Educational reference only. This page never gives diagnosis, treatment plans or medication dosing - that is your vet's job. Call a rat-experienced vet promptly if you see: - Breathing changes: clicking, rattling, wheezing, gasping, laboured sides, a stretched-out neck, or blue-grey ears and feet. Respiratory disease is the single most common serious problem in pet rats and moves quickly. - Weight loss, or refusing food and water for a day. - Lethargy, hunching, a fluffed coat and reluctance to move. - Head tilt, circling, wobbliness, sudden weakness or dragging back legs. - Lumps that are growing quickly, are hot, ulcerated, or interfere with movement. - Wounds, abscesses, bleeding that does not stop, or a swollen painful area. - Persistent scratching that breaks the skin, or unusual hair loss. - Blood in urine, straining, or diarrhoea lasting more than a day. A note on porphyrin: the red staining around eyes and nose is not blood, it is a pigment. A small amount after sleep is normal. Lots of it, or crusty red staining plus any other symptom, means something is wrong. Weigh weekly and write it down. In a species this good at hiding illness, a downward weight trend is often the first thing you notice.