SNEEZY RAT’S LOOKING SAD
Q
My daughter’s three-year-old rat looks off-colour to me. He occasionally sneezes and his coat looks rough. The tears at the corner of his eyes are blood-tinged. Should I make an appointment with our vet?
A
You don’t mention how old your daughter is but, if she is very young, it would be a good idea to warn her that her rat is now getting on a bit and the signs could be serious. Between two and three years is considered a normal lifespan for a pet rat.
General “off-colour” signs are important and I do recommend you visit your vet.
A rough, unkempt coat, and when the tips of the hair begin to stick together, suggest that a rat is unwell.
Occasional sneezing is one of the early signs of pneumonia, which is a very common problem with rats as they approach old age.
The blood-tinged tears you mention are also very significant.
The red tinge is not due to blood, but rather a red-coloured pigment that is produced by the harderian gland in the third eyelid.
Many other pets – cats and dogs, for example – have a third eyelid, but I have only seen red tears in rats.
It is a sign that something is wrong, usually an underlying disease or sometimes due to stress, which you might have been unaware of.
Your vet will look for said diseases and, if pneumonia is suspected, will advise on ventilation in its living space, ensuring a dust-free, smokefree and constantly warm environment. Antibiotics might help your rat in the short-term, too.
QMy 10-year-old cat, Snowy, has developed a slow-growing ulcer on the lower eyelid in the past month. My vet suspects a type of cancer caused by exposure to sunlight and has made an appointment with a specialist. Fortunately, Snowy is insured. What do you think?
AI assume Snowy is a white cat, or the area surrounding the eyelids is white in colour. This, as your vet suspects, is probably a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
They tend to occur most commonly in white cats, or in white areas that lack the protective pigment melanin. SCC is a slowly erosive tumour that does not often spread to other parts of the body until later, but returns if not completely removed. It develops due to skin damage caused by ultraviolet light from the sun.
It is not surprising that many affected cats like to lie in the sun.
A common site is at the tips of white ears. I have operated on many here with good results and no recurrence. Squamous cell carcinoma The other less common often occurs in white cats sites for SCC are the tip of the nose and the lower eyelid. My response was to refer them to a colleague with more expertise in their treatment if at all possible. There are various possibilities for the nose tumours, which include radiation therapy. The eyelid tumours can be excised by an ophthalmology surgeon, which will usually require some intricate plastic surgery.
Your vet has made an early referral, which will hopefully result in a cure.