This article is from the WSSF 2015 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine.

Submitted by Irina Zabula, Arcadia, CA

I hope you wouldn’t ever need it but butter really helps if your rat chokes on something. Other night I gave my guys almonds and Yakov Jr, my Blue rat, choked on it. He was desperately gasping for air. I shook him upside down, gave him blows on his back, gave him a steroid shot to decrease possible swelling. Nothing worked. I was about to take him to an animal ER when I found this butter advice on a Russian rat site. I put some melted butter in Yakov’s mouth and within seconds he was just fine like nothing had happened. They say cooking oils or petroleum jelly also can help to pass a choking object.