Rat
Answers
Answers
Health
Rats are prone to a whole bunch of health problems and its important that you're able to recognize them.
Tumors
It is very common for rats to develop tumors, especially older rats. Females tend to develop tumors more often than males. Seek veterinary help whenever a lump is noticed growing on your rat. Often tumors can be surgically removed. The tissue can be biopsied to tell whether its benign or malignant.
Respiratory Infections
Respiratory issues are another common health problem rats have. Symptoms of a respiratory illness are sneezing, wheezing or clicking when breathing, lethargy, loss of weight. If you see these symptoms take your rat to a vet immediately. Pneumonia can result from an unchecked respiratory infection. Antibiotics such as Baytril will usually take care of the problem. Its worth noting that rats that get a respiratory infection once are usually more prone to get one again in the future.
Head Tilting
Tilting of the head and difficulty walking is most often caused by an inner ear infection. You'll need to take your rat to a vet immediately for treatment. An antibiotic such as Baytril should be able to get rid of the infection and depending on the severity you may also be required to administer ear drops.
Teeth Issues
Rat teeth, unlike human teeth, never stop growing. Their teeth will continue getting longer throughout their entire life. This is why it is important to provide your rats with wood blocks to chew on. Most of the time rats will wear their teeth down on their own, but sometimes they're need assistance. If you take your rats to a vet and they will trim their teeth for you or show you how to do it yourself.
If you notice your rat losing weight or not eating the first thing you should check is their teeth. I've seen cases where a rat's bottom teeth had grown into their upper jaw causing an abscess to develop. If you see swelling on the side of your rats head contact a vet immediately.
Proper Handling
Rats can be injured very easily if dropped so it is important to hold them correctly. The proper way of handling a rat is to hold it around the chest with one hand and support the back legs with your other hand. Never pick up your rats by the tail. It is a good idea to handle your rat as much as possible in order for it to get used to being around people.
Climbing
Do not let your rats climb very high. Rats will stumble and fall from time to time. A fall from a high place can result in broken limbs or worse. Always supervise your rats when they are out of their cage to make sure they're not too adventurous.
Cage Injuries
When playing or climbing it is not uncommon for rats to sometimes get their legs caught in the wire mesh of the cage. This can result in them pulling their leg and injuring it. Most of the time they will nurse the injured leg for a day or two and then it will be fine again. It is possible that the leg could be broken. In either case follow the procedures listed below for broken limbs.
Broken Limbs
I've read a number of cases on the Internet of people taking their rats to vets because of a broken limb and the vet recommending euthanasia. This is incorrect because broken limbs are very treatable! I'm sure veterinarians don't get a lot of classes on rats and putting the animal to sleep may be the only option when treating other species but this is not the case with rats.
When you find your rat has a broken limb it is best to confine the rat to a single level cage by itself. If you have a hospital cage now is the time to use it. Keep it in a quiet place and try to make sure he stays still and is not active. After a few days the bone will have set and he should start walking around again.
Tumors
It is very common for rats to develop tumors, especially older rats. Females tend to develop tumors more often than males. Seek veterinary help whenever a lump is noticed growing on your rat. Often tumors can be surgically removed. The tissue can be biopsied to tell whether its benign or malignant.
Respiratory Infections
Respiratory issues are another common health problem rats have. Symptoms of a respiratory illness are sneezing, wheezing or clicking when breathing, lethargy, loss of weight. If you see these symptoms take your rat to a vet immediately. Pneumonia can result from an unchecked respiratory infection. Antibiotics such as Baytril will usually take care of the problem. Its worth noting that rats that get a respiratory infection once are usually more prone to get one again in the future.
Head Tilting
Tilting of the head and difficulty walking is most often caused by an inner ear infection. You'll need to take your rat to a vet immediately for treatment. An antibiotic such as Baytril should be able to get rid of the infection and depending on the severity you may also be required to administer ear drops.
Teeth Issues
Rat teeth, unlike human teeth, never stop growing. Their teeth will continue getting longer throughout their entire life. This is why it is important to provide your rats with wood blocks to chew on. Most of the time rats will wear their teeth down on their own, but sometimes they're need assistance. If you take your rats to a vet and they will trim their teeth for you or show you how to do it yourself.
If you notice your rat losing weight or not eating the first thing you should check is their teeth. I've seen cases where a rat's bottom teeth had grown into their upper jaw causing an abscess to develop. If you see swelling on the side of your rats head contact a vet immediately.
| That exact thing happened to my rat Porthos. He was taken to the vet with massive swelling on the side of his face. The vet sucked a syringe full of puss from the swollen area. He was put on anti-biotics and a couple days later his abcess broken open as can be seen in the picture to the right. We thoroughly cleaned it every day and about a week later it was fully healed and the swelling was completely gone. |  |
Proper Handling
Rats can be injured very easily if dropped so it is important to hold them correctly. The proper way of handling a rat is to hold it around the chest with one hand and support the back legs with your other hand. Never pick up your rats by the tail. It is a good idea to handle your rat as much as possible in order for it to get used to being around people.
Climbing
Do not let your rats climb very high. Rats will stumble and fall from time to time. A fall from a high place can result in broken limbs or worse. Always supervise your rats when they are out of their cage to make sure they're not too adventurous.
Cage Injuries
When playing or climbing it is not uncommon for rats to sometimes get their legs caught in the wire mesh of the cage. This can result in them pulling their leg and injuring it. Most of the time they will nurse the injured leg for a day or two and then it will be fine again. It is possible that the leg could be broken. In either case follow the procedures listed below for broken limbs.
Broken Limbs
I've read a number of cases on the Internet of people taking their rats to vets because of a broken limb and the vet recommending euthanasia. This is incorrect because broken limbs are very treatable! I'm sure veterinarians don't get a lot of classes on rats and putting the animal to sleep may be the only option when treating other species but this is not the case with rats.
When you find your rat has a broken limb it is best to confine the rat to a single level cage by itself. If you have a hospital cage now is the time to use it. Keep it in a quiet place and try to make sure he stays still and is not active. After a few days the bone will have set and he should start walking around again.