baby rat in distress

Question
QUESTION: My daughter found one of my baby males (Zebity) laying on his back in his cage almost convulsing, but not quite. He is limp and it feels like his heart is pounding and he is taking short breaths. He was fine earlier this evening when i was holding him and he eats mainly fresh fruits and veggies with some rat pellets. He is in a cage with his 2 other brothers they are about 7 weeks old. The other two appear to be fine. I seperated him and have him as comfortable as possible. The vet near me wont be in till the morning. Zebity can move a little, its like he is draging himself. What do I do??

ANSWER:
He is seriously ill, it seems, and I fear he needs a vet right away, an emergency clinic that sees exotics.   If he doesnt get help I fear he wont make it much longer.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I kept Zebity near me all night last nighti barely even slept! and I even took him to work with me today. This Morning he was back to his normal self. Eating and drinking and tonight i even let him play with his 2 brothers. He seems to be completely fine. Climbing and hopping about. He doesn't have labored breathing and he has no paralysis....Was this a stroke?  Vet said this morning that if he wasn't showing any symptoms they could do labs or maybe some xrays, but they wouldn't know how to treat it without doing labs.

Answer
Oh my, thats really good news that he is ok.

There are a few things (Stroke isnt one of them)  he could have had a seizure, that would be my first guess.  Seizures in rats are not like the same as humans and they take on many forms, from simply falling over on their side to flapping and waving their front paws aimlessly for a few seconds to staring off into space for several minutes.

I would not stress him with xrays and labs unless he does this again. he is really little and to get a good blood sample, usually we have to put them under and take it from an artery, sometimes from the tail or the neck.  

If it were a stroke he would have some neurological damage such as weakness.  Just watch him closely for the next few days and see if he shows any odd signs of illness.

It wouldnt hurt to let the vet listen to his lungs and heart, though.  I would at least check him there.

Sometimes a disturbance in heart rhythm could cause weakness and shortness of breath too.   All of this would be a devastating since he is so young, there would be no doubt it is genetic if there was something wrong with his heart.  

Is your vet an exotic vet *(avian/exotic board certified, there are less than 100 in the US*)  or a  general DVM that sees exotics?