Rattie

Before anyone jumps on the bandwagon and says 'it's just porphyrin', no it's not. He's bleeding rather a lot on and off from just one eye and just one nostril. I am 100% sure that it is NOT porphyrin and the vet agrees. I've seen porphyrin, I've seen blood and I know this is the latter.

He was booked in for an X-ray and examination under anesthetic a little while ago, but I had to cancel it because his health seemingly began to decline and I was concerned he wouldn't have survived the procedure. Rather than his health picking up on some respiratory treatment from the vet he is now rather poorly and is only getting sicker. The bleeding also seems to have worsened.

He had a suspected stroke or head injury a few weeks back and started bleeding shortly thereafter despite being mostly perky and cheery until today. There's been no sign of it stopping and today he is rather ill with respiratory-type symptoms. The eye on the paralysed side is totally unresponsive and dead, only leaking blood suggesting that something is still going on in there.

I am taking him to the vet tomorrow, so no need for a reminder on that. I'm just looking for some ideas on why he's still bleeding like that.

Does a stroke cause bleeding sometimes? If he had a head injury as the vet suggested, could he have broken some blood vessels or something?

Since my rat Edgar has had a stroke recently, I've been a little worried that he is over-vigorously grooming the paralysed/unresponsive side of his face. The nose and eye on that side both bleed fairly regularly, perhaps due to his forceful grooming.

Tonight whilst carrying him downstairs to investigate the house I noticed that his eye on the affected side was an odd shape, sort of squared off almost. Closer inspection showed some kind of bump on his eye in the form of a raised white line. The eye also seems rather dull and almost dry-looking at times.

I am not too worried about his vision, as he has never really been able to see too well anyway because of his colouration, but does the eye pose any other health risks to him if it IS damaged?

Is it likely that he accidentally scratched it during grooming or could it actually be a cataract? How do I tell the difference?

I don't want to have his eye removed/operated on as it is a stressful surgical procedure upon an animal that isn't really young any more, but if it's likely to cause him serious harm then I might have to consider it.

I'm looking for peoples' opinions before I take him to the vets about it so that I can get an idea of what we're faced with and what to say to the vet in the first place, but I'll certainly be taking him so there's no need to remind me to do that.

Since my male rat recently lost his cage buddy, I've seriously been considering collecting together funds (when I get a new job) and getting him some companionship. However, I have some things to consider first:

1) He's NOT castrated, living with an unspayed female isn't an option.

2) He recently had a stroke and has reverted to eating mostly soft food.

3) He's almost two, so he's a very elderly chap.

Could he accept another rat? Would a male bully him? Could he happily live with a spayed female? Is it better to pair him with another elderly gent/lady?

He's been living alone since his cage-mate died as I am unable to get any more rodent buddies for him. I recently noticed he has taken on the EXACT smell of a mens public toilet even though I clean him out daily, rub him with grooming wipes and even bath him (he has fleas and his shampoo kills them). His little cage smells and so does his fur, why is this? He can't be peeing on himself, he's too fat to bend like that. His diet has changed recently after his stroke/brain damage, he has gone off dry food and is eating instant mashed potato, apple and anything else nice/suitable I give him. Besides a drooping side of his mouth he is otherwise healthy and happy, trotting around and playing, his stroke wasn't very severe....or it didn't seem to be, maybe the stroke and the smell are linked somehow.

I'm looking to start taking my pet rat out on short trips with me (little walks or very short drives) and I want to get him a harness for added security:

I DO NOT INTEND TO LET HIM ACTUALLY WALK ON THE GROUND. I just want to make sure he doesn't jump onto the floor and wander off or hurt himself.

If people have had rat leads ect I'd like to know brands and how the rat got along with it. Just as an additional note, he is a very fat male....so the harness needs to have some give in it/be adjustable so that he can fit comfortably.

Presently getting other rats is not an option because my rat is ill and because I don't have the time or money to give them the care they need, I can only keep him.

Recently my rat (Edgar) became ill and the vet told us he'd had a stroke, head trauma or there was a tumor in his head. Shortly after the symptoms of the 'stroke' appeared, his rat-friend died and he was left alone, although they had been parted before then because Edgar had been bullying.

He still runs about, eats and drinks....but he sleeps a lot and I'm thinking this is either because he is grieving or because of the 'stroke'. How can I prevent him from getting lonely without dragging him out of the cage all the time to be held? He does enjoy being cuddled, a lot more since the 'stroke', but I don't want to stop him sleeping.

Would sitting by his cage and talking to him help? Is it alright to wake him up occasionally for cuddles?

My pet rat's face seems to have swollen up (although it's hard to detect because he's fat), his eye is closing on that side and leaking blood (No, it's NOT porphyrin, I am 100% postive it is not) and his nose is also bleeding and is looking a little blue. His whiskers on the affected side DO NOT move whatsoever, whereas the other side is active. He lost his friend two days ago, but was ill like this before then.

When I first noticed there was something wrong I saw his mouth was lopsided and his tongue was poking only out of the unaffected side; when holding him on that first day, he leaked blood onto my clothes and arms from somewhere on his head (eyes, nose, mouth, I am not sure).

Recently he's also become more cuddly, bruxing and boggling a lot more. He is still eating but is less enthusiastic about solid food and his waste looks odd, more like rabbit pellets than rat. He is also scratching his ear a lot.