PET RAT ADVICE NEEDED..update

my niece has a pet rat milly who is very ill with a terminal tumor. she has had the lump removed twice but both times this was extremely traumatic for milly who pulled out her stitches both times and had to have the wound stapled . after talking to the vet and many tears it was decided that if the lump came back a 3rd time it would not be in millys best interest to have it removed again . the lump is back with a vengence and it is only a matter of time before it takes millys life.
what i would like to know is would it be kinder to have milly pts or should we leave her. she has lost use in her back legs and has to drag herself about. she is still eating but has to lay on her side to eat. she loves to be cuddled and lays wrapped in a towel for hours on my neices knee licking her and snoozing. She is made comfy on towels in her cage and can easily get to water and food and she is cleaned twice a day.

are we cruel to leave her? what do you all think.

we dont want her last memories to be stressfull and filled with fear and pain . the last injection she had caused her to squeal horribly.
surely if she was in pain she wouldnt eat .

Angie
(know lots about rabbits but not much about rats)

Perhaps you could PM Pendragon, she knows lots about Rats.

It's really up to you, you will know when its Milly's time to go

Tumours in rats can grow at different rates. It seems like the general concensous is that unless a particular rat is showing signs of pain then it's probably not hurting. If the rat is oblivous to having the lump manipulated etc. then it probably doesn't hurt. I'm sure you know rats are happy to make their feelings felt if they don't like something.

I've had one rat with a large tumour which looked terrible to me but to see her running around, playing and eating obviously didn't bother her. It can be the same with backleg weakness.

What looks distressing to us doesn't necessarily bother a rat. They couldn't care less if they look funny.

Only you can tell when it's time to say good bye.

When you do have her put to sleep check that the vet gives her gas first - like an aneathetic before giving her the injection. Then it's very peaceful and just like going to sleep.

Best wishes,
Tamsin

i think the pts debate - when is the right time - goes for all pets. I have 2 ratties and so long as theya re happy and not in pain I wouldnt. but as soon as I see that thyre in pain and suffering that would be the time.
When i decided putting Buddy to sleep was the right decision I knew I was making the decision for him. If it was for me I wouldn't have out of all those selfish I dont want to lose him thoughts. But it is selfish and you must ask yourself what your pet would want.
Is she in pain, suffering, sad. Or is she lively eating well, no signs of pain..??

its a hard decision, but I am afraid its yours to make. Sounds like she is pretty bad to me but without seeing her its impossible to tell.
What was the vets advice

Big hugs with your decicion Its very hard. I hope your neice is ok too,

only you will know when the right time is im living one day at a time whith my dog who has caner we have been told up 6 mounths but he semes fine running a playing as useual

Sorry to hear about Milly - unfortunately tumours are very common in female rats.

I agree with all that Tamsin said. Rats are not like rabbits -they have amazing will to live and will carry on doggedly with life when a bunny would have given up.

Tumours rarely hurt them, although they are unsightly for us to look at. Very often the trauma of having them removed can be stressful for the rat, but most rats bounce back. As you already know, they do tend to recur and often the time comes when the vet will refuse to do any more operations because the rat is simply too frail and too old.

When this time comes, all you can do is make them comfortable and try to judge when the "right" time is. If you know your rat well, you will know. I recently lost an old girl, Persimmon, aged 2 years 7 months. She had a lump under one arm, nicknamed her "handbag", but this did not impede her in any way. She lost a great deal of weight as they often do (usually due to kidney failure) and in her last few days became skeletal. Yet, amazingly, she would still climb the front of the cage to see me, frail as she was. I made up my mind that when she looked depressed or couldn't climb any more, the time would be right for her.

The time never came, as she passed away in her sleep amongst her friends, granddaughters and great-granddaughters.

When my sister had an elderly dog approaching the end, the vet gave her a card to help measure quality of life. It was like a diary, and there were things like "moving normally" (arthritis etc), "eating", "drinking", "playing" - all normal things. Every day she had to tick (or cross) the relevant boxes, and over a period of weeks it was clear by looking at the card whether the dog's overall quality of life had decreased, as some things varied day to day. I thought it was a wonderful idea that could be used for any geriatric animals, and really help the owner to work out when the "right time" would be.

Hind leg paralysis is also another common thing in rats, and a long as they are carefully nursed and fed, they can go on for quite some time without losing their zest for life in other ways. So although to people who perhaps don't know rats it may sound hard to keep this little girl going, see how she goes, measure quality of life and pay special attention to her day-to-day attitude and "brightness". She will let you know.

I agree with others if it was just the tumour then she may be ok but the fact she has lost use of her back legs and is dragging herself aboutis awful Personally I couldn't watch my pet suffer like that and would have to have her PTS. I'm sorry she is poorly sounds like she has fought it for a long time tho

What a terrible situation to be in. I had to make that decision with Nougat (bunny). She looked terrible to me, but she was obviously still fighting, as her eyes were bright. At the very end though, she lost use of her legs, but her eyes went dull. It was that that told me. She died naturally at the vets, so that tells me she knew and I knew her time had come.
Only you can tell, as you know your pet best.

thank you all for your advice . pendragon im so glad your old lady died naturaly we would love milly to go like that she is so afraid of the vets taking her will have to be a last resort . one minite we think the time has come because she looks so pitiful then the next minite she is grabbing food from our hands and eating it with her usual gusto. we are so afraid of having her pts to save our suffering watching her rather than for her sake it is so hard to judge what she wants. she certainly has not given up and shows no sign of pain that we can tell . she is more affectionate than ever and spends loads of time in someones arms or on their knee.
Angie

One of my old rats Mischeif had tumours on her chest they got very big but didn't hinder her in any way and caused her no pain she was 3 and half when she died and she died at home with her friends XX

Im sure millie will be happy right to the end with the family that love her XXXXX

THANKS PHIL

poor milly doesnt look like she ll be here much longer. shes still eating and drinking enough to be comfortable but shes no energy at all. its awful waiting for her to go but shes still as affectionate as ever and just snuggles up and goes to sleep when my neice picks her up.
poor milly moo!

Hi im so sorry to hear about poor milly. After having a tumour myself i can (in a way) relate to how she must be feeling, her haemaglobin (red blood cells) level will be dropping quickly which is why she has no energy. It is a very tough descision to be made i would hate to be in your position. But i would say that you have to do what you feel is right for milly, not for you. Again im so sorry to hear about her.

awww im sorry to hear Milly isn't doing to well. thinking of you.

thanks
Angie