[rach913]

We just recently had a problem with Runt. Her balance seems to have gone out of whack, as she runs around with her head slightly tilted to the right. There's a short video about it on my website (www.rachelsratties.weebly.com), in the "Mischievious Videos" tab, on the left-hand side of the homepage. On that page, it's located as the very-bottom. I'm really worried that she could be going blind in her right eye, as now she squints it, in order to see things. Is this a sign of her eye going blind? Rach

 

[twitch]

does her ears smell bad? does she spin right or left? is there times when she seems better or is she only getting worse as time goes on? how old is she? regardless what you answer to any of these questions, spinning and head tilt is always something that should be discussed with a vet. hopefully its something as benign as an ear infection though. with an answer to the questions above we'll be better able to guess at what it might be, but again, this is definitely something that you want to have a vet check out.

 

[Pink]

I'm working with two girls that currently have inner ear infections. One of them does exactly what your rat is doing. You need to get them to the vet as fast as possible. The earlier you start treating an inner ear infection, the more likely you can reverse the damage. One of my girls is no longer tilting (but is still being treated) but the other still has a lot of problems.

Standard treatment from what I've hear is a steroid with a long term coarse of broad spectrum antibiotics. I'm starting with three weeks, but understand it could easily be longer. I find that my girls take their medication easily in a syringe mixed with ensure. Make sure they are eating and drinking, as that can be hard now. You can tell if they are starting to get dehydrated by pinching their skin. If it stays pinched, get fluids into them immediately, as they are severely dehydrated. Ensure and pedialite both work well. Rats skin should bounce back quickly when pinched.

There is a good chance it could also be something else, such as PT. That would be much more likely if they are older. It is painless, but incurable. They would also need to go to the vet quickly so as to receive treatment.

Best of Luck
Pink

 

[Pink]

Sorry, I just looked at your video (I should have done that first) and both my girl's head tilts were much more pronounced. But, they were both very different from eachother, so I wouldn't rule out the inner ear infection. Either way quick treatment from the vet would lead to a better outcome.

Pink

 

[rach913]

does her ears smell bad? does she spin right or left? is there times when she seems better or is she only getting worse as time goes on? how old is she? regardless what you answer to any of these questions, spinning and head tilt is always something that should be discussed with a vet. hopefully its something as benign as an ear infection though. with an answer to the questions above we'll be better able to guess at what it might be, but again, this is definitely something that you want to have a vet check out.

1. Her ears appear clean, but I haven't found any smell to them.
2. She doesn't exactly "spin," but nowadays, she's learned to rebalance herself recently.
3. Each day, it appears as if her state is the same...
4. She's only about 3 months old


I have a serious question to add on. The day that this litter was born, we had a female cat that never listened to a thing we said, and went to the bathroom wherever she pleased. When Rin was just about finished with her labor, we were ready to go to bed. Once in bed, there was a sound of glass broken, and we saw Rin's cage on the floor, and Rin coming out from under the couch for my protection from kitty.
This rat is a devoted mother, but ever since the accident, she's had problems letting go of her little ones (mainly Dante, but you get the picture...). She'll treat Athena like she's her child, too, although this rat is not only 6 months old, but she is not the daughter of this rat. HOWEVER, she doesn't try feeding them, or anything like that.
Could that accident have caused some sort of a shock to Runt's brain, resulting in a serious problem, now that she's 3 months? Oh, and I've recently noticed that she squints that right eye sometimes, as if she's going blind...Rach

 

[Darksong17]

Not likely. It's probably a simple ear infection. I'd take her in to a good rat vet and they can give you antibiotics for it and check on her eye.

 

[rach913]

Well, Runt was sent to the vet, and there's no harm to her inner ear-Thank God! But, according to the vet, she may have a small allergy, which kind of explains the eye squinting on the same side as the tilted head. By changing the girls' bedding from Aspen to the paper bedding, I've noticed a GREAT CHANGE in her head tilt! Yay, she's getting A LOT better! Who would've thought that rats can get allergies, too? However, they told me to keep a close eye on it, to ensure that the allergies was what was really wrong.
All of my other rats use the aspen bedding-I'm just surprised that it affected poor Runt like that. Oh, and I put a huge sheet in their cage and folded up on one side in all three cages (one for the boys, one for the girls, and one for piggy), and EVERYONE is enjoying the warm cloths for the remainder of this extremely, chilly weather! I've got photos of Runt and her improvements, as well as photos of the others enjoying their new "beds," coming soon! Rach

BTW, are there any photo contests for rats coming to subscribe to?

 

[rach913]

Well, Runt was sent to the vet, and there's no harm to her inner ear-Thank God! But, according to the vet, she may have a small allergy, which kind of explains the eye squinting on the same side as the tilted head. By changing the girls' bedding from Aspen to the paper bedding, I've noticed a GREAT CHANGE in her head tilt! Yay, she's getting A LOT better! Who would've thought that rats can get allergies, too? However, they told me to keep a close eye on it, to ensure that the allergies was what was really wrong.
All of my other rats use the aspen bedding-I'm just surprised that it affected poor Runt like that. Oh, and I put a huge sheet in their cage and folded up on one side in all three cages (one for the boys, one for the girls, and one for piggy), and EVERYONE is enjoying the warm cloths for the remainder of this extremely, chilly weather! I've got photos of Runt and her improvements, as well as photos of the others enjoying their new "beds," coming soon! Rach

BTW, are there any photo contests for rats coming to subscribe to?