# My rat is drooling and lethargic?



## cephres (Sep 8, 2014)

I started this thread last night on the Rat Behavior forum, and thought I had the problem with my rat solved, but this morning he is even worse!

He didn't greet me this morning when I put lab blocks in their cage (I gave them 4, I have two rats) but he did take a block from me very excitedly. I am fairly sure that he ate or at least nibbled on it. It has been about an hour since that time; I went to close their cage and I noticed that he seemed very lethargic. I noticed several other things while I was looking at him, so here's what I have for you.

He's drooling quite a lot (his entire chin is sopping)
He tenses up on occasion, like last night when he regurgitated
He won't hold his head up, and keeps laying it on the ground in front of him.

I looked up his symptoms and it sounds just like he is choking. I've heard of doing something called "the fling" to alleviate a blockage in the throat, but I am unsure if I should try it. What if I make it worse? Please reply quickly as I am afraid of his condition getting any worse. Thank you for any response that I get!


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## rivergirl10 (Jun 8, 2013)

My girl is doing the same thing... Not quite lethargic but tensing up and gagging... She IS choking... I dunno how your boy is doing but I hope it goes (or went) well. I started a thread and no one has said too much either


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

Can you hear something in his lungs? Is he making a wheezing sound? I don't have a lot of experience with this but from what i've read choking is more of a nuisance than an emergency for non-human mammals because they can still breathe while swallowing. However, if he aspirated (the food went into the lungs) than he could have developed aspiration pneumonia which is deadly and requires professional treatment. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000121.htm


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## Mrs.Brisby (Jan 4, 2014)

Another link: http://ratguide.com/health/lower_respiratory/pneumonia.php


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## cephres (Sep 8, 2014)

Thank you so much Mrs.Brisby! My rat is fine now, I gave him a few little pieces of toast to swallow and it cleared his blockage right up.


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