So confused. Kiaras terrified to come out of her cage.

[CherryChan]

As the title says, Kiara is now terrified to come out of her cage. I have a cat, and the cat was sitting with me earlier today. A little while later, I opened my door and started to greet my two little ones. Now, Kiara is normall EXTREMELY happy to see me, running around the cage and pawing at me. Vitani is normally the one who doesnt really care. Now Kiara is frozen solid. She is sniffing the air, terrified. Both of them are going through a URI, on meds. The cat was in the other room, but I know I smelled like her a little. I tried to pet kiara, and when i took her out, she was still frozen. I had her on my lap, and nothing happened for a good minute. Then out of nowhere she made a leap for the cage, hitting her face against it((no squeak)) and racing into the cage and up a few shelves.

So fast forward a few hours, after i gave her some treats to calm her down, she still seems terrified. She wont come out of her cage, even if i leave the door open, which she normally bolts out of to play. She just wont try to do anything with me except take treats and receive pets. Vitani is perfectly fine, even though she was held earlier too without the freaking out part. Whats going on?

 

[BlueSkyy]

Some ratties take a while to get used to the smell of cats. These little girlies are new to you, correct? Out of my group of rats (4) one of them was COMPLETELY terrified of our kitten the moment he first realized what the smell meant. The other three have never really cared. Some rats are more instinctively frightened. She should get desensitized after a while, but until then she'll probably be quite afraid. Try to associate the cat smell with good things, like petting the kitty and getting the scent on your hands and then offering treats to your girls.

 

[jorats]

How old are they? Some rats go through a fear phase at around 3 months old, some snap out of it while others need extra socializing.
It doesn't take much to scare rats, a break in routine or even a new piece of furniture. Once, I brought a box into the play area, the rats didn't come out of their cage for two days because the box was scary to them.
I recommend doing "down the shirt" trick again.

 

[Godmother]

I once bought a used cat climber for my rats. Most of them were terrified and would not go near it, even though it had been cleaned and had no smell that I could detect.

 

[temblabamomo]

The cat is a good guess. Some rats seem perfectly relaxed around cats or if they smell them, other rats freak out. I have noticed some of my "freak out" rats tend to freak out much worse if they are quietly coming down with the beginnings of a URI or something. They spook more easily.

 

[CherryChan]

They are both about 8 months old. And they are normally very sociable, especially kiara who NEVER wants to be in her cage. Kiara is doing better now, but she was so spooked yesterday.

Quick question, the two of them have been on doxy/baytril for about two-three days now. I havent heard any more monkey noises *fingers crossed* or any oinking from them. However now they have popping noises in their nose. Can I safely say thats the mucus draining from their lungs/throat? They just started doing this while on baytril/doxy

 

[jorats]

Mmm, that's interesting about the mucus in the noise, the only time I heard that was due to pulmonary abscesses but I doubt at their age they have that. I'd say it's more the changing of seasons. Unless you aren't in one those places where the air temperature drastically changes.
As for the girls and their behaviour, at 8 months of age, I would tend to think they are working out alpha position and that can cause one rat to become very scared. But that doesn't usually last long. The meds could also be affecting them behaviour wise, especially if it's giving them slight tummy upset.