Medical details

All through Kali’s short life I suspected that she wasn’t one hundred percent well. From the very start she suffered from an intermittent limp and would, from time to time, look as if she was in some discomfort. In her first year she ingested zinc from the bars of her cage which made her chronically ill for a long time and although the poisoning was eventually diagnosed and treated successfully she never fully recovered. In the end she died of a heart condition which may have been brought about by the zinc poisoning or may have been congenital.

While trying to get a diagnosis Kali’s vet took regular blood and urine samples as well as x-rays of Kali. The vet was happy for me to have the results of these tests in case they are of use to other Pouched Rat owners.

Please be aware that these results have come from an ill rat so may not be representative of a healthy animal.