RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:05 am

My girly, Shroom, Was getting wild tongiht hyper running on thw hweel ect.
Everyonce in a while, she has "b b b bb b b b " noises always after serious play though.
Can you descirbe ot me if rats can have Ashima?
What it sounds like when they have an attack, and how ot help them out?
Or ne-monia?

Thanks.

Sry cant spell it, spellnig is bad and im tired.. (Asima?)

And forgot ot add she is acting compeltely normal.
Is completely heathy
Clear lungs, last vet visit.

Last edited by Spadez on Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:09 am; edited 1 time in total

Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:08 am

I have a recording, does nayone know a sight u can put sound on? (Recording isnt the best though)

Wed Feb 08, 2006 3:12 pm

Rats can get asthma - it's simply a narrowing of the airways in response to some stimulus, along with inflammation, swelling and production of mucus. I've had rats that respond to asthma medications and have asthma type attacks where they can't breathe easily. It's often a result of allergies to something specific (such as dust, pollen or a food item) or a more general thing, often following repeated or severe respiratory infections.

In my experience, they wheeze - it tends to come on rather suddenly, they get a little panicky (or a lot depending how bad they are), they breathe hard and you can see their sides sucking in. In other cases, they have a more persistant wheeze but less severe breathing difficulties. In severe cases, you get panicky rats, trying to get high up in the cage or get out of the cage, blueness of ears, paws, tail etc and eventually collapse and death if severe enough. Either way, it should respond to bronchodilaters (relievers) given by nebuliser or orally, or steroids or even adrenaline (epinephrine) given by the vet as an injection.

Pneumonia tends to produce lethargy, prostration, wheezing, possibly excessive porphyrin secretion over the face and front paws, rattling, snottiness, wet breathing noises, panicking, possibly blueness of the paws, lips, tongue, ears and tail, lack of appetite, dehydration, sitting hunched up, puffed up fur, hiding away, not moving around, panicking if breathing is really hard, visible sucking in of sides and rib movements during breathing efforts, trying to get high in the cage, falling if they're very low on oxygen, and eventually possibly seizures and death. Usually they're pretty ill with pneumonia.

http://www.supload.com/free-audio-hosting hosts files for free, but I've never used it so I can't recommend it or give good or bad reviews on it. Google will give you plenty of links if you search for "free audio hosting".

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Wed Feb 08, 2006 4:37 pm

http://www.supload.com/sound_confirm.php?get=80966623.wav - first duration (I think you have download it, its small though)
http://www.supload.com/sound_confirm.php?get=700106033.wav - second duration

Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:05 pm

If it's what I think I'm listening to (because it's relatively quiet on the recording compared to the background noise) it sounds like she maybe has a little congestion somewhere in her respiratory tract - either her nose or chest... but it seems very quiet. Or possibly, she's bruxing even. It's really not easy to tell for sure.

How loud is it? Is it very quiet, when you're in the room with her, or is it a loud noise that you can hear from the other side of the room or from the next room (when Mal was really bad, you could hear his wheezing from the next room at times).

It might be nothing really - just her snuffling loudly. It might be she has some congestion from either allergies, an infection, or just getting something up her nose that makes it runny. Or she could just be happy after all the play.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:17 am

Its pretty loud, and doesnt sound like a resp. to me, i was jsut owndering.
It isnt bruxing, shes odne that before and there is a definat difference.

Is she jsut chirpy?

Thu Feb 09, 2006 3:04 am

Some rats do make weird noises, but often they can be respiratory in nature - sometimes they sound like rattling, wheezing or obvious snotty noises. Other times, they sound like guineapig or monkey noises.... occasionally, you get rats that make those kinds of noises without having underlying respiratory issues, but it's usually worth getting them looked over in case it's something that can't be heard properly without a stethoscope. Have you tried holding her up against your ear, like a sea shell, and listening to her chest that way?

Edit: It's also possible, I guess, that she's actually chirruping. Try http://www.ratbehavior.org and click on the link entitled "Norway Rat Vocalisations" - you can download some sound clips there and see if any sound like what she's doing.

_________________
Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~