EMERGENCY

[_ratowner]

I was giving my rats a rice treat before I went to bed and i looked into the rat cage and I noticed that my one rat was just standing out in the open and I saw him drooling. I found this odd as I have never heard of rats drooling or anything. A few minutes earlier, I found something on their blanket that they have in their igloo that looked like vomit but I know that rats can’t vomit so I didn’t know what it was and it wasn’t poop.

Me being me, I freaked out and had a panic attack about the situation. The drool is clear and it scared me because it was literally dripping down his chest.

The vet is closed at this time and I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t want him to suffer until tomorrow.

I did some research on why a rat would be drooling and it said that they could be choking which made me freak out even more but then I read that they should be able to pass it on their own given some time. I just want to make sure that this is what it is and that something else isn’t going on that is life threatening.

I have him out with me and I am keeping an eye on him to see if anything happens. I tried to take a video but it just resulted in a video of him cleaning himself off by rubbing his face on my clean blankets, but honestly I could care less if my blanket got dirty as long as he is okay.

Please help if you can. If I left any information out please tell me and I will do my best to give as much detail as I can.

All replies are appreciated. If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say it.

 

[Rattymouse]

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/choking.htm

 

[_ratowner]

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/choking.htm

Thank you. I have him out with me and have been keeping a close eye on him. He is acting normal and isn’t having the choking symptoms anymore. He is breathing. I didn’t give him peanut butter or anything like that and I hadn’t yet given him a rice treat when it happened. I think it may have just been one of his oxbow pellets that caused the problem.

 

[_ratowner]

UPDATE:
I had to put him back in his cage as it is very late here (around 1:00 AM) and I have to get up early. He didn’t want to go in his igloo and he also chose to just lay out in the open. He seemed to be much more content just laying with me outside of his cage.

I still have no clue what the substance I believed to be vomit (I know rats can’t vomit) is still. It isn’t pee, it isn’t poo. I volunteer st a shelter and this sounds gross but I smelt the “vomit” and it smells like a special diet that we feed one of the animals. I don’t feed my animals that kind of food and even if I did it would have no business being in the rat cage. If anyone knows what it could be, please tell me because I would really like to know. Also, my rat mentioned above was trying to eat it from what I saw but I don’t think that is what caused the above situation as it isn’t a chunky or thick substance.

 

[_ratowner]

ANOTHER UPDATE:
I went up to check on him in the cage and he was in his igloo but when I went and did something and came back he was in the corner with his face in the corner. He moved into the litter pan and is not just laying there. He is really worrying me. He is being very lazy, it may be a crash from being out with me but it is odd. I do not have access to a vet right now and no one is awake or active on the forum to answer me so I don’t have a way to calm my nerves. Please answer if you see this.

EDIT:
I moved him out of the litter box and now her is in the igloo. I don’t want to fall asleep in case something bad happens but I am getting tired and I have somewhere to be in the morning. I feel absolutely horrible that I don’t know what is going on and I don’t know how to help him. I really need help but no one is awake or online to answer.

 

[_ratowner]

I am staying up for as long as I can. He has been taking a couple of pieces of food from me and holding it in his mouth for a little then eventually eating it. When I had him out, I did give him some water with a syringe type thing and when I started writing this update he was drinking water from their bottle which is on the second floor so he is able to climb and move around. He drank quite a bit of water so that is good because it means he is rehydrated. He climbed to the top level and is there now. I think that I am going to try to stay up as long as I can and check on him every so often to see how he is doing.

 

[_ratowner]

I don’t know what to do. I can’t tell if he is just tired and that is why he isn’t moving around or if it is something else. I seriously need help. The room is at around 75 degrees Fahrenheit when I am writing this yet the room still feels cold to me but I do not want him to over heat. The temperature was hotter but I felt his tail and ears and they were pretty warm so I let it cool down but now the room is cold. He is in the igloo with his brother but he isn’t moving or anything. It could be because he is tired and is annoyed by me bothering him so often but I am extremely worried and I do not know what to do in this situation other than just check on him every once and a while (around every 10 minutes). They are my first ever rats and I love them with all of my being (along with my other animals). I can’t deal with the heartbreak of losing them.

I know that they can’t see this but.. boys, I want you to know that I love you so much, you both mean the absolute world to me and I am so grateful that I am able to be a part of your lives. I am sorry for all the mistakes I have made and I hate myself for not paying attention to you as much as you should. You both deserve the world. I tell you how much I love you and how handsome and cute you are every day and I never want you to forget that. It kills me to think that I will one day have to live without you in my life. You both make my day better just being able to see your faces first thing in the morning and right before I go to sleep. Never forget that I love you so so much. Thank you for being yourselves.

 

[Dena]

It could be that he over heated if the room got too hot. Drooling and lethargy are also signs of heat stroke. I'd be very careful with the temp of the room they are in. If it's too cold for you, you can always use an extra blanket. 72 is normal room temp, and personally, 75 is too hot for me. Remember, if you get too hot, you can take clothes off, rats can't. Also if it's hot in the room, it's going to be hotter in the igloo. Or snuggled to another rat. Hope he is doing better today. Also, I know I check the temp of my rats by feeling their ears and tail. If they are hot from them playing or running around, I put them in the cage for a cool down, and they immediately go for the water. Look at www.ratguide.com and look up heat stroke, and see if those symptoms better match the ones your boy was having. If not, then I'd take him to the vet asap. Heat stroke is very dangerous, and they can easily die from it. How is he feeling or acting today?

 

[Rattymouse]

If your rat has any other issues and continues to act differently then yes take him to the vet. The vet will be able to figure out what problems he is having and how to treat them. =^.-=~

 

[_ratowner]

It could be that he over heated if the room got too hot. Drooling and lethargy are also signs of heat stroke. I'd be very careful with the temp of the room they are in. If it's too cold for you, you can always use an extra blanket. 72 is normal room temp, and personally, 75 is too hot for me. Remember, if you get too hot, you can take clothes off, rats can't. Also if it's hot in the room, it's going to be hotter in the igloo. Or snuggled to another rat. Hope he is doing better today. Also, I know I check the temp of my rats by feeling their ears and tail. If they are hot from them playing or running around, I put them in the cage for a cool down, and they immediately go for the water. Look at www.ratguide.com and look up heat stroke, and see if those symptoms better match the ones your boy was having. If not, then I'd take him to the vet asap. Heat stroke is very dangerous, and they can easily die from it. How is he feeling or acting today?

Thank you for your feedback. The room only got to around 75 degrees Fahrenheit tops and it even felt cold to me and I had to go under my blankets.

I don’t think it was heat stroke because when I had him out with me he crawled into the leg of my sweatpants that were on the bed and snuggled up to me. I produce heat so I doubt he would want to be near heat if he was hot.

I did feel his tail multiple times to try to determine if he was hot or cold and it fluctuates every now and again.

The drool was literally dripping down his chest but I read that they drool to try to make the blockage go down better.

I do have multiple blankets in their cage just in case they get cold while I am away and I usually try to put the blankets in their igloo but my one rat doesn’t like that and just pushes them all out but some days are an exception and he won’t push them all out.

From the time I spent with him today, he was acting how he normally does. He would happily accept food when I offered it to him, he would come to the cage to greet me, he would beg for food and treats through the bars, and so on.

I do think that he was just choking but the way he was acting after the fact just made me extremely worried for him. When I researched symptoms of a rat choking and it said that the would drool, put their ears back, and squish their face chin to neck to try to push the blockage down and when I was watching him, I noticed that is what he was doing.

Thank you for your concern.

All replies are appreciated. If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say it.

 

[Janean Van Beckum]

Sorry to hear about your baby. It is great you care so much about them! It sounds like what happened to one of our boys a few weeks ago. It was terrifying and completely freaked my daughter (they are technically her rats) out. Ours was drooling like crazy, completely wet down his front and pretty lethargic. After a brief panic attack, I did some research and found the choking information as well. We left him alone so he could work it out on his own, and just kept a close eye on him. It took maybe 30 minutes from when we noticed it to when he stopped drooling and was drinking like crazy. After he was not lethargic, but you could tell he was tired. We gave him cuddles then put him back in his cage to rest for the night. When I checked him a few hours later he was up and his normal bouncy self again. I think the choking just takes a lot out of them. Hope your baby is back to his normal self soon!

 

[Dena]

So glad he is doing much better! I just wanted to offer the info on heat stroke as well. But glad he worked things out and seems normal now! I'm sure it was scary for both of y'all! I'm sure it probably does take a lot out of them. I know it would me!

 

[_ratowner]

Sorry to hear about your baby. It is great you care so much about them! It sounds like what happened to one of our boys a few weeks ago. It was terrifying and completely freaked my daughter (they are technically her rats) out. Ours was drooling like crazy, completely wet down his front and pretty lethargic. After a brief panic attack, I did some research and found the choking information as well. We left him alone so he could work it out on his own, and just kept a close eye on him. It took maybe 30 minutes from when we noticed it to when he stopped drooling and was drinking like crazy. After he was not lethargic, but you could tell he was tired. We gave him cuddles then put him back in his cage to rest for the night. When I checked him a few hours later he was up and his normal bouncy self again. I think the choking just takes a lot out of them. Hope your baby is back to his normal self soon!

It is a terrifying experience to go through when you have no clue what is happening to your little ratty. I am just always worried about the littlest things when it has to do with my animals. Thank you for sharing your experience with me. It is nice to hear that I am not the only one who freaked out in this situation.