Rat newbie with sneezes
sa...@netthing.co.uk
As a new rat person of about four weeks standing I have about a
million questions, so I hope you'll bear with me... Here is my most
pressing concern: rat sneezes.
Our three girls were about five weeks old when we had them, and one
started sneezing within the week. The vet gave us a week's worth of
Baytril with which to dose all three; this had no effect whatsoever.
I have dumped the Carefresh bedding with which we started out, and
they now have towels for bedding, which I change twice a week. Our
first sneezy rat is sneezing less, but four weeks in the other two
have started sneezing a little too.
So...
How serious is this?
What am I doing wrong?
What should I try next?
I love the rats, but seem to have spent the last four weeks in a
constant state of anxiety regarding thier well being. Any advice
would be gratefully received!
And here's a bit about the girls (technically my daughters' rats);
Fudge and Coco are brown and white, and Moonshine is kind of cream
coloured. Fudge and Coco were really timid when we first had them,
but will climb onto laps, up legs, down t-shirts, etc now. Moonshine
is a bundle of energy and only climbs on humans if they are in the
way, or might provide a vantage point from which to launch herself
into a new adventure!
Thanks, Sarah
Twug Storn
Get some Tylan from Amazon and mix it in with their water with some sugar.
NOT too much. Gradually work up the dosage.
A little sneezing is fine and normal. Lots should be treated.
Tylan, IIRC, has been shown to increase the lifespan of rats.
sa...@netthing.co.uk
OK. I appreciate the advice about Tylan; it does seem to me that
these rats are sneezing a lot.
I am now concerned that my vet is not sufficiently experienced in care
of rats, although they were the only practice in my area that seemed
even remotely interested. At the time I had done a little internet
research into rat sneezes, and Baytril was mentioned a lot; I didn't
register a reference to a minimum age requirement. To be perfectly
honest I would have found it hard to challenge the vet in any case.
Regarding future veterinarian consultations, I'm going to have to
figure it out for myself...
Thanks for your reply.
Lynn "kitty"
With regards,
Lynn
"Twug Storn" <tyty...@tytyttyty.com> wrote in message
news:YuQsk.9941$_s1....@newsfe07.iad...
Twug Storn
bottle. I mean like just a few grains. Gradually, over weeks, work up to,
at most about 1/8 teaspoon in 12oz of water.
It's VERY bitter and they need time to adjust. Try a tiny dab on your
tongue and you'll see. You can put a pinch of sugar in with it to even out
the taste.
Steve_R
A little sneezing isn't necessarily a bad sign, but if they also start
making a whistling-peeping sound when they breathe, or a clicking or
popping sound (not to be confused with bruxing)from their nose, you
likely have problems, especially if there's a reddish-brown discharge
around the eyes or nose. Everybody has their own favorite method of
dispensing antibiotics, but ours is mixing it with a bit of vanilla
pudding.
sa...@netthing.co.uk
going to be a miracle long term solution, which I could administer as
and when, but you cannot get Tylan in the UK without a prescription,
including on the internet. So I tried to get a prescription. Well,
the vet said that Tylan was only for big animals, end of discussion.
I was also told that, basically, no-one in this country is going to
give me more than a single course of any antibiotic at a time,
presumably because lay people are too stupid to be trusted with it.
My husband, who had a business trip to the States planned, offered to
get me some... While there are many things I would do for these
little creatures, encouraging my husband to run drugs is not one of
them!
In the end poor Moonshine was given an injection of
oxytetracycline.... It lessened the sneezing, but porphyrin started
to appear around nose and eyes. (Blood, according to the vet.) To be
honest I was left feeling that a) we will be seeking out a new vet and
b) after this we will never ever have rats again, simply because I
cannot guarantee proper veterinarian care.
But things may be looking up. I have changed what we use for bedding
again; we now use a paper based cat litter. The sneezing is much
less, and Moonshine's porphyrin has cleared up. Also I have found
something I can get in the UK; echinacea. I was able to get a child
strength, alcohol-free version with, allegedly, a pleasant flavour! I
have high hopes in this as a preventative; I'm just a bit worried
about giving the wrong dosage. If anyone wanted to share their
echinacea experiences that would be really helpful.
Sarah
Andrea
<sa...@netthing.co.uk> wrote in message
news:5be792e1-4662-4511...@e53g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
Hi Sarah.
Is the litter you use Bio-catolet? I use this and get it from Pets at Home.
A very good site for rat health advise is...
http://www.rathealth.co.uk/forum/index.php
It's UK based so advises on the best drugs available in the UK. Tell them
the problem and they'll tell you the best drug to use. Our vets are only
liscensed to prescribe Baytril and won't prescribe anything else without you
demanding it and signing a disclaimer. If they still refuse, change your
vet.
Good luck!
Andrea
jorats
really not a good drug. There's a reason why it's available sans prescription
here in the Americas. Baytril is the way to go and it's ok in young rats. But
the Oxytetracycline is much better than Tylan. The red around the nose and
eyes is NOT blood. It's their snot. This occurs with stress.
Twug Storn
> going to be a miracle long term solution, which I could administer as
> and when, but you cannot get Tylan in the UK without a prescription,
> including on the internet.
It's definitely not a miracle solution.. it's just another form of
treatment. But can't you just order it off the US amazon.com and have it
shipped to you? If customs takes it just tell 'em you had no idea it needed
a prescription.
Steve_R
> I've been too dispirited to post a follow-up; I thought Tylan was
> going to be a miracle long term solution, which I could administer as
> and when, but you cannot get Tylan in the UK without a prescription,
> including on the internet. So I tried to get a prescription. Well,
> the vet said that Tylan was only for big animals, end of discussion.
> I was also told that, basically, no-one in this country is going to
> give me more than a single course of any antibiotic at a time,
> presumably because lay people are too stupid to be trusted with it.
I'm coming in a bit late on this thread, so I'm inferring that you're
trying to get some appropriate treatment for a mycoplasma infection.
We live across the channel, in Flanders. Our first vet, who didn't
strike me as terribly competent when it came to small animals,
prescribed Baytril for our rat's respiratory infection, which was most
likely a mycoplasma. Baytril did seem to do the job, though it took a
couple of weeks of daily doses. When our other rat developed a similar
infection, we took her to another vet whom we'd been told was quite good
with small mammals, and indeed he was. Clearly a rat-lover, he kept
stroking Ruffles and saying "what a cutie". He even told us he was
considering getting pet rats for his children, and that he considered
them were "greatly underestimated as pets". This vet prescribed
Marbocyl, which he felt was much more effective for mycoplasma
infections. The impression I got from him was that Marbocyl can
eradicate the pathogen, while Baytril merely suppresses it. I suspect
it's only available by prescription, but our vet visit, with antibiotic,
was only 25 euro, about £17-18. At any rate, the infection was gone
within 10 days or so, and has shown no sign of recurring. We gave her
the daily dose by mixing it with a half-teaspoon of vanilla pudding,
which she took it eagerly. I'm not sure that Marbocyl, clearly a trade
name, is sold under the same name in the UK. You might have to check
with the internet to see what it's called there.
jorats via PetKB.com
I read up on Marbocyl, it does sound pretty good, it's a good drug to get the
secondary infections which could be what your rat had.
It's a fluoroquinolone with a wide antibiotic activity, same as Baytril
(enrofloxacin) But it might have targeted the bacteria your rat had, like
Staph or Strep.
It's definitely worth a try!
Steve_R wrote:
>> I've been too dispirited to post a follow-up; I thought Tylan was
>> going to be a miracle long term solution, which I could administer as
>[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>> give me more than a single course of any antibiotic at a time,
>> presumably because lay people are too stupid to be trusted with it.
>
>I'm coming in a bit late on this thread, so I'm inferring that you're
>trying to get some appropriate treatment for a mycoplasma infection.
>We live across the channel, in Flanders. Our first vet, who didn't
>strike me as terribly competent when it came to small animals,
>prescribed Baytril for our rat's respiratory infection, which was most
>likely a mycoplasma. Baytril did seem to do the job, though it took a
>couple of weeks of daily doses. When our other rat developed a similar
>infection, we took her to another vet whom we'd been told was quite good
>with small mammals, and indeed he was. Clearly a rat-lover, he kept
>stroking Ruffles and saying "what a cutie". He even told us he was
>considering getting pet rats for his children, and that he considered
>them were "greatly underestimated as pets". This vet prescribed
>Marbocyl, which he felt was much more effective for mycoplasma
>infections. The impression I got from him was that Marbocyl can
>eradicate the pathogen, while Baytril merely suppresses it. I suspect
>it's only available by prescription, but our vet visit, with antibiotic,
>was only 25 euro, about £17-18. At any rate, the infection was gone
>within 10 days or so, and has shown no sign of recurring. We gave her
>the daily dose by mixing it with a half-teaspoon of vanilla pudding,
>which she took it eagerly. I'm not sure that Marbocyl, clearly a trade
>name, is sold under the same name in the UK. You might have to check
>with the internet to see what it's called there.
--
Joanne
www.jorats.com
Message posted via PetKB.com
http://www.petkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/rat/200809/1
Steve_R
> Nothing can eradicate mycoplasmosis.
> I read up on Marbocyl, it does sound pretty good, it's a good drug to get the
> secondary infections which could be what your rat had.
> It's a fluoroquinolone with a wide antibiotic activity, same as Baytril
> (enrofloxacin) But it might have targeted the bacteria your rat had, like
> Staph or Strep.
> It's definitely worth a try!
>
I'm sure you're right. I should have done some checking before I made
that statement about a "cure". In my defense, I was having to
communicate with the vet in Dutch (not my first language), and what I
hear isn't always what he says.
African Safari Stories
Hello there
I had the same problem when breeding mice. It all started when i
introduced a new female to the rest of the mice that i had. The new
female had the sneezes and within a few weeks the rest of the mice
were sneezing and after a month or so they started dying one bye one.
I spoke to a vet about the problem and said that it was a very
contagious virus which affects their lungs and that i should put them
all down. Instead i started mixing a vitamine B12 syrup into the
drinking water which seemed to help with the sneezes and keep them
alive.
sa...@netthing.co.uk
panic is slowly subsiding. The paper based litter I use is indeed Bio-
catolet, and we are having great results with it. I have also
recently met a local rat person who was able to recommend a vet, but
we haven't needed one for a while... Long may it continue!
Also, for UK based rat owners, I found the rat health site suggested
by Andrea very helpful. Thanks!