Pet rat sick?

Question

I have two male rats, one of them doesn't seem to being doing all that well, he's lost alot of weight is very sluggish and the other day I came home and it looked as though the corner of his eyes where bloody. I've called numerous vets in the area and no one does rodents. Any idea what could be wrong with him and any suggestions on how to get him well or atleast make him more comfortable. My other rat who is caged with the one who isnt doing well is 100% fine, but if my other rat dies will my healthy rat go into depression? how do rats cope with the loss of a cage mate?

Answer 1

is it dark or light red?as for the other rat you should take it out and start introducing it to a new rat

Answer 2

It sounds a lot like your rat has a respiratory infection. The red stuff from his eyes is called porphyrin and most often than not, it is the result of a RI. If there is a lot of porphyrin accompanied by weight loss, an infection is usually the culprit. If you do not have a vet that can care for your rat, you will have to drive to a vet that does. Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot you can do to make your rat better. Sometimes if the infection is caught early on enough, you can purchase fish medication called Tetracycline, which is a mild antibiotic. This usually helps combat the early stages of an infection, but from what you are describing, I feel it may be a little too late to try that. If you decide to, you will need to call a vet that knows about rats so they can tell you how much medication to use. In the meantime, keep you sick rat as comfortable as you can...make sure that he is still eating and drinking, if you have a heating pad, you can put that in one corner of the cage to keep him warm.

As for the death of a rat...I'm really hoping that you do not just let that poor rat die because you have no ets in your area. Have someone drive you out of town if you can't! Anyways, the cagemate probably will grieve if for some reason your sick rat dies, but it is usually recommended that after a few days or a week to purchase another same-s*x rat to keep him company. I wish you and your rat the best of luck and please, please, find a vet! Goodluck.

Answer 3

Sounds like he's might go soon, most rats act like that when they get very old and are ready to move on. Your other rat may be depressed for awhile but just give him comfort and he'll perk up

Answer 4

You need to see a vet. This could kill him.

www.ratztails.co.uk & www.fancy-rats.co.uk

Answer 5

Well, I'm honestly not sure about the sick part of youtr question, but I know about the deppression part. I had two guinea pigs and when one died the other seemed alittle off for a while. Same with my two cats. After a little while the animal will get used to it and go back to normal. Just make sure you pay more attention to the healthy one if the sick one does pass away. Hope this info helps and i hope that the sick rat will be ok. =)

Answer 6

My females just got over this problem. You really do need to find a vet as they need to prescribe a medicine to give your rat. Please check out the thread I made on this website which gave me help. ( http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/commu... )

Check out any links if there are some on that page as it shows good things about the "bloody"eyes.