helping my old lady - *never mind*

[wonderrodent]

Well, Lafawnda  has just celebrated her 2 1/2 birthday and she is definitely slowing down. First of all she has hind-leg degeneration and I found a lump a week ago. A few weeks ago she weighed 630g and I put her on a diet. She is now 411g. She still looks big but when I touch her she feels emeciated! So I think the weight loss has more to do with her getting old. Also, I think Rapunzel takes the lab blocks away from her at night so she doesn't have anything to eat over night. Since she can't climb anywhere, she can't get to the food. Twice a day I feed her soft food on a spoon in my lap so she has her peace. She still seems excited when I come in with food but she doesn't eat much at eats very slowly. It looks like she licks and licks but doesn't actually lick up much. She isn't interested in her beloved treats either.
She seems so restless and indecisive. Like she doesn't know what she wants.
During the day she hangs out on one of the levels and at night I put her on the bottom of the cage.
I have never dealt with PT or CHF but by watching her it doesn't seem like she has symptoms of either one.

I attached a short video for you guys to see her behavior. As I said she looks so restless. I sometimes pick up her hip/feet and we play wheel barrel. This way she can walk around quicker and choose where to go. I also pick her up and show her the different levels of the cage so she can decide which one she wants to hang out. I don't know if she is just frustrated because she can't go wherever she wants to anymore or if there is more going on. I hope she is not unhappy or in pain.
I guess I just would like to know if this is all normal and just part of aging or if there is anything more serious that you see and I don't.

Also, I wipe her head and paws daily because she has porphyrin (never around her eyes and she probably wipes it off her nose immedately so you can't really see it around her nose either). I can see something black in her poopoo-area so I am wondering if this is poo stuck inside of her (I think that she can still poo, though) and it's just because she can't groom herself down there anymore.
What do you use for cleaning a rat? Right now I am only using warm water and a soft cloth.
Any help would be appreciated. I feel so sorry for her and I want to make her last months, weeks as pleasant as possible.
Thanks!

[mamarat2]

One thing that may help her stay clean Astrid, when some of my past girls started having hind end degeneration I would let them have a warm sitz bath for a few minutes in some warm water in the sink.  Helps to break up anything she may not be reaching that you can't see (vaginal area) and while she is sitting in the warm water take a washcloth and wipe her back end some (vaginal area), gently of course.  Then give her a nice drying with a towel.  This is the best way I have found to help the girls with the grooming in that area.

Give the girlie kisses from us!

Jen

[Eileen]

Oh, that sweet little old lady
She doesn't have CHF, she is just getting older. But, as my vet says, old age is not a disease.

Love her, hug her, video her, kiss her. Whatever she likes to do, she gets to do.
I used to take this time and make it special; make warm oatmeal with Nutrical added; add some Green Mush (see Kim's Ark for more info). Yogies, ice cream, anything to keep the weight on. She will love the extra attention, and you will treasure giving it to her.
Weigh her more often to make sure she's not losing too much weight; it's hard to tell without weighing her.  Make oatmeal, and add peanut butter..whatever will put weight on.

As far as what to clean her with, I used to use Johnson's baby shampoo. It makes them smell so nice, and is very gentle.

She is so very sweet; what a special video. Please give her a special kiss on that little head, from me
Oh, you might want to block off the second level, so she doesn't make a mistake and get hurt. Your attention will make losing the second level worth it.

[wonderrodent]

Lafawnda just passed in my arms, wrapped in a blanket 
I'll post in Rat Tails later

Thanks for your input!

[Poppyseed]

I just wanted to add that at my vets there was another girl who was talking to me about her rat with hind leg degeneration.  The vet did blood work and found kidney failure so they gave the rat some supportive care and fluids and the rat was doing better. Maybe you may want to consider blood work to find exactly what is going on. It's not always PT apparently.

Bastian just turned two and duck walks a little. He puts all his foot on the ground now and holds his tail limp. Makes me worry He's been so healthy.

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Just saw you posted. Sorry for your loss. I wanted to keep the kidney failure bit up there for people who may search this page. I'm really sorry.