Rat had surgery, now has cone; how can I help her eat?

Question

She can't feed herself well now with the cone in her way. Normally she grabs on to her food and gnaws away at it (like rodents should do) but now that the cone's in her way she can't get her hands up to her mouth.

I've been hand feeding her shredded carrots and bread, but I can't do that for the 10-14 days that she needs to wear the cone.

Anyone got ideas on how I can help her eat?

Answer 1

If she can still use her water bottle put another up with lactol(puppy milk) in it so that she can get the nutrients she needs. I used that when my girl was recovering and she loved it.
If its a proper cone shape like cats and dogs have, you will need to hand feed her as it will be impossible for her to do it herself. If it is a big circle around her neck, then she will be able to eat soft foods herself, but I would still offer her extra a few times a day.
If shes used to eating out of the cage, that will make life a lot easier for you as you. You could try scrambled egg, baby food or mashed potato(made with soya milk) and feed her it with a spoon. Other good soft foods are yoghurt(preferably pre/pro-biotic as I assume she is on antibiotics), porridge, coconut milk and human nutrition drinks(complan, build up etc). Even soup would be ok for her, just make sure its as low sugar and salt as possible. You could try cooking and mashing vegetable, she might be able to scoop them up her mouth. You want to offer as wide a variety of soft foods that you can. It will help her get everything she needs as well as keeping up her appetite.

I'm curious as to why she was given a cone as its not recommended to use them on rats as it does stop them eating and prevents them washing properly. When my girl was spayed they did two layers of internal stitches and used glue and one stitch to hold the wound together. She chewed the stitch off within hours of getting home, but she left the glue alone.

Answer 2

Doesn't the vet have any suggestions?
But, here are mine:
You could take the cone off for short periods while she eats. Watch her to see that she doesn't hurt herself.
You could take some of the rat food, grind it up (maybe in a blender), then soak it in just enough boiling water to soften it. Put it in a dish and let her eat it (after it's cool). I think this could work because, as I recall, my dogs could eat from a dish wearing a cone.
Get a nutrition bar at the health food store (they may have them in the supermarket too). Get something that is made of grains and seeds, like maybe a Luna Bar, but no chocolate. Even if she can't use her forefeet to pick them up, she can gnaw on them without too much trouble.
You want to make sure she gets good nutrition while she's convalescing; bread is good, but she needs protein as well, like nuts or seeds, as close to her normal diet as you can manage. [Don't try peanut butter in her weakened state; one of my rats choked on peanut butter. I managed to save her, but peanut butter was coming out her nose and in her tears!]
Tell her to get well soon!