Critter City
By Sandra Conti- Todd of Allexperts.com
Heart and Kidney disease in our rats
Heart disease in our rats!
When the vet tells us that our rat has heart disease, our knees go weak. We feel like crying on the spot. However, with proper diet and medication made readily available, a good vet can possibly prolong your rats life for many more months and by this I mean a good quality of life, other than having to get used to taking meds daily. Hey, this can be good since you can offer the rat some yogurt or something tasty to mix with the meds and make it a pleasant experience. It doesnt always mean the rats life is over.
Heart disease can mimic a URI and often goes undiagnosed, especially when the vet is not real experienced with rats that are suffering from cardiovascular disease. 
Dilated Cardiomyopathy
* Tires quickly or appears lethargic.
* May hear cough, wheeze , or congestion/ lung sounds making breathing labored.
* Swelling in limbs and feet from fluid retention.
* Little to no appetite. May see the rat acting hungry but can only manage to eat a little bit.
* Gradual weight loss.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Signs of illness in the rat may be so subtle that it goes unoticed at first...with signs progressing over time to include any of the following:
These signs may occur over several weeks:
* Falls for no reason!! May appear to owner as if rat has fallen asleep and suddenly falls from a cage shelf or may appear in a trance like state. This is compared to “passing ”out which may be due to a heart arrhythmia).
*.Unexplained swelling in one foot as if rat has been injured but you cannot recall when the injury may have occure!
* Lethargic or wants to sleep and keep eyes closed more than usual.
*Labored breathing ( appears as if using abdominal muscles to help breathe). *Hangs head over cage shelf when laying down, or props head, in an attempt to make breathing easier. Also, they seem to relocate to the highest level. I have had alot of my rats act this way for a few months before they get really sick!
I believe I posted about this a few months ago but it is worth repeating.
*hind limb paresis is not uncommon with this heart condition.
* Weight loss
| Quote: |
| Although weight loss may in fact be gradual for both hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathies, the owner may not detect this. It may be viewed as a sudden dramatic weight loss almost like they dropped weight overnight! |
The signs of cardiomyopathy may appear to mimic respiratory illness, however, death may occur suddenly. 
PRINCESS JACKY
Meet Jacky, owned by Gina of NJ. This lovely little girl lost her life to cardiac disease that did not start to show signs until the end of life. It happened so suddenly following a respiratory infection, as described above. After a few panic attacks, she passed away in the arms of her owner, breaking her heart as well as the hearts of those that knew her, including my heart as well. Sleep well, Princess Jacky. 
This picture was taken just a few days before Jacky passed away. She looked like she was perfectly healthy, which is something that can happen when dealing with heart disease.
CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE
Many of the signs listed above also pertain to CHF but here are a few more that are different:
*Swelling in limb(s) and feet, or weight gain may be seen due to fluid retention.
Little to no appetite.
*Cool, pale extremities (ears,feet,tail) due to poor circulation.
*A noticeable sign with CHF is cyanosis (a blue tinge due to lack of oxygen) of scrotum, toes/feet and tip of tail. This is often a late sign.
I have seen this alot too, sadly.
*May show anxious behavior when breathing becomes harder, like they are not willing to be held or stay in one place.
*Dark (concentrated) urine.
****** Almost all of the signs posted in rats may mimic a respiratory infection as I stated earlier!
Diasnosis includes xray although at first the way the heart appears doesnt always show changes in the early stages. With x-ray’s, the presence of lung consolidation or Pleural Effusion (fluid in chest) can actually cloud the vision of the heart and cannot be viewed easily. Ultrasound can be used but again this requires a real exotic vet equipped with the right size equipment for proper diagnosis.
Blood work (blood chemistry) should also be drawn. Checking the electrolytes can reflect hyponatremia (low sodium) due to water retention in CHF.
There are some good drugs out there that can help give back a good quality of life to your rat for many more months to come regardless of age:
Enalapril, Digoxin and atenolol are three very good drugs that are used safely in rats once heart disease has been properly diagnosed by a vet, and they have been used with success in giving back the rat his quality of life, even adding many more months on to his life again!
Keeping the rat in a one level cage with food and water near their sleeping quarters will help them so they dont have to travel far for it while waiting for the meds to work. Regardless, the disease wont go away but can be controlled with proper meds and diet low in fats and sodium as instructed by your Vet.
Dont ask Smokey how he got in this position. Hes comfy, he doesnt care!!
Smokey lost his life to heart disease Feb 9, 2010.
He will be sadly missed by his owner, Bree of Illinois
Smokey lost his life to heart disease Feb 9, 2010.
He will be sadly missed by his owner, Bree of Illinois
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Lung Disease
Lung Disease
Signs of lung disease can also mock pneumonia or respiratory infection due to mycoplasmosis pulmonis, which is often the cause of lung disease. If you have not read the page on mycoplasmosis yet, please read it either before reading this page or read it after you read this page so it makes more sense.
Mycoplasmosis
Anyhow, here are signs that your rat is having problems breathing. Some people over look these signs, often thinking their rat is just acting weird or scared about something. Sometimes by the time you figure out the rat is sick, its too late, and your sweet rat has a panic attack and dies in your arms. You wonder what in the heck just happened. This may help you understand what you just witnessed:
A rat with lung disease may have one or several of the following symptoms. They do NOT have to be in order:
- Wheezing/coughing
- Congestion in the chest or even in the nose
- Labored breathing (sides sinking in when breathing)
- Rapid breathing
- Gasping/open mouth breathing
- Panic attacks, running around the cage frantically
- Biting wires of the cage, wanting out of the cage to be held yet still cannot seem to be comforted
- Lethargy/becoming tired easy
- Loss of appetite.
- Lack of interest in play time- total change in behavior, not acting like he or she normally does. No energy
- Hanging head over ledges or climbing to the top of toys or hidey houses and hanging head over the sides.
- Feet, tail and muzzle turning blue to purple. This means lack of oxygen and is a sign your rat needs oxygen right away.
- Veins in ears may be more prominent which also means lack of oxygen.
- Limbs may be cold to the touch.
- Rat doesnt want back in cage, wants held close to you
- Has had previous respiratory infection.
Ok so now you have gone over the signs of lung problems and sadly, you have either had rats that have had many of the signs or you know someone that has a rat that is going through this now. Not only do you need a good vet that knows about rat care but you need to be prepared to get your rat help to relieve his or her suffering because this is a very scary illness for your fur baby. Imagine not being able to breathe. I myself have a mild heart problem where my heart will race at times and there were times before I was put on the proper medication that simply going across the street to my mail box would have me out of breathe. In order not to go into a panic attack I would talk to myself telling myself it will be ok in a minute. I would squat down (helps to get oxygen going better) and take in slow deep breaths before it was all over. I am not on a good inhaler (Advair) and my life is so much better. I can totally feel for these rats and since they do not have the same thoght process as we do, they cannot reason with themselves and talk themselves through a breathing attack like I can. They can only panic, which makes it a thousand times worse.
Rats with lung disease often die during a panic attack and it is so devastating to watch. I once told someone that they do NOT want to see their rat die this way and this is when I worked the ER clinic. I told them to please consider euthanasia since her lungs were very damaged and one had collapsed. I nearly begged her to put her rat down but she opted for medication that we told her may not help at all. A few days later she brought her rats body in to us to send out to be cremated. It was the same little girl that had the collapsed lung. She turned to me, tears filled up in her eyes and said that I was right and she watched her rat panic and finally die in her arms after a terrible struggle to breathe. She said the images haunt her and every time she shuts her eyes she sees her little rats big wide terrified eyes. She said she hopes her furbaby forgives her. I told her that she knows that she only wanted to try to help her live and knows she did not mean to let this happen....even though of course we all know rats do not think this eloborate, its nice to think they do. Bottom line is this: If treatment fails, please do NOT prolong their life thinking that they will simply pass away in their sleep. Death from respiratory distress is brutal. You do not want to put your rat through this, trust me. This in no way means that there is not hing that can be done to help, because there is plenty that your vet and you can do to help make your rat comfortable and have a good life despite having lung disease.
The first thing that needs to be done is to have xrays taken so the vet can ascess the damage. If its not too bad, it can be treated with proper medications.
The following drugs can be used to help a rat with lung disease:
- Lasix, which rids the lungs of fluids that may have built up.
- Bronchodilators, such as albuterol, which opens the rats airways. A nebulizer should be used for this but it can be made for oral use too. Given orally, a bronchodilator will dilate the bronchi in the lungs and help with breathing just the same as using the nebulizer.
- Steroids, which will reduce inflammation of the bronchi and will aid in helping the rat breathe easier. This helps alot and can make a huge difference in the rat right away.
- Steroids that I prefer are corticosteroid such as prednisone or dexamethasone. I prefer dexamethasone.
- Antibiotics for life. This helps ward off infection and since steroids may compromise the immune system, the antibiotics are a back up. Baytril should be used as the drug of choice and given once a day for life.
- Oxygen therapy. You can actually set up an aquarium and have oxygen piped in to keep your rat in it while the medications start to work on her. The vet can prescribe it for you and you can go to any medical supply place and rent an oxygen generator.
Oxygen
Kidney disease
Kidney Disease in rats
What is kidney disease?Next to tumors and respiratory infections, more rats die from kidney failure more than anything else.
The rats kidneys lose their ability to cleanse and filter waste from the rats body as the rat ages. The tiny filters, known as glomeruli, are the filters that blood passes through that rid the body of waste products and protein metabolis and they are excreted into the urine. They also balance the electrolytes in the rats body as well.
Over a period of time, the kidneys are subjected to some abuse mainly from infection or poor nutrition, especially diet that is high in protein, and thus in turn the filters needed to cleanse the body of waste or destroyed. The bad news is, signs and symptoms of kidney disease are not present until the disease has advanced considerably and resources to treat rats with kidney disease are limited as it is.
Signs and symptoms
The rat may drink an abnormal amount of water and not seem to urinate as much as he should be with the higher amounts of water consumed. Another big sign is weight loss, sometimes over long periods of time that it doesnt become noticed until you can feel the rats spine and ribs!! The rat may also lose his appetite and become anemic and may have loose stools. Elevated blood pressure is also noted.
When the vet examines the rat, he will be able to feel the kidneys and diseased kidneys usually feel hard and have an abnormal shape which may indicate scarring of the kidneys.
While its not the best thing in the world for our rats to have, kidney disease doesnt have to be the end of their life either. Treatment including changes in the diet can help increase kidney function. The vet may want to give the rat fluids intravenously *yes it can be done using a 30 gage needle* or the fluid can be given subcutaneously. This extra fluid will carry the waste out when the rat urinates, and this is the closest form of ratty dialysis that can occur for them, at least at this time anyhow. The vet may also put the rat on a diuretic, furosemide, or lasix, and this will also help increase urine flow to rid the body of wastes as well. Anabolic steroids, vitamin b-complex to increase red blood cell production and to increase appetite, and even antacids to help remove excess phosphorus from the body may be used.
Diet
As I have said before, protein in the rats diet should be right around 15% because of what it can do to the kidneys as the rat ages.
Now that disease has occured, it is time to help take the load off of the healthy kidney and decrease the amount of protein-wastes that the kidneys process. The rat will be put on a special diet that is low in protein and phosphorus and whos fats and carbs produce more energy and thus in turn does not put more work on the kidneys. A diet that is right around 8% protein is essential. This diet will decrrease fibrosis and inflammation of the kidneys. Included in this diet will also be omega-6 and omega-3 . Please scroll down for an ideal diet for rats with kidney disease!
Prevention
It is important to provide your rat with the proper diet from the time they are weaned. Learning about proper diet that is low in proteins and fats are very important in order to avoid kidney disease later in life. Although it may be controlled to an extent, it cannot be cured and kidney disease is progressive. It is important to try to avoid it in the first place. Please read the page on proper diet to get your rat started on a healthy diet.
Rats and a healthy diet
Kidney friendly rat diet
Miss Skye says YUM!
This diet was established by Alison Campbell in cooperation with animal dietitians and veterinarians and submitted by Nicole of the UK
**This diet is not recommended for rats under 1 year unless they suffer from kidney disease
Dry mix:
- Alpha herbal rabbit food (or any other good quality base mix that is high in copper and preferably low in proteine and phosphorus)> approx 20% by volume
- Hills prescription diet canine (this is a dog kibble designed to support chronic renal failure in dogs. it is low in phosphorus and restricted in protein [egg based]; it could be replaces by any similar product available in the us)> approx 20% by volume
- Egg noodles (uncooked) [can be mixed with small amounts of uncooked pasta but not substituted completely with this]> approx 15% by volume
- Broken up low salt or salt free rice cakes> approx 15% by volume
- Cereal (broken up shredded wheat/ corn flakes/ rice crispies or similar [avoid bran flakes or wholegrain cereal for the kidney friendly diet as they are high in phosphorus; check phosphorus levels on the cereal before deciding to use it])> approx 30% by volume
This dry mix makes up about 60% of the daily food
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Wet food
This makes enough for twelve rats, can be frozen in portions and defrosted as needed:
- 250 grams of nature diet lite wet dog food (a low fat and relatively low protein wet dog food with no artificial additives or animal derivatives, can be substituted with similar product available in the us)
Mixed with:
- 1 teaspoon of flax oil
- 2 crushed rennie tablets (binds phosphates in food due to the calcium carbonate)
- 1 crushed vitamin b complex tablet (helps with anemia associated with kidney disease)
- 1 crushed glucosamine and chondroitin tablet (may help spinal degeneration in older rats)
Additional foods (to be fed in small quantities only):
- Fresh veg such as kale, brokkoli and pak choi (these are relatively high in phosphorus but their nutritional values are thought to outweigh this downside > kale is the best choice as it is high in copper and lowest in phosphate out of the listed veg)
Additional info (feeding this diet to older rats without obvious kidney problems):
- The amount of dog kibble can be reduced to 10% of the overall dry mix and the base mix (e.g. alpha herbal or similar) increased to 30%
- The supplements to the wet food mix do not need to be included in a kidney friendly diet that is fed as a preventative measure
A lot of people also use ipakitine (a product used for cats with renal failure) for their rats with obvious kindey problems. this can be purchased online (you can probably google it for availability in the us). the recommended dose is 1 gram per day.
