# Older Rat with Hair Loss



## sheathepanda (Feb 10, 2010)

Hi! 
So my older rat( 2 - 2 1/2 years) has recently been diagnosed with an allergy to plastic.
She has a large patch of fur missing on her back, as well as on the front of her legs, right behind her ears, and slightly around her eyes.
I was wondering if it's normal for rats as they get older to lose some(or quite a bit) of their fur, and if their fur can thin and become very shaggy looking. 
Or is the plastic allergy causing her hair loss, since she's lived in a plastic cage most her life.
I originally(while her sister Alice was still alive) that it may have been barbering, since I saw Alice power-grooming her on multiple occasions, but after Alice passed on, the hair continued to worsen.
Is there anything I can do to help her hair grow back, or is it just something her and I will need to adapt to?

I don't have a picture of her bald spot at the moment, since i'm not at my computer. 
I can get one if I need to.


















(She's the top rat in this photo)


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## [x]RaeLovesRats[x] (Feb 7, 2008)

It could be mites.... check her fur for tiny red dots. All rats carry mites but they only become visable when they aren't grooming properly or are sick or unwell.... this could well be the case if she is an old girl.


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## sheathepanda (Feb 10, 2010)

I didn't see any, though trying to tell red spots apart from the scratches and bites she took in a fight with Jabberwocky recently is a bit more difficult than I expected.
Pregnant rats and their hormones. D:


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Mites are not visible to the unaided eye - it's lice that are the red wiggly dots.

Feel around her neck and chin... Does she have any scabs in that area?


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## sheathepanda (Feb 10, 2010)

The only scabs around her chin and neck are the ones of the back of her neck from the bites JibJab gave her.
Would the scabs be from her scratching if they were mites?


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

sheathepanda said:


> Would the scabs be from her scratching if they were mites?


Yeah, they would be. Scabs and lesions are commonly noticed on the face, shoulders and back of the neck when a rat has mites. 

Here are some photos of when Gizmo had mites:

















His fur is wet in this one because I'd just applied the beaphar Spot On treatment to him


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## sheathepanda (Feb 10, 2010)

Thanks for the pictures! 
That made it alot easier to spot.

It doesn't look like mites on my little girl, she just has visible gouges in the skin from Jabber.


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