*One in series of post to documents our experiences with a variety of health problems and how we, with our vet's guidance, treated them. This is in no way an attempt to create a comprehensive health care guide. We aren't vets, we just spend a lot of time (and money) at our vet's office...and unfortunately that is because there are a lot of health problems possible with rats. If I can give only one piece of advice to a new rat owner, it is get a good vet. Experience treating rats is good (I was quite pleased when our vet picked up Rizzo for the first time and said "These are my favorite of the pocket pets"), but so is a willingness to research and listen to what you've learned on your own.
One evening I was working on the computer when I heard a cough from Rizzo's cage. I looked up to see foamy liquid coming from her mouth. The noise she made and the stuff from her mouth looked for all the world like a dog about to vomit, but rats don't vomit. I'd heard that little tidbit for years before I had rats. As usual, this happened several hours after the vet closed, so I went to the Panicked Internet Search...where I found, and fairly quickly, instructions for assisting a choking rat.
Here's what happened...apparently Riz had something caught in her throat. Luckily she was breathing, I could see her chest move and she was not turning blue. But if she'd stopped breathing, I was getting ready to perform what's known as the "ratty fling" to dislodge whatever was stuck. Here is Debbie "The Rat Lady" Ducommun's description from the Rat Fan Club First Aid page:
Hold your rat firmly around the neck with one hand, and by the base of the tail with the other to hold her securely. Make sure there are no objects within an arm's length. Lift the rat overhead and bring her down in a rapid arc, so that at the end of the path she's tail up and head down. This can be repeated 3-4 times, then give the rat a rest, check her breathing, and see if anything is visible in the mouth. This is extremely effective in dislodging objects in the throat. However, do not use this procedure if your rat can breathe, or you might make it worse.
I'm not sure what she choked on, either. It must have been a piece of her rat food mix, and she was eating too fast. I have seen warnings to avoid very soft and sticky foods like peanut butter and soft bread, though, because they are choking hazards.