Chocolate test

[rattfan]

I've been having difficulty persuading my aged rat Nathanial to eat. It's a common problem with elderly rats, especially when they aren't well and have muscle weakness so they can't sit up and hold things in their hands in proper rat style. So Nat's been having potato, mashed up, baked beans, porridge, banana and so on along with regular rat mix/veges. Then someone made the suggestion that they can also have trouble with overgrown teeth. I try holding Nat over my head with one hand and pulling his lip down to inspect. Sounds easy, yes? "Just hold still, Nat, this won't take long."

"Ye gods, I'm being assaulted," says Nat and fights me off gamely. Ok, his arms aren't that weak. I never do get a clear look at the front teeth.

Still worried, I try out the chocolate biscuit test this evening. Nat seizes it, holds it down with one hand and chomps away.

Hopefully that means the teeth are okay!

Comments

[delicious-irony.livejournal.com]

That is so cute! I have this mental image of a game elderly rat shaking a walking stick at you 'young whippersnapper'...:P

My vet friend told me of the time someone brought a skinny rat into her clinic, saying it wasn't eating properly. When she inspected him, she found the owner hadn't given the poor thing anything to wear his teeth down on, so the teeth had not just overgrown, but grown down his gullet by about half an inch. She sedated him and clipped them back easily. I think she tried to take pics for an online 'can you believe this' vet forum.

So..Chocolate biscuits for the win!

[ratfan.livejournal.com]

Rats can usually keep their own teeth down by grinding them. This can look quite dramatic, especially with the eye-bulging that sometimes goes with it. So this rat must've had some other problem causing the teeth to grow extra fast or something? I know Nat grinds his teeth just fine; he does it just next to my ear when being petted. And a friend and I were able to get a proper look at the teeth finally and they were fine. He's just getting very fussy in his old age and perhaps just not wanting to eat the way a young and energetic rodent does.