# Rat is constantly stretching; seems to be experiencing discomfort



## hollydaise (Feb 23, 2011)

I took one of my rats Daisy to the vet yesterday after she experienced a choking incident. Fortunately, it didn't last too long but I noticed afterward that she wasn't very active or interested in food (hence the vet visit). I figured that it was just due to her having a sore throat after choking so I resorted to liquid food (yogurt and apple sauce) which she ate just fine; either way, she was back to eating solid food in the same day. The vet didn't really find anything wrong after checking her over but he proscribed Baytril (just because it's good to have anyway). I also kept her in a separate cage just so her sister Holly couldn't pick on her (normally it's the other way around!).

Anyway, I let her out earlier today just to see how she was doing and she kept stretching out her body as if in discomfort. She did it over a dozen times while I had her out but then stopped. After several minutes of walking around and not stretching, I put her back in the cage so she could nap. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this symptom and what it might indicate. All I could really find on it was a listing here:

http://ratguide.com/health/basics/signs_of_pain_in_rats.php

It's listed as "horizontal stretching" under "post-procedural pain" which kind of makes some sense considering the discomfort Daisy went through when the vet was trying to examine her (I had to help the vet's assistant hold her down so he could look in her mouth; naturally, she struggled quite a bit). The above site doesn't really say anything about the symptom though. 

Again, she stopped doing it after a few minutes. I just figured I should get some thoughts on it before panicking and running off to the vet again. Sorry about the long story. Any comments would be appreciated. 

On behalf of my ratties, many thanks!


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

How extreme is the owwie stretch?

Aura after her e-spay









Goliath after his neuter









Btw they both got metacam right after this and were comfortable soon after.


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## hollydaise (Feb 23, 2011)

I'd say that they were comparable to the one displayed by your rat Goliath (pretty much a full body stretch--impossible not to notice) but there's no twisting movement like with Aura though. Once again, she only did it for a few minutes and I'm not really sure what might have happened to cause it. She's just as active as her sister now and their patterns of (in)activity are about the same again. Also, I didn't notice any pained vocalizations when I picked her up.

I was even wondering if it might be a gastro-intestinal issue; however, her belly doesn't seem swollen from what I can tell. It'd be easy to notice since she's a little smaller than her sister. But I'm happy to report that her appetite is almost back to normal; she still has a preference for yogurt and lettuce at the moment.

You have lovely little critters by the way! =)


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

hollydaise said:


> I'd say that they were comparable to the one displayed by your rat Goliath (pretty much a full body stretch--impossible not to notice) but there's no twisting movement like with Aura though. Once again, she only did it for a few minutes and I'm not really sure what might have happened to cause it. She's just as active as her sister now and their patterns of (in)activity are about the same again. Also, I didn't notice any pained vocalizations when I picked her up.
> 
> I was even wondering if it might be a gastro-intestinal issue; however, her belly doesn't seem swollen from what I can tell. It'd be easy to notice since she's a little smaller than her sister. But I'm happy to report that her appetite is almost back to normal; she still has a preference for yogurt and lettuce at the moment.
> 
> You have lovely little critters by the way! =)


thank you but Aura has been gone a long time (she lived til 3) and Goliath left me at 21 months, but he had a lovely life with his girls until then.  I just use those pics to help others, they are in my medical folders on photobucket.


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## AMJ087 (Aug 27, 2008)

How old is your rat? If theres a tumor starting internally it could also cause the pain and discomfort. If it continues Id take her back to the vet


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## hollydaise (Feb 23, 2011)

lilspaz68 said:


> hollydaise said:
> 
> 
> > I'd say that they were comparable to the one displayed by your rat Goliath (pretty much a full body stretch--impossible not to notice) but there's no twisting movement like with Aura though. Once again, she only did it for a few minutes and I'm not really sure what might have happened to cause it. She's just as active as her sister now and their patterns of (in)activity are about the same again. Also, I didn't notice any pained vocalizations when I picked her up.
> ...


Well as long they had a long and full life, you can't really hope for much better than that. My former roommate (who now lives in Toronto) and I had three babies, one of which we had to have put down due to some injuries he sustained; we still don't know what happened but we think he might have had a really bad fall in his cage. He was still only a few months old and was the friendliest of the three. Anyway, he looked like sandy colored ones in the top photo; they reminded me of him. The other two are still alive and well though and they now have four cage mates. 

Thanks for the reply. It's good to have a point of reference. Daisy hasn't done it since the other day so I guess I was just being paranoid. I'm still keeping an eye on her but she seems to be herself again (she's back to picking on her sister and her appetite has completely returned as well).


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## hollydaise (Feb 23, 2011)

AMJ087 said:


> How old is your rat? If theres a tumor starting internally it could also cause the pain and discomfort. If it continues Id take her back to the vet


I'm not completely sure; I adopted them from a girl who was moving away to Mississauga. She told they were around nine months old but they were already quite large by this time. I estimate that they're about a year and half old right now. 

She hasn't done it since the other day (aside from doing it a single time after waking up from her naps, like my usually girls do anyway after waking up); I'm still keeping an eye on her though just in case. When I had her at the vet the other day, he felt her belly when he was checking her over and didn't find anything. If she begins doing it several times in a row again, I'll certainly bring her in.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

I have seen a rat do an owwie stretch for "no reason", as long as it doesn't continue I wouldn't worry.


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