Now, rat's can't vomit, it's a scientifically proven fact.
But, a friend of mine called me a week ago about her rat making vomit noises, and actions and ejecting a sticky vomit like substance from his mouth.
It sounds like a cough or other reaction and this stuff could have been mucus or something from his throat or nose, but I'm just wondering if anyone has ever noticed this before.
I advised her to take him to the vet I don't know if she did.
2006-07-23 02:53:34 · 4 answers · asked by hellahulla 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
It's unlikely to be rabies as she's in the UK and rabies is rarer than talking fish.
2006-07-23 03:06:02 · update #1
You're right, rats can't vomit - but, not to put too fine a point on it, they can regurgitate anything that's above the esophagus muscle. So it makes sense that, if your friend's rat had mucus in their throat, they could bring that up. Here's a great article that explains this clearly, and compares it to the human esophagus too - you know when you regurgitate something from halfway down your throat? Well, rats can do this too. But they can't vomit anything that has passed beyond this esophagus muscle - check out the article on the finer points -
http://www.ratbehavior.org/vomit.htm
2006-07-23 03:33:23 · answer #1 · answered by Lea 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It sounds as though the rat was choking. They cant be sick, but they can choke on food. Most of the time they will clear the blockage themselves, by doing what you described. It may be over in a few minutes or it may go on for a few hours. If it goes on for longer than 6 hours or the rat looks very tired, you should take it to a vet.
2006-07-23 11:32:23 · answer #2 · answered by kiffie 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
rats can get respiratory infections pretty easily as far as I know... sounds like it may have been mucus.
2006-07-23 05:55:22 · answer #3 · answered by snake_girl85 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Rabies perhaps???
2006-07-23 02:57:50 · answer #4 · answered by S 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋