[Toblerina]

Hi, Ernie is only 9 months old. Over the last few weeks he's lost a lot of weight - for no apparent reason. I can feel his ribs and his hair is discoloured. He is otherwise active and eats a lot. He doesn't appear to be wheezing or sneezing. Any advice/suggestions appreciated

 

[ratbasket]

I would take him to the vet, sudden weight loss can be a bad sign... Did something suddenly change for him? (new food, you went on vacation...) Does he gave a cagemate? You could try offering him avacado, or banana, or nutrical for puppies or kittens. Is his stomach bloated or anything?

 

[Velo]

Probably illness related, he will need a vet to figure out what is causing the weight loss.
It also could be mites or lice, have you seen any presence of either?
In addition to ratbasket's food recommendations: Ensure, eggs, baby rice cereal, yogurt. Maybe a bit of wet cat food.

 

[Isamurat]

There's definitely something going in there and he's a young rat so needs looking into asap. What's he fed on? Is possible there's a deficiency of some sort but that's not normally sudden onset. It's now likley he's ill. I'd ask the vet to check him over and do a urine test too

 

[Toblerina]

I'm so sorry that I havent replied sooner - but it's been a sad time. I took your very good advice and took him to the vets as soon as possible. Unfortunately he had cancer and we had to put him down. Feel like I should have spotted it earlier. Again, thanks for the advice. All the best x