breathing problems

Question
My daughter has a tan colored domestic rat that almost seems asthmatic. When he is sleeping,all curled up, he constantly has very congested breathing. This does continue when he is awake, just not as loud.When he sneezes he has quite the spray. As well,for the last month he seems to be losing quite a bit of hair and sometimes scratches so much he wounds himself.I don't see any bugs, keep his cage clean, and have been using a dry, foam "shampoo" to treat irritated skin. Is there anything we can do for his breathing? We live in a small isolated town with no vet or pet store so my options are limited. Thank you for any advice.

Answer
Rats are very prone to respiratory issues especially when there are risk factors such as certain types of bedding and litter, exposure to cigarette smoke, candles, powders, air sprays and cleaners and chemicals and the list is pretty big.  Rats are born exposed to mycoplasma, which is a very elegant bacteria that is hard to destroy without the right treatment. It is often dormant in rats but if it is aggravated by environmental factors or from a rat having a less than healthy immune system (could be just genetic or from lack of healthy diet etc...) the rat can develop an upper respiratory infection. Untreated, it can lead to scarring of the rats lungs and also can cause COPD such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.  I know its so hard to find a good vet but you are probably going to have to take a drive out of your area to get help for your daughters rat.  Please refer to my site, sandyscrittercity.com for all the info you need on rat care, from diet to illness.  Also let me know if you need some names of vets in your area even if your outside the US, I still have a database of vets in other parts of the world including Canada and the UK.