# Advice for poorly rat



## Holster (Feb 12, 2012)

Hi everyone,

I'm a new rat owner and had my three girls for a few months now. They are about five months old. I had them out this morning and they were all fine but this evening one of them wouldn't come out of bed and when got her out she is not very active and has a reddish coloured discharge coming from her nose. She is also salivating a lot and looks like she is gagging/retching every ten seconds or so. 

We have got her sat on the bed with us and are comforting her but not really sure what to do...any advice would be greatly appreciated until I can get to the vets in the morning. 

The only changes to the cage have been some new bedding and a coconut from pets at home which hangs from the roof and also a new hammock. 

Thanks

Holly


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2012)

What bedding are you using?
What cage are they in?

The reddish discharge is Porphyrin rats normally produce this when they are stressed and or sick.
You say she is gagging, is their any chance she could have something caught in her mouth? Rats can't be sick so they don't have a gagging reflex so this would be cause for concern.
If she is still gagging I would call your emergency vet to get advice.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

The red discharge is porphyrin & they can produce more when they're stressed of ill. What is her breathing like? Rats can't be sick but its possible she is choking on something, I'm wondering if the 'gagging' could be her struggling to breathe, if this is the case it could be pneumonia, there are a list of symptoms on this link:
Health Guide: Pneumonia


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## Holster (Feb 12, 2012)

We've had her sat with us on the bed for a while and managed to get a bit of water down her which seems to have helped. The discharge seems to have stopped now and she just seems tired. Really glad you guys are here to give advice as you just panic when you see something wrong. 

They live in a ferplast rat cage and the bedding was a cotton wool type which I got from the pet shop and says suitable for small animals...I had my doubts about this though as they usually don't have anything other than their usual paper based litter as they cuddle in their hammocks. I've took it all out now so maybe she had some of that stuck in her mouth...could be anything though.

Her breathing was laboured and you could see her sides going in and out quite fast. Bless her...she's the friendliest and I don't like seeing her in discomfort.

Have looked down the pneumonia symptoms list and a few of the symptoms are there but I'm not sure. Will continue to watch her for a while and hopefully it was just something in her mouth/throat which will clear.

Holly


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2012)

Holster said:


> We've had her sat with us on the bed for a while and managed to get a bit of water down her which seems to have helped. The discharge seems to have stopped now and she just seems tired. Really glad you guys are here to give advice as you just panic when you see something wrong.
> 
> They live in a ferplast rat cage and the bedding was a cotton wool type which I got from the pet shop and says suitable for small animals...I had my doubts about this though as they usually don't have anything other than their usual paper based litter as they cuddle in their hammocks. I've took it all out now so maybe she had some of that stuck in her mouth...could be anything though.
> 
> ...


I'm sooo glad you took that bedding out, because you are right it isn't suitable for any small animal because if they ingest it, it can cause blockages. It can also wrap itself around little legs cutting off circulation 
What else do you use for bedding?

By the sounds of it she has a resp infection, I would definitely recommend taking her to the vets in the morning to get checked over, she might need a course of antibiotics.


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## Holster (Feb 12, 2012)

It's all out of the cage now and they don't have anything else....just their hammocks and a hanging material tunnel thing which I got on Monday. They usually all just cuddle up in their hammocks. 

The bottom of the cage has a thin layer of newspaper/magazine and then paper based litter on the top. They shread the paper and take it in their bed. Is this ok? 

She seems to be moving about a bit more now and is back in the cage...just caught her gnawing on the coconut that's hanging in there and there were shreads coming off it so think that may be the culprit! Have removed that also.

She is up and running again now....think the water must have cleared her throat....little monkey! I really wish pet shops wouldn't sell these things as you put them in thinking you are giving them something nice and fun to climb on :-(

Will update you in the morning but she is looking much better now,

Thank you for talking to me and for the advice xx


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

Is she making any noise when she's breathing? The drooling and retching sounds more like choking then a respiratory infection, but if she isn't 100% better by morning I'd get her to the vets.


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## CRL (Jan 3, 2012)

if she was drooling and hunching over she may have been choking. was she wheezing at the same time? i fully reckomend a book by debbie 'rat lady' ducomon. she runs the rat fan club in america and is an expert, they even asked her advice for the film ratatoule. she sells small paper book that cost about £6 most i think. just put rat fan club into google and u should find it. it has articles about tumours, resp issues, choking, first aid.


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## Holster (Feb 12, 2012)

Thanks everyone. She must have been choking as once we managed to get some water down her she recovered pretty quickly and is fine now....keep checking her though as she scared me to death the little monkey! 

Will definitely look into getting the book that has been recommended as love my ratties and want to be more knowledgeable about them.

Thanks again x


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