# Please help! Rat drooling and spitting up?



## Jacknoliver (Jan 3, 2014)

I noticed just a few minutes ago that my rat had this jelly like stuff on his mouth. I wiped it off and he was okay. Then a few minutes later I caught him drooling a clearish-white color fluid. I looked around the cage and realized he left a trail of it in two places. He's lying down right now and making sounds almost like he's smacking his gums together. He's always been a healthy rat, and he's not even a year old yet. No sign of tumors. He was completely fine yesterday. I'm gonna keep am eye on him but has this happened with anyone else's rat? 


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Sounds like he is choking. Bite the bullet, sit down next to the cage and try to act relaxed. Watch him. 


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

Jelly stuff like something poisonous, a fluid he made, or food?


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## Jacknoliver (Jan 3, 2014)

Nothing poisonous. Probably a fluid he made. He's been eating and drinking but I hope he's just trying to clear something from his throat. I had to leave but I'm having someone constantly check on him. He acted pretty normal when I picked him up. And it didn't start until he was finished eating. 


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

My rat choked for what seemed like hours. The vet said there wasn't anything tht she could do but if my rat clearly began to struggle to breath she should be brought in and they'd try to remove it if it was visible in her throat. She wouldn't drink. By the time we were flying eighty down the interstate, she peeke out the impromptu box I threw her in curious as to what we were doing. 


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## Jacknoliver (Jan 3, 2014)

Hopefully he can was it down or get it out.. He's my baby and I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him. 


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## melcab (Jan 29, 2014)

Sorry, no help here. Is there not a rattie heimlich ? Odd that the vet can't do anything if they're choking. Choking by definition means they aren't breathing. What happens if you listen to him? Do you hear breathing?


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## Jacknoliver (Jan 3, 2014)

He's okay now. No drool, spit up, and he is breathing fine and back to normal 


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

melcab said:


> Sorry, no help here. Is there not a rattie heimlich ? Odd that the vet can't do anything if they're choking. Choking by definition means they aren't breathing. What happens if you listen to him? Do you hear breathing?


There is a method but you are more likely to make it worse both medically and emotionally for rats. It's more of a fling than a heimlech. 

The vet can only do the fling which likely incites panic worse than you would. It also involves a trip which makes the rat nervous. Or, as they offered, they can reach in and pull it out if possible. 

Really, rats are pretty well equipped at managing. They produce a gooey saliva and flood their passage with it to force the object to move. The also convulse like a cat wth a hair ball. 


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## melcab (Jan 29, 2014)

Phew! Glad that's over! Rats have a wind pipe and an esophagus, right? I know they can't vomit. Now I remember about the flinging move. It must be scary, but so is choking. That is IF the rat really was not getting any air.


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