Grunty youngster

[Jemma]

I've recently got some new additions to the house and one of them is bothering me a little. He's around 3 months now and in lovely shape, nice and shiny, healthy and fit, however on and off since I've had him he goes through completly random grunty sessions. There's no porphryn, no signs of ill health and it doesn't sound like it's coming from his chest, but higher up. He doesn't sneeze much at all and it isn't linked with excitement or stress (he can get grunty some times when coming out and other days when he's meeting new folk he's fine), it is completely random or i haven't yet found a pattern to it.

Here's a pic taken on wednesday of the little man in question, you can see he doesn't look poorly.


So far i've resisted taking him to the vets to be checked out as he's so healthy and inconsistant with the grunting (you know the day i turn up is the day he'll not make a noise). Plus with things as they are, though there's no virus going round cumbria that i've heard I'm warey of taking them to a place where other ill rats might be found (even though the vet admits she see's more of my rats than any other rats). However today his brother made a few very quiet grunty noises and I'm umming and ahhring agian.

Just to note their mum has been noisey all her life, despite many vet checks she was never found to have anything wrong with her and had never had any other respiratory problems.

[Ratgirl@RatRitz]

At 3 months old I think there's a couple of things that could be behind it.

It could be the beginnings of an infection ... resp infections tend to develop in the nasal passages and progress downwards into the lungs over time (regardless of cause).

It could also be some kind of congenital defect. I had one boy who appeared to have a defect somewhere in his nasal passages/higher up in his resp tract, he made grunting noises all his life despite treatment and never suffered from a resp infection (very like the mum you mention).

His left eye looks ever so slightly smaller in the photo ... is that just the photo?

It's up to you whether you take them in or not really ... if they need a Vet they need a Vet ... but if you do decide they need treatment I would recommend Zithromax for them at this age.

[Jemma]

His eye's are both equal sized, tis just the picture and his rexy face fur.

Hi brother seems to be grunting a little more often now, but again is the picture of good health.

I might take him and his brother along just in case, my vet is pretty good with small animals as it is but barely gets any rats in other than mine. I just don't like the thought of them being on meds if they don't need them, i don't think this does them any good . It would be a lot simpler if they'd actually sneeze or have some porphryn as then i'd know i'd best take them. I bet there deadly silent through the whole thing.

[Jemma]

The vets went well, though needless to say he was very quiet the whole visit, however he did have a couple of the very light grunts that you feel more than hear and that was enough for the vet to say she was sure it was in his nose or throat, in fact she thought it was most likley something called 'Lazy Larynx' which she sees a lot in cats and dogs. This apparently gets worse in warm weather due to the rats breathing faster than useual and any time there excited or stressed. She said that the only real problem with it could be that rats with it are hit slightly harder by respiratory problems if they get them, in very rare cases in dogs and cats the animals have such a loose larynix that it can actually temporarily collapse causing the animals extremities to turn blue until they calm down. Still she's never heard of this in smaller animals and it's rare enough in dogs and cats.

[Ratgirl@RatRitz]

Not something I've come across on my wanderings, but sounds plausible ... so I guess you get to wait and see what happens if anything? ... I hate that!

[Jemma]

I thought I would post an update on this, Odin is going to be a year old this weekend, since my post his noisiness hasn’t changed, he still sounds like a cross between a duck and a train and he’s still yet to look poorly from it or be anything less than a very active inquisitive buck. One thing I have noticed with him is he’s failed to really thrive, this could be down to the fact he’s the bottom of the hierarchy but despite me having 3 other very strapping muscular lads he’s never filled out. His tail has always been a lot thinner than the others, including his brother who is quite a hunky lad (got a deserved stud buck award last year). I tend to feed him up more than the others too, but whatever I do he remains borderline too slim (not worryingly skinny but not something I’m that comfy with). I am beginning to wonder if there could be some sort of background heart issue, or underlying respiratory damage/scarring, though from what, given he’s never yet been ill, I don’t know. His tail is normally pretty cold and is paler than the others, but that could be down to the fact he actually cleans it. His feet are also normally fairly cool and pale, but again they’ve been this way for a long time now and despite the odd check-up nothings been fine.

On a brighter note Loki (his brothers) grunting never developed into anything and aside from squeaking piteously any time my other two try and start a wrestling match (note said other 2 rats are about 100g lighter than him, and most of that is extra muscle) he’s a perfectly normal quiet rat.

[Helzie]

Do rats ever grunt from excitement? One of mine shows no signs of any illness, but does make little 'erp erp' noises when he's excited or annoyed (ie when I'm picking him up and he is resisting). When I described it to the vet, she thought it was probably vocalisations of some sort.

[Ratgirl@RatRitz]

Do rats ever grunt from excitement?

Some rats can do this. Some rats will also give themselves hiccups if they get very excited too. As long as there is no sign of respiratory infection, I wouldn't say it was anything to worry about, but as always, listen out for any change in the noises (louder/more frequent/change in tone etc), as that can indicate the start of infection.