# Rat seems bloated?



## a1phanine (Mar 27, 2018)

Hi all,

I have two rats that eat basically the same thing, all ages rat nuggets food from petsathome
Oscar seems happy and active and well however I am a bit worried about Twitch.

He seems quite bloated (or fat? how do I know the difference?)
I have been giving them cucumber slices as treats (they love them) could that be the problem?

He still climbs around a bit and will come running up to the cage door for food etc but he does not like being held, i'm wondering if he has some belly discomfort and that's why? they never squeak or bite and hes very lovely and licky if I put my hand near him. I've taken him out the cage onto my lap about 3 or 4 times to get him trained to be used to me but I am just worried about the bloating after hearing about megacolon after googling it.

Any advice? I dont want to stress them taking him to the vet if I can avoid it but obviously I will do if you think it needs checking out
I am monitoring it at the moment, I can put my hand around him and lightly squeeze his belly in the cage and he doesn't seem to be in any pain with it (no squeaking or biting) but he's very jumpy when touched at all, you have to grab him quickly else he'll run away

Thanks x


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

How long have you had him? Could you post a picture?

There's this horrible condition called megalacolon in which the rat has an area in the intestines which didn't develop right and thus food can't move along very well. So then they slowly get bloated because they can't expel the waste and it kills them 

I'm not saying this is the case here but classic signs are bloating and intermitted periods of diarrhea and constipation. Mild cases can be managed with a special diet and soft foods along with in some cases occasional enemas. Here's the rat health page on it: http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/megacolon.php


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## a1phanine (Mar 27, 2018)

Shadow <3 said:


> How long have you had him? Could you post a picture?
> 
> There's this horrible condition called megalacolon in which the rat has an area in the intestines which didn't develop right and thus food can't move along very well. So then they slowly get bloated because they can't expel the waste and it kills them
> 
> I'm not saying this is the case here but classic signs are bloating and intermitted periods of diarrhea and constipation. Mild cases can be managed with a special low fiber diet and soft foods along with in some cases occasional enemas. Here's the rat health page on it: http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/megacolon.php


Omg the photos on that site of megacolon actually made me cry. Poor little guys 
It's not to that extent at all, I have noticed some odd stooling once (one really long poo double the size of normal)

The litter tray is always full of poops but I cant tell which of them it is
I've had him a month. I dont actually know how old he is ><

They still play fight with each other and run around together and stuff but twitch is not as active as oscar

They've been having cheerios as snacks too, perhaps im too generous - could it be constipation from too much fibre?
i'll try and take a picture but its difficult


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

a1phanine said:


> Omg the photos on that site of megacolon actually made me cry. Poor little guys
> It's not to that extent at all, I have noticed some odd stooling once (one really long poo double the size of normal)
> 
> The litter tray is always full of poops but I cant tell which of them it is
> ...



He might just be a chubby guy then  . I have 2 girls in my group who are sisters from the same litter. At 5 weeks old they were the same size but now Cream is over twice her sister Cookies size and weight! And they both eat the same things and seem to eat the same amount!


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Until you can get a pic, what color is your boy? does he have splashy white markings on him?

Can you guess on his age? Is he a baby, an adolescent, young adult?


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