# Sick rat gasping for air



## zieo92 (Jul 25, 2014)

One of my girls has been sick for a few months, but it has gradually gotten worse. She has a few good hours per day, but the rest of the time she has the sniffles or sneezes. I give her a little bit of chocolate a couple times a day which seems to help a bit. Today, however I found her on top of her cage gasping for breath with her mouth wide open and her sides heaving. It ended when a bubble came out of her nose. She's currently resting but with a bad case of the sniffles. Is there anything I can do to help her? I don't want her to be in pain or distress.


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## Ilovemybabyrats (Feb 5, 2013)

You have to get her to the vet. Sounds like a respiratory infection. Not to scare you but just so you know what you're dealing with, I had seven of my mischief catch it. Four of them died, and the other three will never really be well again. Strong meds are needed. You'll probably get a prescription for baytril and doxycycline.


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

Sounds bad, definitely get her to a vet ASAP. I think mine have the beginnings of respiratory issues, I'm starting them on raw honey tomorrow and have ordered amoxicillin. Let us know how she's doing after her vet appointment!


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## zieo92 (Jul 25, 2014)

I'm not sure when I can get her to the vet (I also have no idea if there is a vet nearby who treats rats), but thankfully she is back to her normal self after a bit of resting. I know she's still sick, but I'm just happy to see that it was a temporary event and she's not going to be miserable all the time like that.

Does raw honey help at all? I haven't heard about that one.


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

Apparently it can, I haven't tried it yet but it was recommended to me for minor respiratory issues. If she's really bad though you may need antibiotics 


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## PawsandClaws (Jul 22, 2014)

Yes, your rat needs a vet appointment right now. I do want to scare you because I have been there and you could lose your rat if you do not act right now. What you are seeing is severe respiratory distress. Normally, a rat breathes through its nose. When a rat resorts to breathing with its mouth open and there is abdominal involvement, that means they are really fighting for that intake of breath. However I have been there and had our rat pull through the ordeal! But you have to act fast, I cannot stress that enough. You need to get the rat on a combination of antibiotics for an aggressive treatment. Please, please take the rat to a vet.

Also just to add, my rat who was in severe respiratory distress had periods during the day where he looked like nothing was wrong then got worse again. This is because rats try very hard to look like they are perfectly healthy (they are prey animals after all and sickness is weakness) so you need to take the rat in anyway. Severe respiratory illnesses do not just go away with some honey, they need antibiotics.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

It's not a temporary event. She has a very bad URI and you have to get her to the vet. Call around.


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## flamegurl (Apr 30, 2013)

My girl rat, Latte went through this. I had brought home a pet store feeder rat that was very unhealthy. Not doing that again! Its scary because they cant breath and and try so hard to stay alive. You can see how much pain they are in! I was so scared the first time my Latte (my heart rat) got sick like this. I stayed up all night with her in a tiny bathroom using a humidifyer. Luckily my vet is awesome and saw me right away without an appointment. The next day she was back to normal which made me go back to normal as well. Lesson learned. When the symptoms are there take care of it asap!!


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## zieo92 (Jul 25, 2014)

Thank you everyone for your responses! I just took Luna to the vet (who was kind enough to fit us in on such short notice because of her severe symptoms) and he said that she may have pneumonia and prescribed her Baytril for now. He said that he could really hear it in her lungs, so I'm hoping the Baytril will help out. I'm going to see how she does and then we may go back in a couple weeks for a checkup.


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

The Vet should also have given her Doxycycline along with the Baytril. And even Metacam for her discomfort. Anyway, if she won't take to the meds, mix them with a tiny amount of ice cream, mayonaise, baby food or soy beverage.


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