Rats
Vaccinations
We do not currently recommend vaccinations for rats.
The main disease risk to your pet are other rats, particularly those in pet shops as infectious disease is more common here. If you go to a pet shop please do not touch any, even though they are very, very cute! Wild mice and rats could also carry disease so do make sure your house is rodent proof.
Only let your precious pet come into contact with other animals that you know to be healthy.
Think twice before going to an animal party or show.
If you bring a new pet into your house it is VERY important to quarantine, or separate the new pet in a different room for at least 2 weeks [and preferably after a vet check].
Health Checks
A NEW PET Congratulations !
We hope your new family member will bring you much joy and happiness
We recommend a health check shortly after bringing your new pet home.
Bring in details of all foods and any supplements or medicines you may be using.
Collect samples of urine and faeces from that morning if you can.
Take videos of any behaviours that you are worried about or confused by.
Isolate from the rest of your animal family at home (that means do not introduce or let them play together) until after the first check up and the vet has assessed the pet as being healthy.
If you do wish to introduce then please ask us how and when this should be done.
At the ‘Health Check’ we will perform a full physical examination, and we will be assessing your new pet’s overall condition, the muscle and fat levels, hydration and checking for anaemia.
We will be paying particular attention for parasites & for signs of any infectious diseases. We will be focusing on gut function and on the diet, whether is it appropriate and the amounts suitable. We may not perform a full dental check on young animals if the incisors look normal.
Once we have examined your pet hopefully we will have found nothing seriously wrong, and we will then make whatever recommendations we think are necessary for the diet and care of the pet. If there is time we will talk to you about handling and training as this is the right age to be teaching your pet !
Annual Health Check
Once your new pet is settled in and any health problems have been solved, then we recommend a yearly general health check.
Please ensure you know the brands of foods your pet is on, and any supplements or long term medications.
Bring urine and faeces from that morning if you can. We would also like to see a photo of the cage set up.
At this check we will assess body condition, muscle and fat levels, hydration and check for anaemia. We will check the eyes, ears, and perform the very important dental examination. We will feel the lymph nodes, palpate the abdomen for any abnormalities and listen to the heart and lungs.
We will search for parasites, and examine the skin, and look for any pressure sores or ‘sore hocks’ on the feet and also assess the nail length.
Once we have examined your pet hopefully we will have found nothing seriously wrong, and we will then make whatever recommendations we think are necessary for the diet and care of the pet.
Geriatric Health Checks
Rats have short life span with the reported life span being 2-3 ½ years, A pet rat survey in UK showed an average lifespan of only 21.6 months. Once your rat is older, or ‘geriatric’ we advise moving to checks every six months as it is safer. (6 months for a rat is roughly equal to 15 years for a human.)
We believe this ‘geriatric’ to be over 18 months although just like humans, animals age at different rates! If you are worried or would like a check every 3 months, that’s fine with us. We do understand that many of our owners worry very much.
At this check we will assess body condition, muscle and fat levels, hydration and check for anaemia. We will check the eyes, ears, and a dental examination. We will feel the lymph nodes, palpate the abdomen for any abnormalities and listen to the heart and lungs.
We will check the whole body carefully as growths are one of the most common problems in older rats.
We will search for parasites, and examine the skin, and look for any pressure sores or ‘sore hocks’ on the feet and also assess the nail length.
We will also be paying particular attention to the ‘gait’ or movement of the pet, and the flexibility as mobility problems become more common in the older animal. As they are often too nervous to move freely in here a video of walking and running, and self grooming can be very helpful.
We may suggest taking a blood test every 6-12 months to monitor the blood cells, and organ function. We usually collect the blood from a vein in the tail, we use a small needle and collect about 3 drops of blood, and it should be over in a few seconds. We often give some anaesthetic gas and oxygen as it makes this quicker and easier.
Once we have examined your pet hopefully we will have found nothing seriously wrong, and we will then make whatever recommendations we think are necessary for the diet and care of your older rat.
Nutritional Advice
The wild rat lives on a diet of anything he can find, however we do not recommend a diet of dropped French fries and fish balls.
The best diets are those that have been specifically designed for rats- such as lab rat food or Mazuri Rat and Mouse diet. These can be hard to find though, and if not fed since the rat is young then may be difficult for the rat to adjust to. Seed & cereal mixes are a reasonable choice as long as the rat is not overfed them. If they are overfed they will pick out all the tastiest high fat seeds first. You must not keep adding more food into the bowl as your rat will carry it away and hide the not-so-delicious stuff for later – but eat the favourite straight away! Feed a restricted volume 2 x a day – a large teaspoonful morning & night should be plenty. Offer a mix of several different vegetables and fruits every day – we suggest 5 types, and try to vary as much as possible.
For example Monday – Broccoli, cucumber,pumpkin, strawberry, apple.
Tuesday Sweetcorn, carrot, choi sum, tomato, orange.
Vegetables may be cooked or raw. A small amount of dry pasta is good for keeping the teeth short.
Remember any diet changes MUST be slow and gentle. Upsetting the gut causes bacterial imbalances. Please take a week or two to gradually introduce a new vegetable or a new brand of pellets. Rats are reluctant to change, and it is important to get them onto a good quality pellet plus the missed veg/fruit when they are still young.
One of the major health problems we see is obesity from loving owners over-feeding and under-exercising.
Husbandry Advice
Water
24 hour access is essential. A sipper bottle is best. We believe Hong Kong tap water is safe, but of course you may boil it first if you prefer. Do not change water abruptly (i.e. to a bottled water) as it may taste different and your rat may not drink it. We have seen animals dehydrated or in gut stasis for reasons such as the water sipper ball getting stuck, and because the animal did not like the taste of the new water. Rats do like to play in water and floating a few peas in a shallow tray of water ( like a painting tray) will give them lots of fun – and make lots of mess !
Cage
Size is important. We advise at least 45x 60 cm 2 floor space per rat.
The floor of the cage should be solid, not wire, as wire may cause ulceration of their feet.
If you leave a corner of the cage with wire, many rats will use that corner for the toilet.You may also put a special toilet in.
Of course you must keep the cage clean and dry. Newspaper may be used to cover the base as the inks are soya based and non toxic. You should then use bedding such as hay or paper bedding like care fresh. We don’t like woodchips here as they can be dusty, irritant and even poisonous.
A hide box in the corner will help keep ratty feeling safe. A solid wheel will help with exercise.
Several layers, hammocks, swings, climbing ropes, tubes and boxes will keep them active and playing. All surfaces should be solid.
Friends
We would like all rats to have at least one companion as they are a very social species. Bonded rats will groom each other, talk to each other and play together. They can be kept in larger groups as long as they are “single sex”.
Having a friend or three will make all those hours in a cage, waiting for you to come home go quicker.
A young rat should take quickly to a companion, but adults may not and they may fight and cause injuries. Please ask us during a consultation how best to introduce your adult pet to a potential companion.
Desexing
We recommend chemical desexing of female rats rather than surgical, and are happy to discuss this in consultation. We would desex a male rat to allow a pair to live together without breeding, although we do recommend same sex pairs.
Hospitalization
We have a ward dedicated to our exotic patients who like warmth, such as rats, reptiles and birds. It was designed by our vets to keep these special animals as relaxed and comfortable as possible during their stay here.
This ward is kept warm to 25-30 ‘C degrees to keep them comfortable. The cats and dogs which are potential predators (and therefore very scary) are kept in separate wards out of the sight and smell of these nervous creatures.
We try to keep it calm and quiet in this ward and most animals settle down quickly.
We have a wide range of pellets, and vegetables available to tempt the appetite, but if you would like to pack a little lunch box of the home foods you are very welcome. If necessary we will support feed with a liquid food.
You may also bring in your pet’s own water bottle too.
We have a wonderful nursing staff, all with British and Australian qualifications, who are very experienced with the care and handling of these nervous creatures. This is particularly important when they are not eating and need support fed, as many of our sick patients do.
Preventative Care
Parasites are rare. The main health problems we see are respiratory disease, obesity and growths.
Weight Monitoring
Many of the pets we see become overweight as they mature. They have an easy and comfortable life with food available every day and often not enough exercise.
If you feel that your little darling is overweight (or if the vet tells you this!) you are welcome to make an appointment for a ‘Weight Consultation’ with one of our veterinarians.
The vet may also discuss this and recommend a weight loss diet during a health check or consultation and give you advice on the right combination of foodstuff for weight loss for your pet as well as how to encourage exercise.
The vet will set a target weight & a time span to lose this weight over.
Losing weight too fast is not healthy, and as these animals are much smaller than us, we may plan for them to loose a few grams per week.
Once the diet plan has been set we will then be happy to make free “weight monitoring” checks for you to follow up, usually every month or two months, and these will be with one of our British Vet nurses or our Australian trained Vet Assistants.
It can be very rewarding to see a little fattie regaining a slim healthy shape and becoming more active and flexible!
Enrichment
Rats are active, intelligent animals that really enjoy and need enrichment. They are social animals so a companion is very important for them. If not you must spend time every day playing & interacting with your pet and providing a variety of different enrichments.
They are very keen on their food so a wide variety of vegetables will keep them happy. Make a foraging tray which you can fill with pieces of cardboard or old hay (hay that the best bits may have already been eaten but is not dirty or mouldy) and hide their vegetables in here so they need to search for them.
They are inquisitive and like exploring so let them out of the cage every day to explore, making sure there are no electrical cables they can chew on. A big pile of boxes and tunnels will be a castle for them. Provide them with a hide box for when they need to sleep.
Always offer them chew toys made out of safe woods so they always have something to nibble on.