Poor Roosevelt. After most of his brothers, sisters, uncles etc. left he got sick. He and 3 of his family, Brie, Oreo and Pepper stayed with me. A little over a week ago I noticed that he was breathing heavy , losing weight and grunting when he breathed. What is weird is that there was no sneezing. Usually when they get the cold there is sneezing lots of sneezing. He also quite lethargic and was not cleaning himself properly. Rats are constantly grooming themselves. Personal grooming is important to look your best.
If you look carefully at the video below you might be able to see his sides move, it looks like he is breathing with his stomach rather than lungs.
We got him on medication right away and booked a trip to the local vet. The vet said that his heart was fine and it looks like it's just pulmonary. If he didn't respond in a few days I was to let the vet know and Penicillin would be subscribed. Thankfully he has responded well to medication and has gained 30 grams since then. He's still smaller than the others but making up for last time. It probably helps that I cam feeding them all sorts of special treats as they will all fight and get grabby if I only gave him treats. I give him extra but we don't tell them that.
Only 5 more weeks of medication to go. This is good as though he is getting better taking the raspberry flavoured medicine he still doesn't like it too much. He will hide at the back of my neck under my hair thinking I suppose that if he can't see me that I will have no idea where he is.