Weak rat! Please help!

Question
QUESTION: My sweet female rat Cinnamon is usually robust and always trying to scamper
any place she can get to, but today i noticed she seems really weak and just
sits in your hand, she's breathing fast and her fur has suddenly become very
soft when it used to be really coarse. She clicks her teeth together a lot when
i hold her, and her 4 cagemates seem totally fine and energetic. She's
probably about a year old and i've had her since last summer, the part that
really scares me is that something really similar struck another rat a few
months ago, and she died from it. I really want to save this baby this time!
Please help!

ANSWER: Nikki

She needs a vet.  She sounds like she has infection and antibiotics are the only way to help her get better.  

Do you have a vet for her?



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

QUESTION: No we don't have a vet, i don't know where any are.

What kind of infection?

thanks!

ANSWER: She may have a respiratory infection which is why she has labored breathing.

Check her feet (the bottoms) are they nice and pink or do they have a blue tinge to them?

Try to be sure she is getting water. At this point, any liquid is ok, even koolaid (NO SODA!) Use a dropper if you must, but she needs fluids and in fact that may even make her feel better somewhat.

Is she eating?

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

QUESTION: I read on a website that steaming them can help until you get them to a vet.
(Taking them into the bathroom when the shower's going and breathing the
steam) Is this true? are there other things i can do until we can get her to the vet
tomorrow?

Answer
Steaming may help but it can stress them too if they are scared of the running water.  You can move the cage in the bathroom without taking her out.

Baby food...rats prefer to lick rather than chew if they are having a hard time breathing.  Let her lick baby food from your finger or a flat dish.

How is she acting today?