The Body
The rat’s body gives us lots of information about its fitness as well as whether it is a good weight. This is particularly important to the long term health of the rat and as it changes much more slowly than the tail or fur, it can creep up on us as owners. This is where getting second opinions is particularly useful, be that from entering in pets at a show, or asking an experienced rat owner for an opinion. This can help you develop a good “feel” for your rat’s condition. In reality describing the feel of a rat is even harder than describing the look of it. This is an area where experience is by far the best teacher, and the words below will only be of limited use.
Assessing the body’s condition is much more about touch than the previous two areas, with look playing a secondary role. When judging your rats body condition first stroke them all over, much like you would when checking for lumps, bumps etc. in a health check. Then feel around their abdomen a chest area. It can then be useful to feel how baggy the skin is by feeling the skin between the front and back legs on each side. Finally have a good look top down when the rat is well stretched out
Assessing the body’s condition is much more about touch than the previous two areas, with look playing a secondary role. When judging your rats body condition first stroke them all over, much like you would when checking for lumps, bumps etc. in a health check. Then feel around their abdomen a chest area. It can then be useful to feel how baggy the skin is by feeling the skin between the front and back legs on each side. Finally have a good look top down when the rat is well stretched out
Positive Signs
- A good weight for their size – It can be quite hard to judge the correct weight for rats until you’ve felt a number of rats who are at either end of spectrum. Rats vary in size so much that look and feel are the only reliable ways to judge. Even then there’s an element of personal opinion in there two. However there is definitely an ideal weight bad for rats to be in ranging from fit and lean to carrying a small amount of extra reserves (more acceptable in older rats who may need it a little more). Feeling over them you want to be able to feel the rat shape, not any excess (though as mentioned a small amount is allowable especially in older rats). You should be able to feel there bones but they should not be prominent; instead there should be clear muscle over them. Try holding the rat by the chest so there body dangles down if they are comfortable like that. Stroking down the body and looking at it you should see that the shoulder and bum are similar sizes and the waste doesn’t bulge out further than this (a doe should be like a long slender pipe and a buck more like a brick, though bucks can be more doe like and slender too). If they won’t comfortably hang then try to watch them when fairly stretched out moving around or tempt them to hang from the bars of the cage. A rat with baggy skin, but a good weight, can look fat if they are lying down as they appear to have skirts.
- Good muscle tone – a rat with good muscle tone feels solid to the touch. Does will generally feel slender and racy, and boys (especially your typical stud buck) will be broader and more brick like but both will have a good covering of muscle and feel very strong and fit. In some cases rats can have this muscle underneath a layer of fat (depending on where they lay it down) but you can still feel the substance underneath the fat.
- Skin “fits” nicely – the rats skin has only minimal give and is nicely proportional to the rat. This is generally better in younger rats and becomes less common in older rats as the skin becomes less elastic.
Negative Signs
- Overweight – The rat carries excess weight. The easiest way to tell this is by feel, they will often feel broader than they should and often this will be soft and squishy, though some rats do hide fat under a layer of muscle, in which case the rat will feel muscular but not as dense as a rat who is all muscle. A rat can also have a noticeable stomach, so appear rounded and pear like, some rats even look quite pregnant. A rounded firm abdomen isn’t always a sign the rat is fat, often they can have recently had a good meal or drink, or even actually be pregnant. A rat who is very soft to the touch is generally fat, though if they become quite dehydrated muscle can feel softer. In terms of look, if a rat bulges out at the middle when stretched out, or has a noticeably large bum and abdomen, they are more likely to be fat than a rat who is a more consistent size. In these cases its worth having a good feel of the shoulders too, as if a rat has no muscle tone on the shoulders it can make their bottoms appear disproportionately big. A rat is most likley to be overweight from being fed too much in terms of calories, rather than due to getting too much fat for example. Treats are often a cause of overweight or obese rats, though feeding too much of healthy food can be just as likely to cause it. Rats are like humans, so the number of calories they take in needs to be equal to the number they use via exercise etc. This means that reducing the amount fed (to both the group and the individual) and increasing exercise can help reduce a rats weight.
- Obese – This is beyond simply overweight (or a bit chubby), here a rat has substantial girth, often there body is more oval or even round when sat in one place. You can also not miss the excess fat. At this point it is a important health risk and needs tackling sooner rather than later. An obese rat is one who is significantly more likely to suffer from many health conditions. See amount fed and increased exercise for the main methods of improving this condition, though it is worth noting in some cases health issues can increase the chances of this occurring. The most well know one in rats are “Zuker” rats, these have genetic traits which mean they are likely to become seriously overweight and live shortened lives because of it.
- Underweight – This is where a rat feels noticeably bony. They will also normally lack muscle tone, especially over the rump and tail (see square tail), sometimes with the face looking slightly gaunt. This can vary from serious cases where the rat is at real risk, to ones where the rat is a bit underfed and just needs a boost. It can also happen to a rat going through a sudden growth spurt who has previously been fine on that same amount of food. Where it affects the whole group it is well worth looking into what and how much you feed. Where it affects one or two individuals it is worth working out why, if they are still growing it is likely to be this, however if it is an older rat it can often be an early symptom of an illness like kidney degeneration or urinary tract infection so it worth having checked out if it continues for a couple of weeks, or faster if other symptoms appear.
- Baggy skin – when handling the rat you will easily be able to grab handfuls of skin between the legs, the skin will feel very loose and baggy, in some cases the rat may look a bit like a flying squirrel. This can be caused by numerous things including; a lack of muscle tone, a rat who has lost a significant amount of weight, dehydration and old age. Fixing it is a lot harder, though improving exercise and adding in a bit more protein can help in some cases.
- Lack of muscle tone – This shows itself as a rat feeling quite loose and in substantial. They may feel soft or underweight or be overweight and very squishy. This can also show itself in different ways, so one rat may lack muscle tone around there shoulders, but have strong powerful back legs (common in rats who don’t have to climb much). Another might have good muscle tone on their shoulders, but have a weak back end (common in rats with varying degrees of hind leg degeneration). This is usually caused by a lack of exercise, or only a specific kind of exercise (say running around rather than climbing too). In some cases it can also be caused by a lack of nutrients, typically either protein or overall calories.