I think one of my rats is diabetic. Does anyone know the symtoms? What can be done to control it?

Question

This is a young rat, only about 2 months old or so. She gets very lathargic, and will have seizure like episodes (possibly/most likely actual seizures). After the episode, she'll start l*****g our hands for salt, and when we gave her some sugar water ( we read online that if you think your rat has had a seizure, then give it some sugar water after the episode), she would perk right up. Then we wondered if she could be diabetic (low blood sugar) So later in the day, When she was a bit lathargic again, we gave her some more sugar water, and again, within minutes, she perked right up.

So if anyone knows about how to care for rats that are diabetic, or what the symtoms are, or if there is a good article on diabetic rats out there, please let us know!!!

Much Thanks!!!!

Answer 1

"Sugar diabetes (diabetes mellitus) is rare in pet rats, but can occur. Symptoms usually include increased drinking and urination and weight loss. Because the urine contains sugar, a smell like molasses can be noticed in the cages. Sugar diabetes can be treated in rats with subcutaneous insulin injections. Injections to a rat is something that is easily learned and causes little pain. For more information on treating sugar diabetes see the website."

"Epilepsy is not common in rats. I know of only a few cases. In one of these cases, the owner discovered that the seizures were related to the amount of sugar in the rat's diet. Even the sugar in an oral medication was enough to trigger seizures. As long as the rat's diet was low in sugar, the seizures occured less frequently. Some seizures may be cause by a deficiency of magnesium....If you have a rat who has seizures, try giving him a magnesium supplement. I'm not sure how much would be needed. The normal daily requirement for magnesium for a rat is 10-15 mg, so maybe starting with that much and if it helps, slowly reduce the amount. If it doesn't help, try slowly increasing it to 45 mg...."

Answer 2

You can diagnose diabetes in small animals at home. Buy urine test strips made for diabetic humans from a pharmacy. They work for animals, too. When you dip the strips in the rat's urine, they will change colors to indicate the presence of ketones or glucose. If either or both are high, diabetes is likely the cause.

However, I've never seen diabetes in rats. I have had several diabetic hamsters, though, and I'd imagine the symptoms are the same - excessive drinking, excessive urination, and either lethargy or hyperactivity are usually big tip-offs. If you have other rats, how much does this rat drink compared to the others?

If she's having seizures, though, I'd assume the cause was something else. You can try the test strips at home, but I suspect the results would be inconclusive. You should probably get to a vet. Here's some info on seizures in rats:

http://ratguide.com/health/neurological/...

If it does turn out to be diabetes-related, this page has useful information on diabetic hamsters. Most of it can be applied to other small mammals as well.

http://www.petwebsite.com/article_read.a...

Answer 3

The best thing you can do for her is to have her seen by an exotics vet right away.  It definitely sounds like you are seeing hypoglycemia and that can be a symptom of many illnesses other than diabetes.  It is extremely serious that she is having seizure like symptoms and is lethargic.

You need to find out what the underlying cause of the symptoms rather than just treating them.  For my pets I've had one display hypoglycemia when he had a minor infection, another pet had an insulinoma (tumor that secretes insulin) and that ways causing the symptoms.