kathrynwithak7
New Member
I have two rats named Winston and Teddy. They're about 1 1/2-year-old boys and Teddy is slightly bigger than Winston.
However, I noticed today that Teddy is about the same size as Winston if not smaller. He takes twice as long to eat and he doesn't finish his food, he seems obsessed with his water bottle, his breathing seems labored, and whenever I try to hold him he lunges like he's about to nip at me, and then searches for more food.
Winston usually is the one that gets sick. He's had a very bad URI in the past, but that was treated. He seems to be doing alright compared to his brother, but housemates seem to get sick together (in my experience).
Any advice? I've read around and they've said potentially heart failure or another URI. I need to know if I should take him to the vet or not. The vet has given me extra refills on their URI medicine (Doxycycline and one that I can't find the bottle for right now) so if it's a respiratory infection, I can start treating them without an expensive vet visit.
I'm pretty desperate. Please help my babies.
However, I noticed today that Teddy is about the same size as Winston if not smaller. He takes twice as long to eat and he doesn't finish his food, he seems obsessed with his water bottle, his breathing seems labored, and whenever I try to hold him he lunges like he's about to nip at me, and then searches for more food.
Winston usually is the one that gets sick. He's had a very bad URI in the past, but that was treated. He seems to be doing alright compared to his brother, but housemates seem to get sick together (in my experience).
Any advice? I've read around and they've said potentially heart failure or another URI. I need to know if I should take him to the vet or not. The vet has given me extra refills on their URI medicine (Doxycycline and one that I can't find the bottle for right now) so if it's a respiratory infection, I can start treating them without an expensive vet visit.
I'm pretty desperate. Please help my babies.