Feeding for Old Age
As rats begin to age they become more and more likely to suffer from illness and gradual decline in physical condition. This is all part of growing old, however just because it is inevitable does not mean that there is nothing you can do about it. There are many things you can do to reduce the rate of this ‘ageing’ and keep rats young and happy for longer.
The first step to doing this is to understand that ‘ageing’ is not a condition in itself. Instead the fact your rat now is beginning to slow down and look a little tatty are signs that some system within their body isn’t working as effectively as it should. There is no illness or condition known as old age as such, however there are many that are common enough to become synonymous with it. Feeding to suit the specific conditions and symptoms they are experiencing is an excellent way to ensure they live as long and happily with the conditions as possible. This is one of the best ways to feed older rats and I will provide details of the specific conditions and some tips on how to adapt a general protection diet to them below.
If you are not sure where to start then when thinking of feeding older rats and don’t have a specific condition you can identify then it is generally worth feeding them as though they have early stage kidney degeneration as in most cases there will be some, just too early to show symptoms. This forms the basis of a protection or kidney friendly diet with a few general useful things included.
The first step to doing this is to understand that ‘ageing’ is not a condition in itself. Instead the fact your rat now is beginning to slow down and look a little tatty are signs that some system within their body isn’t working as effectively as it should. There is no illness or condition known as old age as such, however there are many that are common enough to become synonymous with it. Feeding to suit the specific conditions and symptoms they are experiencing is an excellent way to ensure they live as long and happily with the conditions as possible. This is one of the best ways to feed older rats and I will provide details of the specific conditions and some tips on how to adapt a general protection diet to them below.
If you are not sure where to start then when thinking of feeding older rats and don’t have a specific condition you can identify then it is generally worth feeding them as though they have early stage kidney degeneration as in most cases there will be some, just too early to show symptoms. This forms the basis of a protection or kidney friendly diet with a few general useful things included.
Feeding for protection – a general diet for older rats
This should ideally start at an early age, feeding correctly when young can make a massive impact on a rats health in later life, however for the purpose of this article I will start from when rats are well into their adulthood and fully grown and moving towards old age. There isn’t a sudden cut off when a rat becomes ‘old’, when you suddenly have to start thinking about specifically feeding as an OAP. It’s a gradual process, linked with their health and any conditions going on in the background. When a rat begins to show these symptoms depends a lot on the rat, it’s genetic make-up, it’s early diet, even its environment and activity levels can have a big impact. In many cases it may be worth gradually transitioning their diet when they get to around the 18-24 month mark, or earlier if they begin to loose condition or you are concerned. However if you rat looks young and fit at this age you may want to leave it a little longer, especially if there are young cage mates sharing the food. Bucks will generally benefit from this sooner in life than does as does tend to age slower and are less prone to kidney related issues. The age you pick is very much up to you and should take into account the rats cage mates as well as if you know anything about their line and any potential health risks associated.
Dry mix
An older rats diet isn’t massively different to a healthy adult rat diet, there following changes are worth introducing as the rats begin to get older;
- Protein should be around the 12%, this is at the low end of the typical range of protein (12-14%) content for an adult rat diet. Low protein helps reduce the amount of work the kidneys have to do and so keeps them going for longer.
- Choose kidney kind proteins as the majority or entirety of their protein intake, the best are egg, soya and fish.
- Reduce the amount of food products high in phosphorous, this includes oats, wheat (though shredded wheat is still ok as it is relatively low phosphorous) and rye. It also includes ‘brown’ grains, so those grains that still have their bran attached, like brown rice and wholegrain. At this stage it is not necessary to remove them all together but making sure your mix has a larger bias towards low phosphorous grains really takes the load of the kidneys.
- If your rats are struggling to maintain weight increase the amount of processed grains in your mix a little, this is easier for older rats to digest, however be warned this can result in your younger rats getting a bit chubby so balance is everything.
- Include foods high in antioxidants and vitamin C such as berries, these may help reduce oxidative damage to cells (effectively what causes cells to mutate leading to tumours) as well as boosting the immune system, a general vitamin c supplement is also worth considering.
- Consider including garlic as this is good for the heart and can also help prevent parasite outbreaks, which can hit old rats harder than their younger cage mates, as they often can’t reach everything quite so well to groom and scratch. Powdered or dried is good for parasites, fresh (ideally raw) is best for the heart.
- Don’t feed too much, one of the single biggest things you can do for an older rat to help protect it is to keep it from becoming overweight. A little extra weight is a good thing in old age (as it can act as a buffer for illnesses that come up), however your rats shouldn’t be massively pear shaped or spread into an omelette when lying down. Aim for a rat with a nice covering of muscle and some fat but still a nice tubular shape. Weight impacts on most old age conditions, it puts extra strain on the heart, the kidneys, the physical structure and joints and increases likelihood of tumours and other lumps and even cysts and abscesses. Along these lines keeping them as active as possible can really help keep them young for the maximum amount of time, as well as keeping them slim with good muscle tone.
- Keep an eye on your rats skin, itchy looking dry skin can be a sign that they have too little oil in their diet or that they are becoming allergic or intolerant to a specific protein (sunflower seeds and peanut allergies seem to increase in old age). This tends to affect older rats more than younger, in part due to the reduced efficiency which they process nutrients and in part as they are not as good at cleaning themselves.
Supplements
- Supplement with Omega oils regularly, these include things like linseed/flax oil, hemp oil, mixed omega oils etc. A few drops a couple of times a week is a good starting point. This helps with joints, kidneys and keeping their skin and fur healthy.
- Investigate an older animal vitamin supplement, these tend to include some omega oils, lots of vitamin B (helps keep the brain and nerves from ageing so fast), taurine (good for the heart) and sometimes glucosamine (helps joints) too. You can get old animal treats too (normally sold for dogs), however I have found that generally the liquids are easier to control. Good brands are Senior aid and Senilife, though not all rats like the taste of senior aid.
- Supplement with a good quality calcium supplement a little more than normal (depending on diet; so if you feed straights based with a calcium supplement, up this from 2 to 3 days a week, if you don’t then including it 1-2 times a week helps). This helps ensure that your old rat gets the calcium it needs even if it’s kidneys are less effective at capturing it. It is important not to go overboard though as too much calcium puts strain on the kidneys too
Fresh Food and extras
- Be careful with the amount of dark green leafy veg you offer. Whilst it is very good for rats, in older age it can add extra load onto the kidneys. It is still worth feeding some, but keep this to less than you would give an adult.
- Avoid lots of high protein meals to help protect the kidneys, where you do feed fresh protein keep it to egg, soya or fish and diluted by carbs.
- Avoid overly salty and sweet foods to protect the heart and teeth, as well as helping reduce the risk of diabetes.
- Don’t feed lots of extras unless your rat needs it to keep a healthy weight, whilst a small amount of excess weight is useful an overweight rat is far more likely to be effected by health problems common in old age.
- Avoid giving them many bones as treats, these are excellent for younger rats and adults but do contain a lot of things like phosphorous and calcium, too much places an additional load on the kidneys.
- If your rats start losing weight and condition on just dry mix and veg then consider adding in a regular wet meal (frequency depending on how much they need to keep at a healthy weight) as well as getting them check out at the vets. This gives them more easily digestible nutrients that are also quicker to eat and becomes a very useful tool for hiding supplements in too. Ideas for wet meals will follow. You can also regularly feed a high calorie supplement like nutrical to give them an extra boost, this adds calories and is also an appetite booster, a small blob a day is a good way to help a declining rat and getting them hooked can make giving meds easier if it becomes neccesary.
- A good tip for a rat rapidly losing weight is to introduce high calorie foods such as coconut cream/milk and soya cream to top up a meals calories. Grating dried coconut cream over the top of a meal also goes down very well.
Some Healthy Wet Meal ideas
- A ready-made balanced soakable mix like rat rations kidney friendly mix.
- Senior dog food mushed up, aim for egg or fish based if possible, I particularly like burns penlan farm range (essentially egg and rice).
- Some cooked rice with egg beaten through and lightly cooked and a handful of veg added.
- Baby food mixed with a bit of soakable carbs (noodles, soakable mix, flaked rice, breakfast cereals etc.), avoid too many sweet ones, unless the rat is refusing to eat anything else (good in an emergency situation).
- Tinned mackerel in tomato sauce with egg noodles and sweetcorn (or other veg).
- Some healthy left overs such as vegetable soup or low salt pasta and sauce.
- A homemade soakable mix along the following guidelines;
- 80% mixture of soakable grains (aim for at least 3 different grains), some options are as follows; flaked barley, pearl barley, flaked rice, flaked millet, bulgur wheat, cous cous, broken egg noodles, puffed rice, puffed spelt, breakfast cereals. Depending on the rats some prefer a bit more substance or texture to their soakable mix in which case aim for a mix of those that soften a bit (but hold their shape) and those that mush down well.
- 15% dried vegetables, herbs and spices (this adds flavours and variety, try and alternate what you add as if kidney failure is present often rats can associate certain tastes with feeling nauseous so need lots of change), some I commonly add are; mint, basil, thyme, turmeric, cumin, echinacea, dandelions, carrot, leek, cabbage, beetroot (turns the mix nice and pink), peppers, potato, mixed herbs and so on
- 5% protein element; aim for soya, fish or egg where possible here, some options are; egg biscuit, egg food, senior dog kibble (requires longer soaking), dried egg, soya mince, soya pieces, soya flakes
- Add a bit of oil to each made up mix, ideally linseed or mixed omega oils, you can also use this as a great way to get other supplements into them like senior aid etc.