# Really skinny rat, I can feel all her bones...



## Ruka (Dec 20, 2012)

Okay, so my rescue got a momma surrendered along with her four babies.

While her babies are all nice and round, momma (whom I named Rumour) is skin and bones! You can feel her jaws, ribs, spine, and hips. I'm not sure how to go about fattening her up, and I'm worried about her. The babies are no longer nursing, they are about 4 weeks old.

She doesn't seem to want to eat very much, and will hand all of her food over to her young instead of feeding herself.

What can help fatten her up?



Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## HelloClarice (Feb 1, 2012)

Take the bubs out of the cage and feed her ensure soaked lab blocks and eggs and fish and protein in general but I would for sure remove the babies and feed her separately. Just my thoughts though.


----------



## Ruka (Dec 20, 2012)

HelloClarice said:


> Take the bubs out of the cage and feed her ensure soaked lab blocks and eggs and fish and protein in general but I would for sure remove the babies and feed her separately. Just my thoughts though.


The babies don't eat all the food, so I'm not too worried about them being with her, it's just any treats I give her (egg pieces, fish, etc) she carries to her young ones and drops onto the floor..

But the ensure soaked lab blocks are a good idea!! Never would have trout of that!K


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

Also baby food. Anything wet is good because she can't "drop it off" to her babies


----------



## Poisoned (Nov 17, 2012)

With my elderly emaciated (and sick) male, I soaked the lab block in ensure, with chicken/pea baby food a couple times a day in addition to his usual lab blocks. Mixed it up well and it turns into a loose mash. The ensure is sweet, so they usually like it a lot, my super finicky girl even eats it.

I was about 1.5 tablespoons of ensure, and a teaspoon of each baby food. It makes enough that you can wrap it up and save if they don't finish, since she has babies, I'm sure they could eat some of it to if she doesn't eat it all. 

Also, I freeze my rats' ensure in ice-cube trays so it doesn't spoil, since they obviously don't drink a whole bottle quickly enough. And I just thaw a cube a couple times a day for them. 

He picked up ewight fast.


----------



## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

HelloClarice said:


> Take the bubs out of the cage and feed her ensure soaked lab blocks and eggs and fish and protein in general but I would for sure remove the babies and feed her separately. Just my thoughts though.


I agree with seperating her from the babies, they will still be feeding from her if she lets them, and it sounds like she has little to nothing left to give. The babies will cope fine on tnere own if you keep giving them high protien soft food and maybe a bit of puppy milk regularly. But if you can get her in with a friendly adult for company and give her lots of high carb food, if shes young high protien too. Good food is eggy rice, bannana, advocardo, carbs bulked up with coconut cream, etc.


----------



## Ruka (Dec 20, 2012)

I tried giving her fish last night, she isn't interested in that, today I am trying eggs and baby food.

Hopefully getting ensure in the next day or so.

The babies are no longer feeding, she isn't allowing it, not sure if that's normal at their age, but it's good in this situation. 




Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## Mousey (Oct 23, 2012)

Good on the eggs and baby food. Mix in some olive oil with the eggs. Also, feed Ensure/Boost with soy baby formula, and Pedialyte. I always feed this mix to emaciated mamas and it works well. I also suggest boiled chicken and a very high quality kitten food with chicken and/or fish instead of lab blocks or with the lab blocks.


----------

