Is it time to take Kia to the Rainbow Bridge?

I can't make up my mind, so any advice would be helpful.

As best I can, I'll try to describe her condition.

At some point in the past two months I think she had a stroke of some
kind. After that, her condition has steadily deteriorated.

She is at a point right now where she has pretty much lost use of 3/4 of
her legs. She cannot clean herself. She has a hard time eating. Every
once in awhile she has what seems to be a quick little seizure. Her
cagemate pretty much ignores her at this point. She can't climb. She
can't jump. When she tries to clean herself, she'll invariably fall
over. She struggles to get back on her feet using her tail and good leg.

I help her eat and I give her a sponge bath every day to help her keep
clean.


That said, she does eat. She doesn't seem to be in any pain. She
responds when I make noises around her. When I put her on the floor,
she can walk and even run, sort of - at least until she hits a wall.

In short, from what I can tell, her quality of life seems to be
horrible, but she doesn't seem to be in obvious pain. She's not yet 2
years old.

If she was your rat, would would you do?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Best Regards,

--Hank Stalica

Hank Stalica <user.RemoveThis@example.net> wrote:

<snip>

If she were my rat, I would look at the way she behaves, as you describe.

I will take a rat to be put down if:

1. The rat appears to be in a great deal of pain or discomfort

or

2. The rat appears to take no pleasure in life and does not appear to
obtain any enjoyment from usually pleasant activities such as eating or
interaction with humans or other rats.

As long as she is not in pain and is getting at least some pleasure out
of life, I would not put down. If, however, she meets one of the criteria
consistently for a reasonable amount of time, I would take her to the
vets.

As you describe her, personally I would adopt a "watch and wait"
strategy, and try to make her life as pleasant as possible; however, I
have not seen her for myself, and on a text-based medium it is virtually
impossible to form a full impression of her. So, it's only my opinion,
based on what evidence can be conveyed on a newsgroup, and shouldn't be
taken to mean that you should do what I would do!

I hope Kia and you can both continue to take some pleasure in her life
and that you feel comfortable about your decision, whatever it may be.

Good luck - you're obviously a caring and conscientious pet-owner :-)

Rosemary