things regarding her as well. So here I go.

I am fairly certain she is underweight. I just weighed her, and, although she was rocking around like a boat, she weighs about 200g or 7oz. I have been trying for a long time to put some curves on her, but I am not having much success. If I give her something that is not "OMG DELICIOUS!", it goes into the litter box for storage. I have been feeding her some banana and giving her extra treats thus far. I fed her some hard boiled egg for Easter, but it was not too successful. I am thinking about giving her a bit of yogurt on a daily basis, but I am wondering if this is an appropriate way to put on weight because of the high fat content in yogurt. Should I be looking for protein? I would be okay with cooking up a chicken breast once a week.

I have also been wondering if she is very small. When one of my other girls was still growing, she started to dwarf Favorite at about 9-10 weeks of age. She looks about half the size(overall, not length) of my two larger females and about 1/3-1/4 smaller then another smaller female I have. I tried to take a decent picture of her next to a ruler, but it was not easy after she figured out the ruler was not for eating. The bottom measurements on the ruler are inches.









I know that her eyesight is worse because she has pink eyes, but how much worse should it be than a black eyed rat? She sometimes navigates more like she is blind, as in more by memory and less by sight. For example, if I take away a ladder while I am cleaning, she will act lost almost and go around another way. The ladder has a very shallow angle, as the shelf below is only 6 inches lower.

Last thing, sorry. Her sense of smell seems to be less keen than a normal rats. She identifies food I give her by taste, instead of smell like all my others. For example, if I put her on top of a pile of veggies, she does not even notice them. If a moment later, I give her a one, she is ecstatic about it. I am not sure if this is a combination of bad vision and being aloof or has something to do with her sense of smell.

I probably sound super paranoid by now. :-X I know none of the things, except her weight, can be changed. I just wanted to know what everyone else thinks about my observations. If I made her sound like she lives a sad sensory deprived life, do not worry. She has more than enough spunk for everyone who reads this.


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

Here's a test to see if she is deaf- Put her out on a bed or couch, and let her play. DO NOT put other rats out with her, have her alone. Then, at a random moment while she is distracted, either clap or SCREAM as loud as you can. No response and she is deaf as a doornail and you have the answer.

I did this with a very deaf kitten we had, except I went in when he was sleeping and screamed at the top of my lungs. He didn't even twitch.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

She sounds lovely and she sounds like she was born deficient, small, underweight with physical issues. This means nothing to us as pet owners but can be worrying when they don't gain weight. Don't worry about the deafness, but you might want to announce your presence by tapping on a surface near her. 

I wouldn't use protein as a weight gainer as it can really cause problems with their organs down the line. Try baby cereal mixed with Ensure, and things like that to gain weight. I find that can really really help.


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## riotfox (Apr 16, 2010)

i agree, just make a noise so loud that it would be sure to startle a hearing rat, when she isnt looking, an just see if she reacts . 

i dont think that protein is necessarily the best way to give her extra weight. i mean it would be good to up the intake, but its just the kilojoules in general rather than protein specifically, id think. that might be a good thing to discuss with a vet .


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## Terpsichore (May 28, 2011)

She is a real character. I love just watching her walk around . She walks with her tail up and lifts her feet very high when she walks, like a ballerina. She looks more like a cat when she walks than a rat lol.

I had a really good go at her today when she was sleeping. Banging on the wall, using the food box to bang against and making all sorts of weird loud noises. I tried to raise my voice as best I could, but I did not want the neighbors in my apartment building to call the police or something lol. "Sorry officer, I was just yelling at my deaf pet rat." All my other girls were looking at me like, "What's wrong with you today!"

I am really not worried at all about her being deaf. I do not think I have seen her stressed or scared by anything. She does not mind if you poke her out of the blue. She does not get startled by it. She just starts to frantically search your hand for a treat.

I looked up "Ensure" on the Abbott Nutrition's German website, and I found four different products: Ensure Plus Drink, Ensure Plus High Protein Drink, Ensure TwoCal and Ensure Powder. Which would you recommend I use? I assume the High Protein is out from what you mentioned. Also, how much would you recommend giving her? I was wondering if I could mix it with some mashed banana, as she literally goes bananas (bad cheesy pun totally intended ) for it.


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