Rats are small animals but that doesn’t mean they don’t require proper vet care. If you only have a small number of rats, I highly recommend bringing them for a full vet check up every 6 months.
When your rat starts making noise, it’s time to see a vet. 99.9% of all rats have mycoplasma in their lungs and this can cause respiratory infections. When a rat makes grunting, chirping, wheezing, coughing noises, it needs to be addresses asap. If you wait too long, it can become pneumonia and lead to death.
There are other symptoms that require a vet visit: lethargy, labored breathing, breaks in limbs, severe bleeding, bloating, change in bowel movements and in urination.
With proper health care as well as vet care, your rats can live a good long life. 2 to 3 years is the rat’s average lifespan.
All animals deserve medical treatment when needed.
Jun 24
July 11th, 2009 at 7:57 PM
Jo, thanks for this article. We adopted two baby boys 2 weeks ago and one of them sometimes makes such odd sounds. He was sneezing a bit at first. I watched him and the sneezing has stopped, but every once in a while, he makes these odd noises. I think I saw him coughing briefly once (looks like a hiccup) and then last night, he made a few quiet chirps. Sometimes mades this odd sound like he has something in his throat (is that grunting?) – I can’t describe it. But it doesn’t happen often and he seems healthy other than that. I assumed because he was a baby that he would have come to us healthy, but maybe I should just take him in to be sure. Do you agree? I’m new to rats, so I’m learning as we go. Also, is there a way to be sure he doesn’t pick something up at the vet itself (like lice or mites, etc)? I appreciate your advice
One last question – We also want to get the boys neutered. What age is best? Thanks in advance for your help 
August 27th, 2009 at 11:02 PM
i remember when raisinette started having problems breathing i want ed to take her in but my dad said that we cant bring her in for every single problem and that most of these things end up fixing themselves.
we brought her into the vet a day later because her breathing worsened.
the next night the vet called. she died in her sleep, she had so much trouble breathing that when she tried to rest and fall asleep her heart gave out and she had a heart attack. (she was in a high oxygen tank when she fell asleep) the diagnoses said pneunomia, she was almost 3 she died in august on the third and her birthday was october.