Many rats start to lose feeling in their back legs as they advance in age. You can sometimes see the signs of hind leg degeneration as early as 2 years old.
Sometimes, it progresses into total paralysis. This is more common in males, but can happen in females too. This might happen slowly, quickly, or not at all. Just keep an eye on your little buddy and consider how to accommodate their changing abilities.
Thankfully, hind leg degeneration normally doesn’t cause rats much pain, and they usually find ways around it. Rats can potentially live quite a long time after developing hind leg degeneration, with some extra care.
Here we’ll cover the signs of hind leg degeneration (as well as some other things with similar symptoms), as well as care for rats with HLD, diet and cage design considerations.
Early Signs of Hind Leg Degeneration
You will probably notice these signs of hind leg degeneration early on. They may be subtle at first:
- Dragging their tail along the ground instead of keeping it lifted as they walk.
- Walking on flat feet instead of tip toes.
- Walking with their feet splayed out to the sides. (Rats with obesity will often do this too.)
- They may still sit up on their hind legs to eat, etc. but fall over.
- Their movements are a bit more awkward and lumbering in general.
Advanced Hind Leg Degeneration
Sometimes, hind leg weakness can progress into:
- Loss of balance
- Obvious paralysis of the hind legs
- They lose the ability to sit on haunches
- May completely lose feeling in feet and legs
- Unable to scratch themselves with their hind legs
- They drag themselves along on their belly with their legs behind them
- Some rats may stop moving around and prefer to lay in one place
- They lose muscle in their back end
HLD vs. Neurological symptoms
As the name suggests, hind leg degeneration affects the hind legs. If your rat seems to have other symptoms, your vet might want to check them for neurological problems:
- Falling over when they walk (especially if it came on suddenly, this might be a sign of a tumor instead)
- Trouble holding things in their front paws (another sign of a tumor)
- Walking around in circles (could be an ear infection or tumor)
These conditions do need treatment from a vet as soon as possible, because they can be treated with medication.
Caring for Rats with HLD
For early HLD, you may want to just try to keep them active as long as possible, while being cautious about potential falls. Rats are extremely adaptable and will usually keep trying to get around to the best of their ability.
Talk to your vet about whether your rat might be in pain. Often vets will give them a little pain medication that can help keep them active longer.
If your rat has total hind leg paralysis, they will probably need your daily help with grooming. Try to move them around a few times a day to keep them comfortable, and make sure they have easy access to food and water. Give them something especially soft to lay on, like a soft bedding or piece of fabric.
Normally, rats with HLD can stay with their other cage mates, as long as they aren’t getting bullied, until they are completely paralyzed.
Even when completely paralyzed, try to give them supervised time with other ratties during the day.
As always, monitor them for signs of other common health problems, pain or discomfort. If you suspect your rat may be in pain, take them to your vet for a checkup.
Diet & Supplements
Glucosamine chondroitin is a good supplement. This supplement is used in humans as well as dogs to help protect the joints. Some rat owners (and one article on RMCA) have reported that it can slow down the progression of the disease. It also helps reduce pain. It’s best to give it to your rat as soon as you notice any early signs of hind leg degeneration.
Debbie Ducommon recommended B vitamins – especially B12 – for rats older than a year and a half. They are good for HLD as well as respiratory infections, which are extremely common especially in older rats.
If your rats have trouble accessing the food dish, you may need to separate them from the other rats during feeding time so that they can happily eat without someone stealing their food.
Continue giving older rats hard foods as long as they can still eat them, before switching to softer foods. It helps them keep their teeth in good shape.
Help with Grooming
Rats normally use their back legs to keep their face and ears clean. Rats with advanced hind leg degeneration may need your help with grooming and little face scratches!
- Check on them 2-3 times a day to help keep them clean. Morning, lunch at night is a great schedule. Checking them more often wont cause them any harm and keeps them from having to sit in their pee for too long, which will irritate their skin.
- If your rat has total paralysis, use a wet wash cloth to keep their hind end, back feet, and belly clean for them. If your rat doesn’t mind, you can also just dip them in a shallow bowl of warm water with a gentle soap, and dry them off well afterwards.
- Try a damp Q-tip for removing crusties around the eyes, porphyrin, and giving them little ear scritches. You can also help gently clean inside of their ears with the Q-tip.
- Trim a tiny bit off their back nails on occasion as they will keep growing with nothing to wear them down.
Cage Accommodations
- A lot of the time rats don’t realize that they’re disabled and will continue climbing.
- Limit the height they could potentially fall from.
- Provide deep, soft bedding.
- Provide them with easy ramps instead of ladders and shelves.
- Make sure they have food and water at every level at all times in case they get stuck there.
- Keeping the bedding fresh is even more important with paralyzed rats because they can’t move themselves away from their soiled litter as easily. Consider deep cleaning the cage more often and spot cleaning once or twice a day.
Wheelchairs for rats
I have noticed that some sellers make wheelchairs specifically for rats! (And other small animals too.) I can imagine that it would help them scoot around for quite a lot longer, keeping them happy and active. I haven’t tried them out myself, but I think they’re an awesome idea for free roam time!
Here’s one on Etsy: Wheelchair for Rats
Conclusion
It’s not easy watching our little friends get older. In all honesty, most rats don’t seem to be discouraged by hind leg degeneration and they usually find ways to continue enjoying rat stuff right up to the very end! I hope this article gave you some ideas of how to care for them and keep them comfortable.