Goosemoose Pet Portal

So my little girl penelope (she is atleast a year old) has seemed fine all day. Until a little bit ago. She was laying down but i thought it was normal. Then i picked her up. Idk. She has been lethargic. And i just noticed she can walk but it seems like she can barely move her legs. I got her to eat a bit of frozen corn. which is her favorite. She isnt drinking much. So i figured corn had a high water content. Like she really cant move her legs well.... i dont know what to do really. I don't know of any vets around her. We just moved to this area. its 1something in the morning.... Ugh sorry i am rambling im just really upset. And we dont have a car.... idk. I just need some advice?....

I googled lethargic rat...heres what came up. this is from this website.... I think its important to have sweet penelope seen by a vet....
http://www.ratfanclub.org/firstaid.html

"Lethargy in rats is a serious symptom that needs immediate attention.  Give your rat a full exam to look for other signs, especially dehydration and lumps in the abdomen.  Even if your rat is not dehydrated, he might have low blood sugar or an electrolyte imbalance.  Try to get him to drink some juice, a sports drink, or sugar water with a pinch of salt.  If your rat is dehydrated, try to get him to drink 1-2 ounces.  If he refuses to drink, warmed saline solution for injections must be given under the skin.

            If the sugary drink does not cause your rat to improve within 1-3 hours, refer to page 22 in the 9th edition Rat Health Care booklet for treatment.  (First treatment is with amoxicillin and if the rat is severely lethargic, also Baytril.)

            One cause of lethargy is pesticide poisoning.  This will also cause the pupils to be constricted so they do not expand in the dark.  In this case you’ll need to rush your rat to the vet for an injection of atropine."

Lethargy can be a sign of 100 different things, but a lethargic rat is 'emergency alert' status and is  in danger. How long has she been lethargic? How old is she? Is it possible that she fell and injured herself? Stroke could cause to lose use of limbs too. She'll need a vet. Mean while keep her hydrated even if you have to force feed/water her. Ensure is a good supplement to make sure she's getting liquids and nutrients if she's not eating.

If she is badly dehydrated you can tell by pinching her skin...if it snaps back into place quickly she is okay, but if the skin stays in the pinched position, or takes awhile to slide back into place she is dangerously dehydrated and will need subcutaneous fluid, which unless you've had practice giving shots to animals, it's best to have the vet do.

Since you don't have access to a car right now, try forcefeeding her the rehydration formula, but be careful.  If she did have a stroke it may have affected her motor skills, so don't give her too much or you could seriously hurt her.  If you have a hospital cage I'd transfer her to that to keep any of her cagemates from stressing her too badly.  Drinking out of a bottle may be too hard right now, so make sure she has access to water in a shallow dish...but not too much water, if she did have a stroke and has lost muscle control, she chould easily drown in even a shallow water dish.

I hope she didn't have a stroke.  One of the more obvious signs is that she will not have control of her bodily functions and will not be able to groom herself and she will urinate and defecate on herself.

Thank you for your help. Sorry if my original message was a bit sloppy. i was and still am very distraught. She is at least a year and 4 months. I tried the rehydration formula however she wouldnt drink but a little.  Suprisingly she would eat corn. nothing else. so i gave her a bit of frozen and thawing corn. Which i would assume has a high water content.so i hope that helped a bit. I didnt think she was going to make it thru the night. So i did pet her in a 'medical' cage. I was keeping away from her cage mates the entire night. I just woke up. I didnt think she was going to make it. However she seems to be a lot better. Last night. She was just laying in practically one spot. She is now eating and drinking. Which is already an improvement. I am looking for vets in my area now. I just hope i can find something.  I have a bike or i can walk. Its just i live in florida so its really hot. The only thing that seems to be wrong is that it doesnt look like she can move her back right leg. So do you guys think that maybe a stroke/seizure? Is there any thing a vet can do for that? thanks you guys.

The soonest i could get her in to an experienced vet is tomorrow at 10am. I hope that my baby will be okay until then.

Hows her breathing? When one of my rats got pneumonia, the first sign was that he got very lethargic. Is there any busses in your area? I've snuck rats on a bus before.

There is  bus transportation. But the apointment i made tomorrow. My friend said he would give me a ride since he is off.  But this vet i found is only a 15 or so minute walk from my house. And if i needed to walk i would do everything to my ability to make her comfortable. I made those frozen rice bag things just in case. But since my friend will let us use his car it will be okay. I just wish we could have found an apt. today.

Just keep us updated until then and we'll try to help as best we can.  :)

I definitly will. I have to go to work soon. But my boyfriend will be here. He will take good care of her I am sure. he is a sweet rat daddy...:)