Oxalate Crystals

Question
QUESTION: Recently one of my rats, Peaches, has had quiet a bit of porphyrin staining around her eyes, for about a week or two. She sneezes occasionally, but it is only through the nose, no congestion or any odd noises at all. Her eating and drinking habits have not changed, nor has her sleeping and playing patterns. Her coat is soft, clean, and it is not puffy. She seems like a very happy and active rat, if not a little hyper active, especially when she is up on my shoulder.  The porphyrin staining mostly occurs after she has slept, though sometimes I notice it when she is settling down to go to sleep as-well. But once she wakes up she promptly cleans it off. All my rats have Carefresh Ultra bedding. I have had my rats for over a month now, and the others seem perfectly happy and healthy. Since it is summer and has been hot and humid the air conditioning has been on, but never lower than a steady 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and the cage is not in the direct path of the airflow.

Peaches is extremely sociable and friendly and loves getting attention from me and anyone else she can reel in. Another thing I have noticed about her that worries me is the fact that she does not seem to eat the lab blocks even though I have the readily available to them. She prefers to eat her fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, and whole grain cereals, and it worries me that she might not be getting all the nutrients she needs. So could she have a respiratory disease, or Mycoplasmosis? Or could it be that she is not receiving enough nutrients which might be stressing the body? Or could it be the air conditioning, as it dries out the air in the room, or even a combination of these factors?

It is my understanding that sometimes a bit of porphyrin is to be expected, especially after sleep, and that is can also occur more often in excitable rats, such as Peaches. But is this really true? Or should I be planning a trip to the vets right away?

ANSWER:
She sounds fine. Her diet sounds terrific.  Even if she isnt eating the lab blocks it sounds as if she is getting the proper nutrients from the other foods.  Seed mixes are no good to use, and the diet your using is pretty much what I suggest on my website.
It sounds like she has the normal flow of porphyrin.  It is produced by a gland located behind the rats eyes called the harderian gland.

You can read more about it on my website here for more peace of mind.   

One of my boys had constant porph until he passed away 3 weeks into his 4th year of life.  I have had sick rats have no porphyrin and rats that were healthy have blobs of it in their eyes and nose daily, and also have had sick rats have it in one eye etc... so I usually dont use that as a diagnostic tool when it comes to illness unless the rat has never ever had any and all of a sudden has it along with other signs of illness such as lethargy, loss of appetite etc...

Here is the url to my site and the page on porphyrin:

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/bloodynoseandeyes.htm

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much, this really gave me some peace of mind. It seems like every other website I went on said that any Porphyrin was a bad sign. Peaches is doing well and could not be better. But now I am having some worries with my other rat, her cage-mate, Cream. She has been pretty lethargic for the past few days, and just last night, she would not touch any of her food, nor was she drinking. So this got me really worried and I took her to an emergency animal hospital today. The vet I seen was very honest with me that she did not see rats to often, but ran some tests and gave me a copy of the Patient History Report that she compiled today. I am planning on taking Cream to the exotic and small pet vet near me, to give her the Health Report. {It gives me some confidence that the vet owns two rats herself.} So I was looking over Creams Health Report, and noticed that her body temperate was a little lower than the normal rat (95.5*F) and that she had oxalate crystals in what little green runny fecal matter she mustered up at the vets. I have heard this can be genetic as well as affected by diet, but I have not given her much food that can cause this (spinach, cheese). What sort of tests will she need to undergo to find out if she has any problems with her kidney for sure? And if so does that mean she will have to undergo surgery for kidney damage or stones? I want to be sure to explore the possible ways I can take action against this, and have a healthy rat again!

Also when I got home from the vet I was able to get her to eat a little bit of yogurt. But she still will not move to eat anything else or drink anything else.

Answer
Urinary calculi (stones and crystals) are often associated with a urinary tract infection.  Is she urinating ok?  If so, surgery usually isnt necessary since the big problem  from stones and crystals is blockage.


Did the vet say what type of calculi it was, such as struvite (the most common)of the urine is alkaline or Calcium oxalate, found in acidic urine.

Did the vet give her any medication such as pain medication and antibiotic? I hope.....

Try offering her mashed watermelon and baby food. See if she goes for it.