rat breathing question

Question
Hi,
I have a little girl, Fiver, who's about 2 1/2 years old. She's always made what I can only describe as guinea pig like noises when breathing. Some days she's louder than others but it's never seemed to bother her. She's also always breathed with her sides, if that makes any sense. Only before, it was intermittent and now she seems to do it all the time. She's also been sneezing a bit more too. Her energy levels are only a little bit lower than normal and she still eats and drinks as usual. She's always been skinny and so I thought that the "side" breathing thing was just because I could see it more easily but I've been looking at different websites and they all say it indicates a serious problem. She's not going to the top of her cage and hanging her head and her extremities (feet, tail) are pink. I haven't seen any porphyrin either. I guess my question is, is "side" breathing always serious? If so I want to get her to the vet but she's always been a bit high strung so I don't want to stress her out needlessly.

Thanks!

Patrick

Answer
Hi Patrick

The Guinea pig noises are usually indicative of some sort of respiratory involvement, be it infection, scarring of the lungs or simply extra mucus in the nasal passages.   The rapid breathing that involves her sides sinking in may not be as severe as other rats. They tend to use their abdomen to breathe too.  

How long has she been doing this?  You said she has "always" made the guinea pig sounds, and has always breathed with her sides.    How long is always?  Since the day you brought her home?
Also, rats do seem to move their sides in and out when breathing and this is pretty normal. What is not normal is when they seem to have labored breathing and their sides sink in real deep and they seem to be using their abdominal muscles to help them move air.  Not sure if that makes sense or not.

The fact that she is over 2 means alot, though. She must be healthy or she would not have made it this far:)!
Its hard for me to understand if she just has chronic mycoplasmosis that never really flared up to a full blown respiratory infection or if she has some kind of lung problem or heart problem.