oh no

[ratcreature]

I just found Silas suddenly sitting somewhere (he seemed fine earlier), with some sort of slimy, slightly foamy stuff coming out of his mouth. And he isn't even grooming it away. I've never seen anything like that with a rat (they don't vomit or anything). He seemed fine earlier, not even an hour ago when I filled their bowls with food and gave them some treats. And then suddenly he's like this! I hope he'll be okay until I can get him to the vet tomorrow morning, and that whatever is afflicting him is not contagious, or that the food is somehow contaminated with something and they are all going to die (I have given them from this box the last few days already though). Sick rats are bad enough, but a rat sick with something you've never seen before and can't gauge is ten times worse. Please cross your fingers for the poor guy. He's not even a year old. And why do these things always happen in the middle of the night?

Comments

[sholio]

Oh no! I really hope he's okay. *sends good vibes*

[ratcreature]

Thank you. He looks anything but okay. I thought about whether I should maybe call my vet's 24h emergency line, but they are very adamant to only use that in life-threatening emergencies, and he has no wounds, nor immediate breathing distress (though his breathing seems a little bit more labored than usual), so it's not exactly a clear emergency that can't wait another 8 hours until their practice opens no matter how alarmed I am, because I've never seen anything like this. Of course if he dies during the night, I'll never forgive myself... *frets*

[(Anonymous)]

Vielecht sowas: "Trotzdem werden sehr oft Zustände bei Ratten beschrieben, die mit Erbrechen gleichgesetzt werden. Würgen, starkes Speicheln, heftige Atmung, teils Schaum vor dem Mund.
Das ist jedoch eine Fehldiagnose.
Es handelt sich dabei in aller Regel um ein Verschlucken, bei dem dem Tier Nahrungsteile in die Luftröhre gelangt sind. "

http://www.rattenforum.de/phpbb/faq/faq.php?display=faq&nr=98&catnr=7&prog=1&lang=de

Gruß
Claudia

[ratcreature]

Ja, das könnte passen, besonders da es so plötzlich auftrat. Mein erster Impuls als ich ihn so sitzen sah mit dem Zeug vorm Maul und dem Kopf nach unten war auch ihm das Maul freizuwischen und ihm auf den Rücken zu klopfen. Und da der Kleine zum Glück bisher nicht erstickt ist, und sogar auch wieder normaler aussieht, wenn auch etwas mitgenommen, aber jedenfalls nicht mehr so dahockt mit Schaum vorm Mund, hat er das ja vielleicht auch inzwischen aus seiner Luftröhre rausbekommen, und es renkt sich alles wieder ein. Ich werde ihn aber trotzdem sicherheitshalber morgen zum Tierarzt bringen.

[krait]

Oh, no! My fingers are cross for Silas! Both hands, even.

[ratcreature]

Thanks for the good wishes! I had him checked out this morning, and when the vet looked into his mouth (not so easy with a rat) his throat was red and irritated and his temperature was lower than the vet liked, but she did say that choking on something swallowed the wrong way can look like this with rats. So that's the best guess so far as to what happened. She also put him on antibiotics for his sneezing, for which I had wanted to bring him in soon anyway, because in her opinion it's best to treat all such sneezing to prevent the infection from taking root in his lungs (thankfully Silas' lungs sounded okay).

[krait]

I hope that's all it is, and that it clears up quickly! Good to hear that the sneezing's being treated, and that his lungs don't seem to be in any distress.

[talitha78]

Fingers crossed!

[ratcreature]

Thanks! He seems to have "only" choked. When the vet looked into his throat it was red and irritated but he should be okay.

[lilacsigil]

Fingers crossed he just gnawed on something he shouldn't.

[ratcreature]

Thanks! He really seems to have swallowed the wrong way, though choking is bad enough and it looked really scary. His throat was red when the vet checked it, and his temperature a bit too low, and she also put him on antibiotics for his sneezing that I had noticed before this episode, and for which I had wanted to bring him in soon anyway, because in her opinion it's best to treat all such sneezing early to prevent the infection from taking root in his lungs (thankfully Silas' lungs sounded okay).

[astridv]

I hope he's gonna be okay!

[ratcreature]

Thanks! The vet checked him this morning, and the best guess is really that he choked on something, which apparently can look this scary in rats. His throat was red and irritated when she looked into his mouth, and his temperature was lower than the vet liked, but it looks like he's going to be fine. She also put him on antibiotics for his sneezing, for which I had wanted to bring him in soon anyway, even though his lungs thankfully sounded still fine, because in her opinion it's best to treat all such sneezing to prevent the infection from taking root in his lungs.