Regurgitation

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Shelley

Shelley

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
Messages
1,151
Location
GTA, Ontario
This morning, I heard squeaking from the girls cage and thought "Oh no, they must be beating up on Molly". Introduction with her to the girls cage have been slow, but I finally moved her in yesterday and it's been going fairly well. Anyway, I come downstairs and Luna, my smallest girl who was the runt of the litter, is bracing herself, almost moving back and forth slowly and rhythmically. She looks like she's vomiting [tongue sticks out and she jerks forward], and what comes out is thick and yellowish. Really I didn't know what to do at that point, or if I -could- even do anything.

Has anyone else had this happen? What causes it, and why is it only with my one girl? I've seen this happen with her before, so this isn't the first time. I wonder though, how many more times has it happened when I'm not around? I'm very scared she will choke when it happens. Rat's can't vomit from what I've read, and I know regurgitation is different... but it is still very very scary, and I felt so incredibly helpless.

She is fine now though, running around like normal and wrestling. Any thoughts?
 
I've read about this before as well.
They can regurgitate and especially when they are choking they produce a lot of saliva to soften the "stuck" morsel, then they either regurgitate it or swallow it. I don't think there's much you can do.
Is she a very tiny girl?
 
She is the smallest girl I have, weighing in at about 190g. Luna is my baby girl, and I think she will always be small. I'm wondering if it has to do with her size or something, but I really don't know enough about the subject of regurgitation to figure out why it happens with Luna, and I've never seen it before with any other rats.
 
lilspaz68 said:
Do you think this was more than a simple case of choking?
Click to expand...

There are no signs to show otherwise. It only lasted a short amount of time, and she went straight back to normal afterwards. The last time I saw it happen was at least two months ago, but because one can't be around all the time, I can't say for sure if it had happened anytime inbetween. Everything she brings up looks like vomit, no solid food or anything to indicate she was choking on something. I'm not entirely sure if she's choking, as it really seems to me that for some reason her digested stomach contents are being brought up slowly. I'm going to see what I can find on the topic.
 
Shelley said:
lilspaz68 said:
Do you think this was more than a simple case of choking?
Click to expand...

There are no signs to show otherwise. It only lasted a short amount of time, and she went straight back to normal afterwards. The last time I saw it happen was at least two months ago, but because one can't be around all the time, I can't say for sure if it had happened anytime inbetween. Everything she brings up looks like vomit, no solid food or anything to indicate she was choking on something. I'm not entirely sure if she's choking, as it really seems to me that for some reason her digested stomach contents are being brought up slowly. I'm going to see what I can find on the topic.
Click to expand...

Definitely look into choking, since she may have choked on a piece of lab block and her saliva softened it and her "retching" brought it back up, which is what choking is all about. I have seen clear saliva, foamy saliva, and actual guck come up before in the past.

I am glad she recovers well!!! :)
 
Your probably right, Shelagh :) I was reading and it says the saliva will soften the food. It's also hard to tell because she starts eating everything she brings back up... yuck! All they had this morning was HT blocks, so she must have choked on a little piece. I still think it odd that she's prone to this. She must be eating too big of a piece for her smaller size. She's a feisty little girl :roll:
 
I think I'll take Luna outside on the harness later for pictures. She's such a little cutie :) I'm pretty sure the yellowish colour was because of the lab blocks. I just hope this doesn't happen too often, theres no way for me to change the way she eats her food. My main fear is that she will choke on the regurgitated food, as I've read that it can happen. :pale:
 
Is she very grabby with food? Do the other often steal from her?
If so, she could be eating too fast and so making it get stuck in her throat. If that is the case, maybe you could pull her out once or twice a day to feed her something like pablum so she doesn't have to eat fast with the others around?
 
I try to keep their bowl full, so they usually don't care as much about the blocks. It's only when I give them something special that they horde and grab. I'll watch her later when I give them some more food to see if someone is perhaps picking on her or stealing her food. This would cause her to eat faster.
 
I had a rat that did that also. She was gasping, moving her head back and forth with yellow saliva coming out. She was choking on piece of food. The best thing to do is leave it alone and let her work it out on her own, with close supervison. If she seems pale and lathargic after a few hours then you should try the rat hymlic manuver or try shooting a little water down the side of her mouth, it is in the rat health care book that is put out by Debbie Ducommon.
 
My 6 Girls said:
I had a rat that did that also. She was gasping, moving her head back and forth with yellow saliva coming out. She was choking on piece of food. The best thing to do is leave it alone and let her work it out on her own, with close supervison. If she seems pale and lathargic after a few hours then you should try the rat hymlic manuver or try shooting a little water down the side of her mouth, it is in the rat health care book that is put out by Debbie Ducommon.
Click to expand...

Actually the Ratty Fling is definitely NOT the thing to do if the rat is still breathing. The rat could inhale the food/item and get it lodged enough to kill them. I don't know of a rat heimlich maneuver that would be safe enough. Please correct me if I am wrong. ;)
 
Luckily Luna has always worked it out quickly (of the three times I've seen this). The first time I was very scared and picked her up, which didn't help in any way. The following two times I watched her closely, but left her alone. I think they manage well on their own, but on occasion like anything, it could get more severely stuck, or the regurgitated food can block the airway if it gets packed in (by the tongue movement).
 
Oh lord, Shelley, I'm just so glad she's alright, that's gotta be terrifying!

A big pat on the back to rattie sites (The Rat Shack in particular of course) that let us hear about things before we encounter them so we recognize them and know what to do.
I'd heard about choking from Jo and mamarat, and know it will usually resolve itself so I don't have to freak, but had I seen what you saw with no warning I'd probably be down there with tweezers and causing big-time harm.

Hugs to your little Luna. Even reading this after it's ok has me choked up with the aftermath of fear for her.
 
I just took some more notes, thanks to this thread.
And thankyou My 6 Girls.
And lilspaz, I copied what you said, if anyone comes back with a reason you're wrong (which I doubt :wink: ) I'll note that too.

This is a good thread to see, thanks for bringing up the subject. I'm just sorry of how it came about, Shelley. Your Luna's shining some light where it might ease some darkness or save a life (while it may be something they can work out themselves, it wouldn't be so if some freaked-out uninformed mom got in there searching with tweezers and did damage).
 

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