pet rat choking

Question
Hi Sandra, I have a male hairless rat who is almost 2 years old. On Sunday
night I gave him a little piece of seaweed, the kind that sushi is made with.
He was eating it just fine and then i noticed that he was making funny noises.
It looked as if he was choking. He kept sneezing and breathing heavily and a
piece of the seaweed came up from his mouth. For the next 15 or so minutes
i just sat with him while he seemed to be attempting to cough up the
seaweed. Every time he sneezed little pieces of the seaweed came out of his
nose. I kept an eye on him for the rest of night and he seemed to recover, he
began eating and drinking and eventually just curled up and went to sleep.
Since then he has been unstable when he walks. He hasnt had much energy,
he doesnt leave his bed except to eat and drink and go to the bathroom.
When he walks he is wobbly. He has also has more than usual reddish-brown
discharge from him eyes. He seems to be breathing just fine, everything else
is normal expect for him being unstable when he walks, the discharge and
less energy. I am not sure what to think. Any help that you have to offer is
much appreciated. Thanks!

Answer
Hi


I sure wish rats were designed to vomit, but unfortunately they cant. I am glad he got the seaweed up but I do fear he may have possibly aspirated some of it into his lungs. I hope not, but he should see a vet to be sure he is ok. I am not happy he is unstable but at least he is eating and drinking.  I would steer clear of foods like this in the future.  Rats can choke on the strangest things. We have even seen rats die from choking on peanut butter despite his best efforts.


Sometimes during choking, a bit of food can travel through the airway to the lungs and cause what is known as aspiration pneumonia. If he is sick like this, I fear this may be something he could possibly have developed and he should be checked out by a good exotic vet to b sure he is ok.  If you need some names of good vets for rats, please let me know your location and I will give you some names of good vets, no obligation of course.