# Young rats eating themselves to death?



## Brando (Feb 20, 2009)

I recently took in a few male rats, 4 to be exact, from a local breeder, but this is another story. Anyways, my problem is that one of them started getting extremely fat. At first it was slightly humorous because he was only slightly larger than the others and at that point he was suffering no physical afflictions from it. Well, here we are about 2 weeks later and he has gotten so large he is hardly capable of movement, all made more pathetic by the fact that he is just old enough to be seperated from the mother and being stricken by this at such a developmental point in his life has led him to lose almost all his muscle mass, he can hardly support his neck and limbs. When I attempt to examine him its very clear that he is extremely uncomfortable via his biting at my fingers and squeaking. In comparison to the others especially his lack of any real muscle mass is very apparent. Anyways i think ive made his condition clear enough, but I cant find anything anywhere! my two thoughts are that:

A.) Hes actually eating himself to death. Perhaps in the transition period of mothers milk to solid foods he over gorged himself.

B.) He has a giant tumor in his stomach. This seemed unlikely to me due to the sheer size of his belly, but im not ready to rule it out as a possibility.

Please if anyone has any insight into this id love to hear it. I know ill get a few "take it to the vet" answers, but thats not practical on a sunday afternoon, or any other day considering the nearest vet who sees rats is many miles away.


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

Have you read anything about megacolon? http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/megacolon.php


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

that baby has megacolon which is fatal and agonizing! He needs to be pts.


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

> Please if anyone has any insight into this id love to hear it. I know ill get a few "take it to the vet" answers, but thats not practical on a sunday afternoon, or any other day considering the nearest vet who sees rats is many miles away.


Practical or not, by taking on those rats you took on the responsibility for their healthcare. This is a severely lax attitude to pet care and if this is really how you feel you should reconsider owning pets that you are unwilling to take to the vets.

IF this is megacolon, you are subjecting this poor lad to a very painful end. PTS is really best for him, practical for you or not.


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## Paterson.S (Oct 1, 2009)

Yeah, it really does sound like megacolon.

(From ratguide.com)





























If there is even a chance it coulb be this you *need* to take her to the vet.
You may have to have her put down, it doesn't cost much, and it doesn't matter how far it is.
Letting her go on with something like that is more than inhumane - it's just sick.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

ARSrats said:


> Definitly if the rat has MC she needs to be pts. But in the rare case this rat isn't a high white and doesn't have MC she could have rat diabetis it's rare and goes by another name which is currantly slipping out of my mind. I believe it's call zucker ? But low I said in the rare case the rat has his he/ she well also eventually die from it in like 6mons to a year. So the best thing really is to go to the vet and see what is going on. If it's mc the stomach will be huge usually on the right side as that's where the colon is located and if you look at the skin it will usually be blk in color. But i have to agree with everyone without pics it sounds like MC and putting the rat to sleep is the kindest thing to do


A Zucker rat is seriously obese, but its not in pain, the fact that the little rat is biting and agonized indicates MC. And the scariest part is a rat doens't have to show high-white markings to get MC. Here in Canada a teeny rescue hoodie gal just died of it with a friend.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

They say the only truly safe rat from MC is a self.  I have pics of the wee one if you want to see her?


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Its soo sad, she finally ended up somewhere that cares and doesn't even make it through 24 hours. 

just home, you can see the failure to thrive look to her...










the puffed fur, enlarged belly...just looks unwell









and a few hours later

















She passed in her new mom's arms getting a lullaby sung to. :'(


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

Oh no  She was a perfect hoodie.
I had never even Heard of MC till someone told me to look at my rat which is pregnant to make sure she really dident have MC.
I am SO SO glad she is pegnant and not dying, I can handle 15 lil blubs being crazy and cute, I don't mind the extra spending they needed. But I would be heart broken if she had to be put down.
You said MC is caused by over breeding in HW lines? If its so bad why would breeders continue to breed them bluh.
I know the answer to that question already and its horrible, people wanting pretty rats apposed to healthy ones.


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

How long can they live with Megacolon for?

I feel sorry for this rat. Kind of worrying, the 'owner' hasn't been back on!


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

They should be pts as soon as its apparent its true MC, since they can live in agony for quite a while. Its the only humane thing to do. Its one of the most horrible conditions a rat can get. And unfortunately bad owners usually just let them die at home, probably like this one. I have heard of litters dying and the owners just watching it. OK I am going to be very sick now. :'(


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## holidayincambodia (Nov 10, 2009)

ARSrats said:


> lilspaz68 said:
> 
> 
> > They should be pts as soon as its apparent its true MC, since they can live in agony for quite a while. Its the only humane thing to do. Its one of the most horrible conditions a rat can get. And unfortunately bad owners usually just let them die at home, probably like this one. I have heard of litters dying and the owners just watching it. OK I am going to be very sick now. :'(
> ...




Yes, I agree. And the signs of MC are pretty straight forward - if you even suspect it a vet trip is definately in order. And if you can't afford that you should not be breeding or owning rats.


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

Okay thanks, I'm sorry for your loss lilspaz


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