Genetic neurological degeneration
The verdict is back on Moo, and it's bad. Very bad. She's got the same neurological degenerative disease Dr. Zoidberg had, and we have to put her to sleep. We're absolutely devastated.
[EDIT]: The emergency vet is going to consult with my regular vet tomorrow, since he's never seen this before, and my regular vet has seen this exactly once before - with Zoidberg. We're going to wait until tomorrow to put her down. I may offer my vet to donate Moo to him to do a necropsy, since this is so bloody rare and we've had it happen twice with two related rats.
Both times, the vets have reassured us that there was nothing we could have done to prevent this, or even see it coming. 48 hours ago, she was a bouncing silly rat, hiding between our moving boxes and running around with a steak bone longer then her.
The vet basically says Moo is not in pain - she just can't feel her paws properly right now. They are curled up in little fists, and she keeps trying to walk, but realizes that she can't. Then she looks down at her paws, flattens them out, and tries again.
We're going to keep her comfortable at home tonight, with a rich diet of Pedialyte, Nutrical, baby food, and treats. It seems to relax her when we pet her, so that's what we're going to do. And cry, cause we know we can't take her with us in 2 weeks when we move.
[EDIT]: The emergency vet is going to consult with my regular vet tomorrow, since he's never seen this before, and my regular vet has seen this exactly once before - with Zoidberg. We're going to wait until tomorrow to put her down. I may offer my vet to donate Moo to him to do a necropsy, since this is so bloody rare and we've had it happen twice with two related rats.
Both times, the vets have reassured us that there was nothing we could have done to prevent this, or even see it coming. 48 hours ago, she was a bouncing silly rat, hiding between our moving boxes and running around with a steak bone longer then her.
The vet basically says Moo is not in pain - she just can't feel her paws properly right now. They are curled up in little fists, and she keeps trying to walk, but realizes that she can't. Then she looks down at her paws, flattens them out, and tries again.
We're going to keep her comfortable at home tonight, with a rich diet of Pedialyte, Nutrical, baby food, and treats. It seems to relax her when we pet her, so that's what we're going to do. And cry, cause we know we can't take her with us in 2 weeks when we move.