Dumbo Rat - Breathing Funny

Question
My daughter has a female dumbo rat named "Beau"..I noticed tonight that the rat is breathing funny..she isn't sneezing, but she seems to be gasping for air. She is also sqeeking more than she usually does. We live in the panhandle of FL and the weather has turned quite cold, although the rats are in a large cage in my daughters bedroom, I wonder if she may have a cold as my daughter had her window cracked yesterday. Beau is about a year and a half old and I know that they usually have a 2 yr life span. However, I don't want her to suffer. I plan to get her to a vet in the AM, but is there anything I can do at home to give her some relief. She is still drinking, but isn't eating much. Is she about to die? I am so worried about her and my kids are devastated....any advice??

Answer
Hi

I have a Beau, too. I bet its short for DUMBO?  My male that is 3.5 years old and was a rescue from the dog pound 2 years ago was named Dumbo because of his ears and I felt that was just too generic so I changed it to BEAU since he answered to DUMBO anyhow.

ANyhow, sounds like she may have pneumonia and it is treatable but she needs medication right away.   Rats do not get colds , they are immune to the hundreds of viruses that causes the common cold.

Also, rats live much longer than 2 years old.  Although their norm is 2, things have changed so much over the years, with vets learning more about rat care and of course people in general falling in love with these  critters and learning all the can about their care, including proper foods etc.. It was once thought rats can eat just seed mixes but it has been found that it is too high in protein and it can destroy the kidneys causing kidney disease later in life.  Most healthy rats are living closer to 3 now and some of mine have gone beyond that even pushing 4 years old.  
However, the vet needs to be a good exotic vet in order to properly treat your girl. She should be put on baytril and doxycycline for at least  full 30 days and also can be given something to help her breathe easier such as albuterol.  Please let me know how things are today and if you went to the vet etc...