One of my three pet rats, Molly, died some time today or last night. She has been suffering the last few months with an inner ear infection, which is a fatal for rats. Andrea found her this afternoon at around 1630. She had Both of her legs had been chewed off by the other two rats. Thankfully though, there was very little blood or mess.

Anyway, rest in peace, Molly.

I had a pet rat when I was younger that I really loved. My condolences.

Wow, what nice rat-mates. Eating their pals feet.
Well, they are rats..but I would have never thought that rats eat other rats.

I'd be sad, but necrofeasting... ew.

Clearly, rats don't have friends. Sorry your pet died.

They're better than hamsters.

Oh god. The mental scars still itch.

Molly was the dickbiting one, right? Sucks to lose a pet, but no more dickbiting at least.

No Buffy was the dickbiting one.

Oh. Well then it's just sad with no upside other than the poor thing doesn't have to suffer through the infection anymore.

Sarn, you have only one option: burial at sea with fully military honour guard.

Goodnight sweet prince.

Wait - you said she'd been suffering from an inner ear infection for months?

Did you even go to a veterinarian? With mice, inner ear infections can be cured in like ten days with some simple antibiotics.

she was a rat and i talked to my friend whos mother is a vet. her mom said the antibiotics would only prolong her life for a few more months, it wouldnt cure it.

Why let it suffer for months? My God, don't you have a friend with a snake?

Maybe this is just me, but if I was dying of some condition I'd rather just be left in pain to die rather than be fed, still alive, to another creature.

Eaten to death > Diseased to death.

haha. funny, man. Actually we do have a friend that breeds snakes. That's how we rescued our 3rd rat. Did you know that story when you made that joke?

I can understand that sentiment but at least a snake could have eaten the entire creature and not just the feet thus saving another healthy creature from the same fate. It's very similar to the Obama health plan, actually.

You have no taste.

Or class it would seem.

/taps

I watched Ratatouille last night for the first time, and this thread makes me not feel so great about it...

I would have gotten a second opinion if I were you.

I spend a lot of time on a forum for pet mice, and in most cases, antibiotics cure it. There is a chance that they'll have balance problems after that because the infection affects the organ, but even with that, they can live.

I've asked around over there, because a lot of people have rats too, and they said there's no difference with treating rats.

Antibiotics are cheap, you know. It can never hurt to try.

I had 3 pet gerbils when I was a child. My parents told me that they ate Cheerios. However, they seemed to prefer the taste of flesh. I came home from school one day & there was only one left standing.

she said it was so severe she wouldnt have made it. it was as though she had narcolepsy. she would just fall asleep in the middle of walking sometimes.

That is the normal symptom. The head will drop or drag, they will drop on their side, or they will start walking in circles. This is because the balance organ in the inner ear is affected by the infection.

The only reason there could possibly be for it having no use is because you waited far too long with treatment. The earlier you treat it, the greater the chance it can be cured. Small animals like rats or mice need to be taken to a vet immediately within one or at the most two days of any sign of illness. It can even die of a simple cold virus if you don't do this.

Still, even after having been infected for a long time, antibiotics could have made a positive difference. There is no risk in applying it, the worst that will happen is that it has no effect. I'm sorry to say this but to me this doesn't sound like an advice an actual veterinarian would give.

except that from a strictly logistical standpoint, we'd have spent what, like $50 on a veterinarian visit for a $10 rat.
On the other hand if' i'd had your advice before, I'd might have wanted to give it a shot, but it's not like we can do anything about it now.

In my opinion if you decide to take pet animals then you have the responsibility to take care of them no matter what.

If you feel like saving an animal's life isn't worth spending 50 bucks then maybe you should ask yourself if you should be having pets at all.

That said, I'm really sorry for your loss.

My vet doesn't even charge a consult for small animals like rats or mice. He just gives me the antibiotics for a few bucks. Only thing I have to do is weigh the animal so he can determine the appropriate dose.