Rat is she deformed slightly or is it an illness?

Question

I got a female rat from a pet shop and she was i less than desirable conditions. However they had been given the rat by this women who was looking after her while her owners were o holiday and her owners never returned to pick her up again! Anyway she has two strange things about her. One is that the fur on her right hind leg falls out and then grows back again about once a month. She doest have mites or mange and I'm not sure how it can be overgrooming since it comes and goes. The other thing is that I noticed her eyes are a bit funny. Usually rat eyes are bulgy but her left eye is sort of pushed in and her right eye is bulging out a lot like it is compensating. We took her to the vet, he put the hair loss down to overgrooming and after checking her eyes discovered she was blind in the small eye but not in the bulging eye. She seems perfectly happy but I just wondered wat u thought. My other rats dont have any problems so it cant be anything infectous. Ive had her for about 4 months.

Answer 1

im sorry to hear that but my rat sufferd from somthing similar and she turned out fine in fact she lived 3 years over the average life span. but if you are still worried take her back to the pet shop and ask her to be checked out.

thinking of you n hope she gets better millie

Answer 2

I actually have a rat with that exact same problem.  She's now developing a cateract in the bulging eye as well.  However, the vet said she was fine.  She requires a little carful handling because she startles easily (I suspect she's deaf in the ear on that side as well) but aside from that she's fit as a fiddle.  

In the case of my rat we guessed that she managed to survive an early ear infection that left part of her face deformed.  

I wouldn't worry about it ^_^

EDIT: in the case of the missing fur, is she a rex by any chance?  Double rexes have a gene that makes the fur fall out and regrow in patches.  If it's not that, it probably is overgrooming stress, as someone else said.

Answer 3

Our pet rat has had 4 tumors removed. She drags her back legs now. The vet told me if I had her spayed she wouldn't get the tumors. They're all different, but all sweet. Just love her.

Answer 4

If she's blind in the small eye, it could be some sort of birth defect, which would explain why it looks different from the other eye. Their eyes are supposed to bulge out, so I think the bulging eye is the "normal" one.

The fur loss probably is overgrooming. I've had rats do this too; it can be caused by boredom, but not always.

If a vet has seen her and says she's fine, she is probably fine! As long as she is eating and drinking, acting normal (not lethargic), and isn't scratching excessively or otherwise acting uncomfortable, she's probably healthy.

Answer 5

Rats are like Humans and get sickness, allergies etc...

I would look at his bedding for allergens and maybe switch his food.

If this Rat was abused, it may have a nervous condition, which causes hair loss.

You may also check to see if the rat has Bartonella, which usually strikes Cats. It is know by Cat Scratch fever. Its can present in the ways described. It takes a blood test to check.(its treated with Zythromax, and antibiotic)

Answer 6

well it sounds like your a very good rat mom. you took her to a vet she might have been inbreed meaning her parents where related. but as long as shes healthy and happy you have nothing to worry about.