Sneezy Rat

[Floyds mum]

Ive had my ratty for a week now today and since i got him he's been sneezing.
Last wednesday i set his cage up and i used woodshavings/sawdust, YES i now know not to use it and i changed it to a paper based cat litter the store uses, and he's still sneezing and gets like dried crusties on his nose till he grooms them off. His cage is next to my mums dwarf hamster which has woodshavings/sawdust could this be the "dust" from the woodshavings/sawdust irritating his nose?

Help? i wont be able to get him to the vets till 1st thing friday or possibly last thing tomorrow.

Ive kept his new friend seperate so he wont catch anything.

 

[Ashley1991]

my rat is next to hamsters and he does not sneeze sometimes rats do just sneeze but the blood can indicate a chest illness when i first got ben he sneezed with blood but it did die down and now it has gone all the vet will do is give you this medicine which is a jack of all trade master of none i forgot what its called because most vets have very little idea about rats

you can eitehr wait and see if it gets better or go to the vet

Ash

 

[Floyds mum]

my rat is next to hamsters and he does not sneeze sometimes rats do just sneeze but the blood can indicate a chest illness when i first got ben he sneezed with blood but it did die down and now it has gone all the vet will do is give you this medicine which is a jack of all trade master of none i forgot what its called because most vets have very little idea about rats

you can eitehr wait and see if it gets better or go to the vet

Ash

Ok thanx, its not blood its more like when you get a piercing and you get that yellowy type crusty stuff, i shall ring the vets up and see if they can give any information. Thanx

 

[VickiandKev]

Sorry to hear your ratty is not well - unfortunately respiratory illness is common in pet rats BUT you've done the right thing not ignoring it - something like this, if left, could develop into a chronic illness which in my experience shortens the lifespan

The discharge you are seeing is called porphyrin and is indicative of severe stress (often caused by illness). This would suggest that what your ratty has is bacterial/viral rather than a case of 'stress sneezes', which are usually dry sneezes and have no accompanying discharge.

It may be worth changing the hammies' bedding as any woodshaving certainly won't help your ratty at all.
Also - did you check whether the paper-base litter was perfumed - I know Biocatolet is heavily perfumed and this is not at all good either! Back to Nature is the best paper-based litter you can buy, carefresh and yesterday's news failing that.

You do need to take your ratty to the vets - do phone around local vets and ask whether they have any vets with a clinical interest in rats/experience as rats - best thing to do is ask if they commonly have rats in their surgery.

If you let me know where you are, I can find a 'rat-friendly' vet near you if there is one.

What you will most likely be given is Baytril - this is a good starting point for ratty respiratory problems - and there are other drugs it can be combined with should it not work alone.
Be sure that you get AT LEAST a 14 day course - the general rule is 14 days minimum and for 7 days after symptoms have disappeared thereafter.
The best way to administer is mixing the dose with some nutri-cal (cat/dog supplement available at pets at home) or jam - whatever your rat will take it in and giving it on a spoon. Do not try to syringe directly into the mouth as it's easy to catch lips and tongues and cut the mouth ... also don't put it in the water - some vets will tell you to but it's a bad idea as Baytril tastes foul - your rat will simply stop drinking and then you have a dehydrated, snuffly rat!
If your ratty is very congested you could also ask for Bisolvon as well.

I hope this helps - I've had so many ill rats I usually tell my vets what is wrong and what I need lol - I can see me being a ratty-expert vet when I'm qualified LOL!

 

[Ashley1991]

i found medication on treats works best

 

[Floyds mum]

It may be worth changing the hammies' bedding as any woodshaving certainly won't help your ratty at all.
Also - did you check whether the paper-base litter was perfumed - I know Biocatolet is heavily perfumed and this is not at all good either! Back to Nature is the best paper-based litter you can buy, carefresh and yesterday's news failing that.

If you let me know where you are, I can find a 'rat-friendly' vet near you if there is one.

It is bio catolet as thats what the store uses and it doesnt say its perfumed and none of the rattys instore are sneezing
Market rasen, lincoln city area, my local vets have people that specialise in small animals etc.

 

[Floyds mum]

What are your opinions for the best litter?

 

[VickiandKev]

It may be worth changing the hammies' bedding as any woodshaving certainly won't help your ratty at all.
Also - did you check whether the paper-base litter was perfumed - I know Biocatolet is heavily perfumed and this is not at all good either! Back to Nature is the best paper-based litter you can buy, carefresh and yesterday's news failing that.

If you let me know where you are, I can find a 'rat-friendly' vet near you if there is one.

It is bio catolet as thats what the store uses and it doesnt say its perfumed and none of the rattys instore are sneezing
Market rasen, lincoln city area, my local vets have people that specialise in small animals etc.

On the list I have, I couldn't find any vets specifically recommended by rat owners in your area - so it would be worth trying out those vets - you will require a maximum dose of around 0.35ml of 2.5% Baytril solution if your rat weighs 300g which is a fairly average weight for a young buck. Make sure your vet weighs him though! And if they try and prescribe a dose of 0.12ml or something ONCE daily, ask them to check it as you think it should be higher - that would be okay TWICE daily, but will do nothing once daily!
There is some info here: http/ratguide.com/meds/antimicrobial_agents/enrofloxacin_baytril.php
which you can print and take with you if you think they might need some persuading on getting the correct dosage.
They may also want to administer a dexamethasone injection or metacam injection/suspension - this would be okay - but should be in conjunction with an antimicrobial such as Baytril!
They may ask you to sign a sheet saying you are happy for them to prescribe your rat drugs which are not specifically licensed for rats - this means you will be able to get a much more specific treatment for your rat and it's worth remembering that most drugs have been tested initially on rats or mice anyway - the company just never bothered to get the license for rats although they are safe for use in ratties!

For litter I recommend this:
http/www.seapets.co.uk/products/pet-supplies/pet-cages/pet-bedding-and-cage-accessories/shavings-and-nest-bedding/back-2-nature-animal-bedding-and-litter-6-litre.html
Or finacard - you can get a very good package from them which includes litter for the litter tray, bedding for the floor and soft paper for beds:
http/www.finacard-uk.com/

 

[Floyds mum]

OK thanx would the wood based catlitter pellets be ok?
OR recycled paper? Like this: http/www.petsathome.com/shop/medium-recycled-paper-small-pet-bedding-by-pets-at-home-16097

 

[Ryefish]

the sneezes and porph could simply just be because he is in a new house. I think the dex and metacam is jumping the gun a bit


ETA: the recycled paper bedding would just stay wet and youd use up loads of it in one go which would probably get quite costly. I think Biocatolet is a good litter to use, a lot of rat people in the UK use it and have no problems at all

 

[VickiandKev]

the sneezes and porph could simply just be because he is in a new house. I think the dex and metacam is jumping the gun a bit

It depends on what the vet thinks - none of us have taken a steth to this rat's chest so cannot know whether this is a simple upper respiratory tract infection or something worse.
The sound of 'crusty' mucous is concerning though - I have seen this only on a few occasions in my own rats - clean porph is the more usual discharge. If a rat has mucous coming from it's nose then I would suggest there's a little bit more going on than just 'stress sneezes' - just going on my own previous experience.

 

[Floyds mum]

Im taking him up to the vets in a few mins, will let you know what the vets say.

 

[Floyds mum]

Well harvey went to vets in his rat bag. The vet said it could be stress and him getting used to his new home but seeing as there is discharge he will have anti-biotics, baytril at 2.5%, she took him off and weighed him and said he was something like .2 something of a kilo? dunno cant remember but she said to give him 0.1 ml twice daily. He didnt like the injection of baytril, he squeaked and retaliated by peeing an pooing on the table lol. He's Not moved since we put him in his carrier at the vets in his rat bag and i popped his rat bag into his cage wehn we got home and he hasn't moved since lol but nowt to worry about cos i know my dog is more dopey than usual after an injection.

 

[VickiandKev]

Glad that the vet wasn't overly concerned. That dose is fine too, which is a nice surprise!
All I would say is to keep a close eye on the injection area - generally I ask my vets not to inject baytril as it can cause a 'baytril burn' - but this doesn't happen too often and hopefully your little one will now be well on the road to recovery.

Might be worth offering him some really nice foods to make up

 

[Floyds mum]

Glad that the vet wasn't overly concerned. That dose is fine too, which is a nice surprise!
All I would say is to keep a close eye on the injection area - generally I ask my vets not to inject baytril as it can cause a 'baytril burn' - but this doesn't happen too often and hopefully your little one will now be well on the road to recovery.

Might be worth offering him some really nice foods to make up

Lol yeah thanx, he's still sleeping in his rat bag, ive got a poorly doggy to parents young dog went for him and he has a small hole in his cheek they made up now 1st time ive ever seen a dog fight and harvey slept right through this and through me shouting at the dogs lol