# Rat drooling heavily, staring into space



## yashu (Sep 14, 2007)

I caught one of my females sitting there on a ledge looking like... how should I put this... looking like she was tripping, basically drooling, so much so that it had all dripped down her mouth and down her front legs. 

She is a hairless female about 8 months old, I want to say, I am pretty sure.

Anyway... I have caught her before in these states... half tilted, looking like she is in a complete trance (to me it looks like she is rolling on ecstasy, not that I would know what that looks like, hehehe  ), sometimes bruxing and boggling like it is very pleasurable, but this time she wasn't, she was drooling so bad that it made her front feet wet and cold, her nose was dripping wet and cold.

I reached in there and she snapped out of it... but I had to dry her off because the drool was making her front section so cold. I have never seen her drool before, or any rat drool like that. It was very strange, she snapped out of it and began trying to shake the water off her arms, flapping them like a humming bird. It was quite surreal.

Anyway... what does it mean when a rat drools like that? I have never seen it before. She seems fine now, I dried her off and warmed her up. I have suspected rat seizures before in others, but this is the first time I got "pit in my stomach" worried over it.


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## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

It almost sounds like a possible seizure. I'd take her in to the vet, get her checked over. Discuss it with him/her. But having seizures in my family, and a rat here who had one... Doesn't sound like a grand mal (I think they use another term now) where one convulses, but there are many types of seizures.

Not sure other than that, maybe someone can shed some light on the subject.


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## yashu (Sep 14, 2007)

It's definitely not a grand mal seizure... I have experience with that, this would be something closer to some type of epileptic version. I know people that have seizures in the same way, not convulsing but still take anti seizure meds. 

I know rats can have many types, but these are symptoms that I am not familiar with. I have heard of, foaming at the mouth (not drool), convulsions (doesn't apply here), strange violent sniffing of the air (also doesn't apply), and then there is where they go still and trance out, but I have never seen "extremely heavy drooling" as part of the symptom. She does snap out of it when I poke her and she seems like nothing is wrong after, aside from having to dry her face and arms off.

The reason I think it could be a seizure type is that, I know that it can begin basically innocently, and then get worse as time goes on, and she has, like I said, tranced out a few times before, but those times she seemed like she was in pleasure then.

It's too late to contact a vet and I am not going to unless I am sure about something. Right now, it is a sporadic event, as in, there is no telling when or if it will happen again. So the vet may hold her for a few days and not see anything. I know enough about this where it would be better to approach a vet knowing more, otherwise it can end up being a wasteful money pit. (it's true... sorry to say)


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## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

Fair enough, I suppose. I know our vet never *saw* Barney (rescue rat) have a seizure, but he checked him over, didn't find anything specifically wrong, and said if it happened again, we'd try a seizure med. Now he did have a convulsion, but again, there's so many types of seizures - all depending on where in the brain the "short out" occurs.

I don't know about rats, but people can have seizures where they drool and appear to "check out". Often mistaken for daydreaming or "not paying attention". Since rats don't generally drool (except when choking), I find it a bit concerning, especially given the amount you say she drools.

Bruxing doesn't *always* signal pleasure, btw. Bruxing can be seen with pain and stress, as well.

I suggested the vet since it's been happening over and over. But totally do what feels right to you. My suggestions are just that.


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## yashu (Sep 14, 2007)

No, I understand. I may start by calling my vet and seeing what she says and go from there.

This was the only time there was drool, but she has tranced out before several times. I have never seen a rat drool before, actually. 

Yes, there are seizures where the person seems to just zone out, drool, but not convulse, and sometimes seem basically normal, but on an EEG, there are seizure patterns. Usually, it is a form of epilepsy. It can be very stressful because it may seem ok to the outside observer, but to the person, it is extremely scary, like a panic attack.


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## Kimmiekins (Apr 14, 2007)

*nods* I know it. I have grand mal seizures, as does my mom, brother and uncle. I've had the epilepsy patterns on EEGs, but they haven't. It's interesting...

Keep us updated at least, I'm always interested in health problems that I may encounter down the road.


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## yashu (Sep 14, 2007)

I will... I am sure the thread will get old for a bit and then updated if she does it again... it could be days or more, who knows.

I have had 1 confirmed grand mal seizure myself, and one that I suspect, but I was living alone and wasn't quite sure. I have not had one in years now and the seizure meds only made me anxious. Doctors could not find anything on EEG or MRI, I kindof wished that I could have had a fuctional MRI done, because I have some other weird issues that doctors have no idea what are caused by, but you know the USA, hard to get anything done even with good insurance. I thought perhaps that there must be something strange happening in parts of my brain, and that a standard MRI would not show function, only topology. EEG only measures waves, and during a 24hr EEG, I flagged about 10 strange events that did not show on the chart. I would love to actually know how my brain function compares to that of a normal individual. 

I live a very weird life, but that is way OT


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Definitely not choking? They drool tons then. And the bruxxing sounds stressed not relaxed. So no retching movements just absolutely still?


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## ratastic (Jul 1, 2007)

I had a dog that did this. He would be fine then start staring off into space and drooling. He would be like this for a minute then snap out of it and act like nothing happened. It turned out to be epilepsy, and we had to get him some meds to control it.


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## yashu (Sep 14, 2007)

No choking... and yes completely still, leaning to one side like she is tripping out... it's not an inner ear thing, she walks fine normally, she just leans to one side when in a trance and stands completely still except for either the bruxing and boggling, or last night, drooled all over herself, down her mouth and front legs, dripping wet.


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