Does my rat have pneumonia?

Question

My rex rat, Darcy, is breathing really weird.

When she takes in air, it sounds as if she was snoring.

With the info on the internet, I think she has pneumonia.

What do you rat owners out there think?

Answer 1

I don't think it's pneumonia, i just think it's an upper repertory infection. My rat had a repertory infection and she had the same symptoms. I took her to the vet and was on antibiotics for 2 weeks. She is now perfectly fine and is very healthy.

Just take her to the vet and she should be good in no time.

Answer 2

May observe any of the following:

Porphyrin (rust colored) stains about nose and/or eyes.

Wheezing, small coughs, congestion, sneezing, increase in rapid breathing, labored breathing, use of abdominal muscles to breathe, and gasping.

Hunched posturing with rough coat

Lethargy

Poor or loss of appetite.

May hear Rales (crackling, often sounds like rice krispies in milk) when listening to chest with stethoscope.

May hear Rhonchi (rumbling indicating presence of thick fluid) when listening to chest with stethoscope.

If significant consolidation present in lungs breath sounds may be diminished even when listening with a stethoscope.

Presence of head tilt if otitis media/interna (ear infection) is present.

Presence of secondary illness, eg: tumors.

Panic type movement related to inability to get enough oxygen into lungs.

Changes in behavior due to illness (e.g. nipping, biting, avoidance)

Feet and tail tip cyanosis (as oxygen in blood decreases) may be a late sign.

what is pneumonia? An infection and inflammatory process of the bronchioles, alveolor spaces, and interstitial tissue of the lung parenchyma.

Answer 3

Yes it does sound like it. My rat had pneumonia and he sounded like a coffee percilator.

Find a vet in your area that treats rats. They will need to put her on antibiotics, baytril and or doxy. If you have other rats, you'll need to seperate her. This is what I did for my rat and he pulled through fine:

-Bought a humidifier and placed it by the cage (helps break up the phlegm)

-Brought him into the bathroom with the shower running on hot (for the steam) every morning/evening for about 15 minutes at a time (again breaks up the phlegm).

-Make sure he stays warm...heat is your friend! I put a heating pad under one side of his cage (make sure there is a cool place he can go if he gets too hot), when I was around...turned it off at night and when I was at work.

-Made sure he was eating/drinking (another MAJOR thing). Feed heated baby food from a dropper if not eating...heated baby food on a spoon a couple times a day to supplement eating (the warm food is good, and its a good way to KNOW that they are eating). Also, you can add some honey to their water if they seem to be sluggish and to give them some energy if they arent eating, but are drinking.

-If they aren't drinking, use a dropper.

-Take her out once a day to move around (get the phlegm to move). Also if shes seperated from other rats in an isolation cage, to let her 'stretch'.

-If shes your only rat and you have a multi-story cage, if shes sticking to one level....make sure there is food and water offered for her.

Other than that, its a lot of worrying and praying. Pnuemonia is tough for rats. Try to get her to the vet ASAP. http://www.ratfanclub.org/vetref.html

I dont know where you are, but here are some exotic animal vets.

good luck to the both of you!

Answer 4

It sounds like she may have an upper respiratory infection, but only a vet can tell for sure.  Please take her to the vet immediately, rats get very sick very quickly.

Answer 5

She might, however, rats usually suffer from some type of respiratory infection. The majority of infections in rats are caused my the bacteria Mycoplasma Pulmonis, which all rats carry in their lungs. if this bacteria gets out of hand, it may cause some type of infection. most of these infections are chronic, but there are antibiotics you can get from your vet to help treat the symptoms. some of these symptoms are wheezing, sneezing, difficulty breathing, and red discharge from the nose and eyes called porphyrin. bring your rattie to a vet to get checked out. this infection can turn into fatal pneumonia. good luck!

Answer 6

It sounds like she might. It's common for rats to get upper respiratory infections, especially if they're little. I suggest you take her to a vet as soon as possible...I lost one rat and almost his brother since I didn't go to the vet soon enough!