Isabel is peeing everywhere

Question
Hi, Isabel my 1yr old rat is peeing all over the place in large quantities. It has been a few days now and her mood has been off she has been quiet and subdued and very clingy. She occasionally sleeps in the bed next to me whilst i read and knows not to pee in the bed. She doesn't pee on the furniture and always runs back to her cage. But she has been getting smoothed then deliberately squatting and having a really long wee.Although she always seems really statled when i scold her for it, as though she didnt really know what she was doing? She has never done this before and it is very odd behavior for her. There has been some trouble at home and she no longer has two "parents". She has had no less attention but i'm concerned she is picking up on the change and mood? I will take her to the vets first thing Monday of course but i also wanted to check it wasn't emotional. She has been sickly since we got her (disgustingly bad pet store, not a breeder)so she is rather spoilt, but has always been a bit emotional. Could this be in her head and if so what can I do about it. The last thing I want is her being upset. Plus she is costing me a fortune in furniture cleaner! She has regular breathing problems but has never had urinary problems.
Please help :)
Thank you very much for your time,
Kind Regards
Kelli Carpenter

Answer
Hi Kelli

For starters, you should stop scolding Isabel for urinating everywhere. For one thing, she cant help it, and for another, you will do nothing but scare her by your negative tone and thats about all you will do is scare her. Rats do not have the ability to connect the word NO with an act that is undesirable. As for the fact she knows not to pee on the bed or furniture: Its not that she knows because she was taught                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 NO, it is because she doesnt want to do it there, or she would.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Rats are smart, we cant deny that, but they are                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   unable to understand something as complex as knowing right from wrong and they do not understand discipline.  Rats can understand simple commands and most of the time these commands have been taught by positive actions/command =obey/reward. For example, when you teach the rat its name, when she responds, you reward her with a treat. She learns to associate the name with a treat, which is positive. Same for coming when called. She responds, you reward with a treat, its positive outcome, she will repeat it because it had a positive outcome, reward. When its negative, there is no reward, so the rat will not wish to repeat, which means no response to the command that has a negative outcome.  Not sure if this makes sense, but I will just shut up about it by saying rats dont learn by being scolded.  LOL

Anyhow, its hard for me to really say without seeing her, but she may have a urinary tract infection.  Is she drinking more water?  Check and see if she has porphyrin discharge or even blood tinged fur around her genitals.   Urinating in places she usually doesnt go and also increase in frequency of urination can mean a UTI.

Do you have a vet for her? If not, let me know and I would be happy to give you a few  names.