Health

Like all pets, rats sometimes need veterinary care. The most common problems in rats in NZ are respiratory infections, lumps and hormonal aggression. 

They can also be known as 'resps', and can be relatively common in pet rats. If treated promptly, then often they can be completely resolved. 

Signs and symptoms:

• Excessive sneezing

• Loud breathing - may sound  like they're honking, cooing, crackly or even congested. 

• Excessive porphyrin around nose/eyes (essentially red tears/snot).

• Lethargy 

With URI's its best to get them to a vet as soon as possible, and if they're in distress (laboured breahting or open mouth breathing), then they need to go to the emergency vet now. 

Typically a vet will prescribe a 3 week course of Baytril or Vibravet paste, although there are stronger medication options if these don't work.

For a full list of antibiotics and dosages, visit the RMCA website for the RMCA drug chart, or The Rat Medicine Guide.

Please note: in NZ we do not have contagious respiratory illnesses in rats, so you don't need to quarantine your rat elsewhere while it's receiving treatment for its URI.

Tumours

Tumours can be pretty common in females. Male rats are less prone to get them. Tumors are either benign or or malignant, the majority being benign. Benign tumors are non-cancerous and are usually easy to remove as they're encapsulated in a membrane, and don't spread to other tissue. If the benign tumor is not removed via surgery, a rat can live with it for some months, although it will usually grow large in size. It can get to the point where it's difficult for the rat to move around and eat. You should be prepared to euthanize your rat when its quality of life has declined and it's no longer happy.

The most common benign tumour is a mammary tumour. The location for mammary tumours are usually around the armpits, belly, and groin area. Females have 6 sets of nipples which run from the chest to the groin. Tumors often feel loose under that skin, and can be moved around slightly with your fingers. It's a good idea to check your rats for lumps frequently. The smaller it is, the earlier it's found, the easier it is to remove.

Malignant tumours are more difficult to remove, as they spread and invade nearby tissue and organs, often making it impossible to remove surgically. Death often occurs after the organs start to fail. Symptoms of a malignant tumour are often weight loss, lethargy, loss of appetite.

Another type of tumour is a pituitary gland tumour. Unfortunately, because of the location of the tumor (the brain), surgery isn't an option, and rats will usually die from it. Symptoms usually start with weakness of the front legs, and difficulty in holding food. The weakness may spread to the hind legs, and the animal may have trouble with balance. Other symptoms may include head tilt, bulging eye, listing to one side. Eventually the rat will have difficulty chewing, and will need to be euthanized. While the prognosis isn't good, if detected early, treatment with prednisone can slow down the deterioration and relieve symptoms.

Many spay their females when they're young, as its thought to reduce tumour considerably. This isn't an easy decision to make, as spaying is an invasive and risky surgery. There's probably more risk to NZ rats, due to the practice not being common, and not many vets are experienced in spaying female rats.

Abscesses

An abscess is a small collection of pus, surrounded by inflamed tissue. Abscesses are quite common in rats, and are often initially mistaken for tumour. Abscesses usually feel harder and move less under the skin than tumours. The cause is usually a bite or a scratch, where bacteria invades the tissue, causing infection and an abscess.

An abscess is treatable, and it's important you see a vet for it and get the required treatment. Your vet may choose to lance it, and flush out the abscess with a saline solution. Antibiotics are usually prescribed. The other way to treat it is just with antibiotics alone. Usually the abscess will come to a head and burst on its own. You can encourage this by putting a warm compress on the site, which helps bring it to the surface. When it bursts, clean the wound with a saline solution. Whatever you do, don't try and squeeze it. Squeezing it yourself can cause the infection to go inside, rather than out. When it does burst, be prepared to be grossed out. The smell can be horrendous!

Cysts

Sebaceous cysts are also common, especially male rats. They appear as a small lump under the skin, usually on the back or shoulder, and are the result of an overproduction of the sebaceous gland. Generally they don't bother the rat and don't need to be removed. Sometimes it "pops" by itself, and the rat may be left with a small hole that will quickly heal.

Reference: http://ratclub.org/ratcare_health.htm 

We suggest checking out https://ratguide.com/health/neoplasia as there is tonnes of helpful information & attempted treatment plans, which might help with decision making. 

Hormonal aggression (aka HA) is a somewhat common issue in rats who have not been neutered. It is a genetic issue, and more common in NZ due to back-yard-breeders breeding from unsuitable rats or males who are too young. 

HA typically shows up in males, but can definitely affect females although this is less common. It typically shows up in males around 6-8 months, however in our experience we've seen it show up as early as 3 months and even up to 18 months old. 

Signs/symptoms

There are so many symptoms of HA, and its not always the same for each rat. Sometimes its mild, while some are not. Sometimes it can come on gradually, while others it comes on without warning. 

Typical symptoms include:

• Puffing up around other rats

• Hissing at other rats

• Side-barging/Butt-barging or "crab walking" 

• Defensive when you pat them, particuarly on their back. 

• Excessive scent marking

• Biting and/or lunging towards rats or people

• Constantly chasing their cage mates

• Boxing/upright dominance 

• Fighting

• In advance cases - they can kill cage mates. 

What to do?

The only cure for HA is for the rat to be desexed (aka spay or neuter). With HA, a neuter/spay it is time critical - so the earlier its picked up & dealt with, the faster the recovery from it. 

Firstly you’ll want to remove the hormonal rat from the cage and set it up in a spare cage. This is important for the safety of your other rats as hormonal rats are unpredictable and the fighting can escalate without warning.

Secondly you need to book a neuter with a rat-savvy vet. A neuter done by a rat savvy vet is a fairly routine surgery and the risks (while present) are low if the vet is experienced with the procedure.

The recovery time is fairly short and they should recover within a few days. However sometimes it can take much longer for their behaviour to improve.

KELBURN VETS

44 Upland Road, Kelburn

04 - 475 9539

Dr Brendon Bullen is the exotic vet for this practice. 

Really great from general checkups, resp infections, spay/surgeries and euthanasia.

Central Vet Hospital

8 Brooklyn Road, Te Aro 

04 385 0303

Dr Matt Allan is an ex-Crofton Downs vet and is very skilled with rats. 

MAIDSTONE VETS

28 King Street, Ebdentown, Upper Hutt

04-528 5927

Dr Michael is recommended for rats.

ANIMATES VETCARE CLINIC KAIWHARAWHARA

132 Hutt Road, Kaiwharawhara

04-473 2673

Dr Linda is your best option

CROFTON DOWNS VET CLINIC

4 Thatcher Crescent, Crofton Downs

04 - 479 0570

Ok with rats, but not specialst

RAPPAW VETERINARY CARE TAWA

224 Main Road, Tawa 

04-232 8382

Island Bay Vet Clinic

18 Medway Street, Island Bay

04 383 6012

Only recommended for euthanasia - very fair pricing. 

We're based in Wellington, so can only recommend ones we're familiar with, but The Register Rat breeders have compiled a list for more parts in NZ which you can view here.