In Sickness and in Health
I would like to point out that no one at Rat Planet is qualified in any way, other than through experience, to offer medical advice. If you are in any way worried about your rat's health - seek veterinary attention straight away.
Although rats are hardy creatures, there will almost certainly come a time when you may need to nurse them through an illness or ailment. As a rat grows older, he may show signs of any of a number of ailments associated with the elderly, although this is not always the case. There are many predisposing factors associated with illness and disease, which include genetics, general health, diet and environment. As is the case in humans, the longer a rat lives the more likely he is to present symptoms of disease or ill health. Longevity brings with it a number of health problems. Respiratory disease and tumors are by far the most common ailments found in rats and may become more prevalent as the rat ages. The average life-span of a pet rat is 2 - 3 years, and 18 months of age is generally thought of as the cross over between adulthood and elderly.
Again, as with humans, each rat is different and whereas one rat may appear to be slowing down and begin to decline at a particular age, another may show no signs at all of growing old, even if they are from the same litter. We all age at different rates, and rats are no exception to this rule, but a healthy immune system can go a long way towards preventing, or help fight against, many illnesses. We will cover some common ailments in this section, but you are advised to gather as much information as you can from various sources, whether on the Internet or from books, and never take chances with your rat's health. Always seek veterinary advice if you think your rat may be ill.
We all become ill at some time or other, and a healthy immune system can make a huge difference to the rate at which we recover. There are ways of boosting the immune system, and supplements that we can add to our rat's diet. The herbal remedy, Echinacea, can help boost the immune system when added to water or food. It has a rather bitter taste and you may need to flavour it with a little honey or juice. Add a few drops to food or water, along with a sweetener, and give it to your rats one week on and one week off. Garlic is also a great immunity builder and can be chopped, and sprinkled on food, or given in capsule form once a week. Personally, I despise the stuff. My rats all love it, however, and take great pleasure in snuffling my ear with whiskers stinking of garlic!
A healthy environment is essential for good health. Keep nests and cages clean and dry and free from ammonia. If you can smell your rat's wee, imagine how it smells to him. Ammonia from the wee can irritate the respiratory tract. If you smoke around your rats - stop! Only 15% of cigarette smoke is inhaled, the rest is dispersed into the atmosphere as 4,000 toxins and at least 40 known cancer causing substances. This is what your rats will be breathing. I used to smoke 20 cigarettes a day until I started keeping rats. I decided it wasn't fair on them, and it was the only way I managed to stop smoking!
Don't use aerosol sprays near your rats, and certainly not fly killer. Try and let some fresh air into the room but keep your rats out of draughts.
Whereas the environment deals with what goes on around your rat, diet plays its part inside the body, and a healthy, low fat, balanced diet really can make a big difference to your rat's health and general well being. We talk about diet in much greater depth on Rat Planet's Feeding Your Rat page.
If your rat becomes sick, you will be the person he depends on to nurse him and administer medication, which can be tricky at times. If the medicine is in liquid form, you can mix it with a drop of olive oil, jam, ice cream or anything your rat prefers, and feed off a spoon or your finger. Tablets should be crushed with the back of a spoon and the powder divided into the number of required doses. Cover the remaining doses with cling film and store in the fridge. Powder from tablets or capsules can be mixed with a little jam or any of your rat's favourite food and offered on a spoon or your finger.
Some products that we always find useful for administering medicines are: olive oil, Flaxseed oil, yogurt, butter, and tinned custard! My little buck, Draco, suffered with heart and lung problems for most of his life and in his last 4 months would only eat Ambrosia tinned custard. It certainly didn't seem to do him any harm at that stage in his life, and it always got his meds into him!
