difficulty holding food in mouth

My rat Badger didn't take the food I offered him earlier although he would usually grab it and run away. I left it infront of him and he seemed to be trying to put it in his mouth and carry it off somewhere but it looked like he was struggling to do so. He was well enough to climb on top of his cage and go on my top bunk bed, but he is very slow. All he wants to do is bury himself inside my blanket and it looks like he has sightly puffed up fur which might indicate illness; I also think he has slightly puffy cheeks which is probably the fur. I crushed the food into smaller pieces to make it easier to hold and he ate them but very slowly. I don't know if it's his teeth making him uncomfortable-I've tried to have a look at them and they don't seem to be in bad form, but how can I examine them more thoroughly? He is still 1 year old but maybe he's aging? I don't know what's wrong with him. Please help. Thanks.
He doesn't seem to be able to open his mouth very wide-is it possible that he could have dislocated his jaw?

How many months old is he?
Can you look into his mouth at his front teeth to see if they are too long or are sticking into the side of his mouth?
Can you see if the inside of his mouth looks normal?
Can you post a video of him trying to eat ……. post it to youtube and then put the link on here

His teeth may be misaligned, hurting his mouth and/or he may have a facial abscess - all are very serious and require vet care asap http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/malocclusion.php

He needs to see a good vet with the experience and knowledge to treat rats asap
you may want to feed him soft foods so that he get the nutrition he needs and so that he stays hydrated - dehydration kills
such as his rat blocks soaked in cool water to make mush, organic soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal, baby food, cooked sweet potato, cooked squash, etc

I had a look at his teeth but it was quite difficult and they didn't seem to be misaligned-I will look again. His right cheek seems slightly puffy which I thought was just the fur sticking up, but I think it may be an abscess. I am taking him to the vets tomorrow, meanwhile I am feeding him soaked rat blocks. I hope I am doing everything right. Thank you so much SQ for your help, I will let you know how he gets along.

facial abscesses are extremely dangerous, so he will need aggressive antibiotics
and may need surgery to clean it out, if it is an abscess
http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/abscess.php

Soft foods that are easy to eat and will help with hydration are important
you can feed soft/cooked vegs too
I hope he is able to eat

Hope everything goes ok and he is soon feeling much better

Hé went to the vets today for the day to get anesthetic and they found a hard lump by his throat with clear fluid inside. Likely to be a tumour and the results are coming in in a few days. The right side of his face is swollen and his eye is getting pushed out, making it difficult to blink-they will probably giveback us eye drops. He really isn't in a good shape; even the vet says he may go downhill from now. He's only 1 year and a bit. If it is a benign tumour does that mean the tumours won't spread and it won't do harm other than discomfort? He is drinking and eating a little I will probably change the food up a bit. Is there any other way I could make his life more comfortable?

Badger's eye being pushed out does not sound good, and it sounds painful
If it is a benign tumor it will not spread to other parts of his body but it will continue to grow, so Badger will get worse

Hopefully something can be done
Lilspaz68 may have some ideas or info

Please feed the foods I mentioned above. If badger is unable to eat soft foods (as mentioned in my earlier post) from a dish or off your finger, You can use a one ml syringe (no needle) to feed him the organic soy infant formula thickened with baby cereal - one drop at a time into the side of his mouth so it doesn't go into his lungs. He needs the nutrition and needs to stay hydrated …. dehydration kills. He will need to be fed as much as he wants, every few hours.

Did the vet give you anything for pain?
Keep him warm, fed, getting enough fluids, control his pain, cuddle him, let him stay with his friends, make the cage easy for him to get around in - lower hammocks if he has difficulty with the normal ones etc

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You may need to think about putting Badger to sleep to prevent further sufferring.
Most vet do not know how to do it poperly so you will need to ask questions, and make sure it is done properly. Stay with Badger if at all possible so he will not be frightened ... some vets will allow you to hold him.
The proper way to do it; Badger will be given the gas/oxygen mix used for surgery, when he is unconscious the vet needs to test his eye and toe reflexes (gently pinch his toes) to make sure that Badger is unconscious to at least a surgical level. Once Badger is deeply unconscious, then the vet will inject him. Badger will need to stay unconscious with the gas/oxygen mix until he is dead. Hs breathing will stop and several minutes later his heart will stop beating - I have read that the brain will still be working for awhile. The vet check twice several minutes apart and find no heart beat.
Never let a vet inject a conscious rat into the heart - this is so cruel it is illegal in some places.
I always take my rats home so their friends know what happened to them, and when I have several I pay to have them cremated (I get their ashes back but it is less expensive if you don't)
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I am so very sorry that this is happening to you and to Badger {{hugs}}

Keep Badger as comfortable as possible, and I hope that the vet will have some good news
Hopefully Lilspaz68 will have something hopeful to say
Please let us know what is happening

Any sneezing????
Lilspaz68 said it may be SDA

Pleaseanswer her questions below ASAP
and post pics and post a video (post it to youtube and put the link on here) ASAP !!!!

http://ratguide.com/health/viruses/sda.php

Can you post a video or pics? is the lump in the very middle of his throat? Can you listen to his breathing and see if there's any sounds? My worry is he may have contracted SDA virus and some of the symptoms are a lump in the middle of the throat, facial swelling, eye issues (especially where you can see the connective tissue in the front corner), sneezing, crackling,. wheezing, acting unwell.

Here's what the eyes can look like...



and an extreme example of the throat lump

Badger has a hard lump on the right side of his throat not as big as the one in the picture, his right side of his face is swelling and the right eye is bulging and is quite dull with porphorin around it. He occasionally sneezes and is drinking water. He sometimes eat the food I put infront of him. The results will come in a few days. If it is SDA does that mean his friend Bodger has it as well? Should I put him in quarantine? I don't want them to be alone though.

lilspaz68 said:

1. Can you post a video or pics? ………..

3. Can you listen to his breathing and see if there's any sounds?

My worry is he may have contracted SDA virus and some of the symptoms are a lump in the middle of the throat, facial swelling, eye issues (especially where you can see the connective tissue in the front corner), sneezing, crackling,. wheezing, acting unwell.

Click to expand...

Your pictures did not work. Can you try again
……. click on the box along the bottom of the area where you write your message that says Upload a File, then click on a picture saved on your computer and select full image

thank you for posting the pictures
Are you able to get a good picture of the lump on his neck?

how is his breathing?
What do you hear when you hold him up to your ear and listen to both sides of his chest?

Can you post a video of his breathing? (post to youtube and put the link on here)

could be tooth abscess causing the eye issue. This might cause a lump along his jaw rather than his throat.

Sniff over the eye and his open mouth to see if you smell anything bad/infected.

Thank you lilspaz68 and SQ for all your help.
I can't really hear much of his breathing let alone in a video, but I earlier heard a few small raspy sounds which I hadn't heard before although it didn't last long. As for the lump, I will try to take a picture of it and post it soon-it is quite hard and when the vet inspected him under anaesthetic, he couldn't find a puncture anywhere where the infection could have started. It is also quite hard and to the side of his throat (not the side of his neck) rather than at the centre of the neck. So I don't think it is an infection-the results of what it is hopefully will come soon. His eye is very dull and has porphorin around-I don't think he can see through that eye anymore. I've been making mushy rat blocks and baby food for him mixed with soft pepper, but he only takes it occasionally so I am going to try and get baby cereal and organic soy infant formula as soon as possible but does that contain good nutrition?

Actually after inspecting it a bit more, the lump is quite small and hardly recognizable from the outside. It is very hard unlike the abscess he had before.

organic soy infant formula is what is recommended for orphaned baby rats so has nutrition, protein level is low (rats need low protein) and hopefully doesn't have too high a sugar content, which is why I suggested it

some people use products like ensure

any bad smell?

There's no foul smell but the lumps by his throat and eye are getting bigger. I don't know how to clean his eye a bit and we are still waiting for news from the vets. He is still eating however bit by bit and has the strength to climb onto me and on top of the cage.

You need to keep the eye moist with either eye drops (natural or lubricating formulation) or eye ointment. Apply this a few times a day.

Is he trying to lick up soft foods? The eyes and jaw/mouth are connected so eating could be very painful at this time.

Is he on any antibiotics?
If so what? strength in mg/ml? dose? his weight?

Is he on Metacam for pain?

picture of the lump?

If he has an abscess, then he needs to be on antibiotics
If he has SDA then antibiotics as well http://ratguide.com/health/viruses/sda.php