skinniness just due to age?

[Ziggy]

Zero is 2 1/2 and got sick about 2 months ago. I thought he was going to die. He was just so disinterested in everything and no vet was doing anything to help. But I didn't give up and I demanded a specific vet and told him I wasn't going to settle with him just sending me away with baytril anymore. Because it wasn't working and the rat would be dead if we messed about anymore with things that didn't work. So this vet was wonderful and put Zero on a long course of steroids (1/4 of a pill every other day) and he is like a new rat. He perked up so much and these days is pretty much back to his old self!


He's been on these pills for about a month now. He's still doing great. Even if he were to die tomorrow, I bought him another good month just through persistance. But I have noticed that he's quite thin. Now, I've had rats that loose weight due to illness in the past and usually, it comes off quickly. They get noticably thin in only a matter of days. Zero has been this was for about a month now and doesn't seem to be getting worse. He has good days and bad. When he sits up to wash, he looks plump but when you hold him you can feel his spine and hips quite prominently. Can't see his ribs though. My mum says its just because he's old and that older things have trouble keeping weight on.
He eats fine and is moderately active for an old man. But he just feels frail when you hold him. He weighs about 560grams compared to the 660 he was in his prime. His fur is thin and fluffy now, if you part it, it stays that way.

Do you all think he's this thin and boney feeling because he's just an old man, or do steroids generaly make you lose weight? I am tempted to feed him the taboo foods like cookies and fattening things that we are told not to give a lot because he goes mad for them and I want to put some weight on him, but mum says thats not healthy weight.
Heres a pic of him, taken about a month ago. He doesn't LOOK thin but when you hold him, you can feel his bones:


Any ideas would be good

[musichick2004]

Our Smezzy is having issues with weight (she's only about a year and a half) too...we've been giving her baby food and avocado and stuff that's healthy, but nice and pudgy-ing!  

[ckhs]

He does not look thin like you said, pretty boy.
I would go ahead and give him all the goodies he wants, not really gonna hurt him or alter his lifespan at this point.
Scritches to your boy.

[Noe]

I agree with ckhs: at this point, the old guy deserves to be spoiled, and there are plenty of healthy treats that are high in calories too. Avocado, meat, baby formula, etc.

[TheNightSpider]

My olde boy is 2 and 10 months.  I know what you mean by he looks not overweight but you can feel his bones. Bitzy is like that too...I'm just feeding him whatever he wants ...these steriods..I wonder if they would be good for my rattie cause he is always sleeping and looks less perky over time.
*sigh*
Lots of hugs and food i'm afraid...oh no...pampering a rat.  How worse could it be?

[Ziggy]

Lots of hugs and food i'm afraid...oh no...pampering a rat.  How worse could it be?

Well, I gave him chinese food last night because I know thats pretty calorific. Problem is getting the weight onto him without all the others becoming blimps (moreso) He loves chocolate but don't want to feed that very often but he ADORES olivio spread. He eats that by the fingerful.

[Cypher]

When my girl Cleo was 3 1/2, she started losing weight fast.  When I would pet her, I could feel perfectly the 'ridges' on her spine and the sunken sides.    Her tail started growing thin, too.  I think this just came with the deterioration of health and her growing reluctance to eat. Not long after this, I had to help her over the Rainbow Bridge.  
   Your boy looks good and healthy though, and in my personal experience it is normal for rats to grow thinner as they grow older.   But don't feel gulity spoilin' him!!

[toni]

ohhh.. your rat looks exactly like my female rat, Hero, who is 2 1/2, although she may eb a little older as she's a rescue rat from the RSPCA, so its hard to tell. As of late she has lost condition/weight and her back legs are going. Its difficult to see them getting old in this way, but so long as they are not in any pain the I say bring on the goodies and huggs!!! Hero often likes to eat things like porridge, bread soaked in olive oil, avacardo etc, although this seems to make little difference to her weight. Ah well...

[toni]

ohhh.. your rat looks exactly like my female rat, Hero, who is 2 1/2, although she may eb a little older as she's a rescue rat from the RSPCA, so its hard to tell. As of late she has lost condition/weight and her back legs are going. Its difficult to see them getting old in this way, but so long as they are not in any pain the I say bring on the goodies and huggs!!! Hero often likes to eat things like porridge, bread soaked in olive oil, avacardo etc, although this seems to make little difference to her weight. Ah well...

[pigsandrats]

It's normal.
Guinea pigs do the same thing as they get older.

[Ziggy]

Her tail started growing thin, too.  

Yes, thats happened too. I thought it was just that it looked thin compared to my other boy who has the thickest tail you've ever seen!

[vein]

Once our babes hit about 2 it's "anything they want goes" - if they want a french fry, they can have one, a nibble of our chicken, they can have it. In the case of the two boys (same litter) we just give them both whatever we're getting for them but for the girls who have younger girls in there we *don't* need porking out, we take them out of the cage to feed them their special snacks. (Except if it's a "birthday party" when they all get tasty snacks out on the bed)

Only one girl REALLY needed to pack on some ounces (hehe) when she got sick, and one could have stood to gain a bit more as well. For both of them, it was vanilla Ensure (high calorie formula) in a soy sauce dish a few times a day. Kept them from getting too skinny, helped me make sure they were getting enough fluids, and they absolutely LOVED the stuff.

[vx]

I've noticed that older rats experience a sort of "gravity shift" in their bodies...it's as if their body weight "drops" and you can feel their hipbones, all of a sudden...they haven't lost any weight, they're just getting elderly....kind of like human women, as we reach middle age our ribcages expand and we lose our waists  

[small victories rodent rescue]

Just yesterday I took my rat to the vet and she forbid avocado. She says it is poisonous. I know avocado seems to be a popular recommendation on this board, but if I were you, I would err on the side of caution and not feed the rat avocado.

Instead, supplement her food with Boost. My rat, who is sick, seems to be doing a little better on it.

Don't feed high fat, high salt, high sugar table scraps. No take-out Chinese food! Good Lord! It's enough to kill human babies (and I mean that literally, people have malnourished babies by feeding them mashed adult food), think about a 200-gram rat!

[Noe]

Just yesterday I took my rat to the vet and she forbid avocado. She says it is poisonous. I know avocado seems to be a popular recommendation on this board, but if I were you, I would err on the side of caution and not feed the rat avocado.

The part of the fruit which is near the rind and pit should be avoided, as it can be toxic. As long as you only use the center of the fruit, it's perfectly fine.

[furryfeet]

Hello Ziggy,

I also have a 2 1/2 year old agouti buck, Taz.  His body shape has been changing for a while, since about when he hit 2 years, although until the last two months he had not lost much weight.  I put the difference down to loss of muscle - he still does have a good layer of fat under the skin, but his skin is looser and kind of hangs off him a bit, so his bones are more easy to feel.  Compared to my one year olds it is obvious he just has no muscle, which is not really surprising as he does not do any exercise!  If Zero is otherwise okay I would not worry too much, keep his weight up as much as you can by offering tempting foods, but I would avoid fatty things as I have heard of several elderly rats with heart problems and I know fat does not help.

[Ziggy]

Furry feet, thats sounds about right. It sounds like muscle wastage because he does have those little sort of 'love handles' and when he sits up to eat, he looks nice and round but his bones are very prominent and he feels frail when you pick him up. Like a little kitten!
But I have found that he likes farleys rusks (biscuits for babies) so he's had a lot of them lately, aswell as his regular food. My boys all eat primarily human food, with a bowl of dry mix there throughout the day for snacking but on the whole, their diet is cooked pasta, vegetables, chicken, bread etc.  and I've never seen healthier looking rats. The chinese food is by no means a regular thing, I can't afford it myself let alone for the rats! But he enjoyed that too and I don't think it's a problem.
I think the thing is that he DOES eat but only small amounts so I want to make sure that what he does eat is quite calorific but obviously not just empty fat like feeding his chocolate and cookies all the time

but today I found a lump on him. He's had it for a few months, it's just to the left of his penis and started out tiny. The vet said it was nothing to worry about but now it's the size of a pea. He's going back to the vet on tuesday and I suspect that if it is something like cancer, hes too old to have anything like surgery anyway but Im interested in what it is

[quellykin1]

Just yesterday I took my rat to the vet and she forbid avocado. She says it is poisonous. I know avocado seems to be a popular recommendation on this board, but if I were you, I would err on the side of caution and not feed the rat avocado.
 
The part of the fruit which is near the rind and pit should be avoided, as it can be toxic. As long as you only use the center of the fruit, it's perfectly fine.

whew! I was panicked before reading Lenore's post! They've all had it before and been fine and I've been giving Rio his medicine in it for a couple weeks.

Sorry you found a lump, Ziggy.