Sneezing rats that have been through a lot

Question
Hi Sandra,

I have a question about rats and sneezing, but it requires quite a bit of background knowledge. Sorry for this being so long.

I currently have 4 rats - 2 females about 7-9 months old, and 2 small boys who are about 2 months old, maybe a little older. The 2 females belong to my boyfriend who I am rat-sitting for until mid August. All four rats have been sneezing for the past 2 weeks now, but there are several explanations for their sneezing. Here is what's happened over the past month:


I got the boys in late May, and didn't know that you should quarantine new rats for at least 3 weeks before introducing them to other rats. The day after getting the boys, by boyfriend and I put the boys and girls (in separate cages of course) in the car and drove from VA to NY to stay with my family for a few weeks. The first week at home all four ratties were doing great. They loved to play together and there was no sneezing.

My house in NY is the worst possible place for people or animals with allergies. I'm usually fine for anywhere from a few days to a week, but after a week my sinuses fill up like crazy. There are weeds and tons of flowers and woods behind our house, along with a lot of those little cotton fuzzies and dust that floats through the air. We also have two cats at the house, so the rats were a little skittish at first, but we kept them in a separate room with the door closed and they seemed fine.

After a little over a week of being home, one of the boys started sneezing. Within a day or two after that one of the girls started sneezing, and soon all 4 were sneezing frequently. Despite the sneezing, they had the same energy levels and appetites as usual. I don't remember any substances that looked like dried blood in their cage, but then again I didn't know what to look for at that point.

A few days after the boys started sneezing, the owner of the girls left for school for a couple months. The girls were supposed to go with him, but we had trouble at the airport and I ended up taking them home with me. A couple days after he left, I packed the two cages up in the car again and drove the 10 hours back to VA from NY.

I've been in VA for 8 days now, and in that time, the boys and girls have both had their cages moved around a lot, because I have to make room for a new roommate that will be moving in soon. The girls have also had to deal with me being their primary source of affection and care, instead of the person they've been living with for the past 6-7 months. All four ratties have also had to deal with the air in my apartment - the windows are usually open and the fans are usually on, because I don't think my AC works very well. I've tried to keep them out of any drafts and out of any rooms that I'm cleaning and stirring up dust in.

All four ratties are still sneezing. For 2 of them (one of the girls and one of the boys), it doesn't seem to be nearly as often as when they were in NY. The other two still sneeze quite frequently. I've done some reading about myco and what to look for since I got back to VA. I've listened to their chests daily, often multiple times a day, and don't hear any wheezing, rasping, or liquid sounds. All four have the same activity levels and appetites as always. There does appear to be some sparse, very tiny spots of what looks like dried blood in the girls' cage, but this could be from barbering (one of our girls frequently pulls just a little bit of hair off the other's face, and sometimes the victim ends up with a tiny scab - although I haven't seen any scabs lately, which is what worries me about the dried blood).

I just made a new play pen for the boys, so their environment has been changing often even through last evening.

One of the boys sometimes has what sounds like big juicy sneezes, but I can never tell if liquid actually sprays when he sneezes or not. If it does, I can't see it. He also makes tiny little squeaking sounds right after he sneezes sometimes, but it never lasts longer than 5 seconds, if that. I just noticed today that when one of the girls sneezes, it almost sounds like more of a squeak than a sneeze. The other girl and other boy are sneezing much less.

My concern is that all four of my babies may have myco. Due to a recent job cancellation, I'm having some financial issues and am having enough trouble coming up with rent, let alone money to take the four to a vet. Also, I'm not sure if it really is myco, since the four ratties have been through so much lately that they could just be really stressed out (or maybe have allergies?).

Here are my questions:
1) Could it be something other than myco, and if so, is it likely it is this something else?
2) Should I wait too see if the babies get better, now that I can finally get them back on a regular schedule? If it's okay to wait, how long is too long (of course if they start getting worse I would know something is really wrong)?
3) Do you know of any good rat vets in or near Charlottesville, VA (22903-ish zip code)?
4) Is there anything I can give the rats to help them get better that I can get without seeing a vet?
5) Is there a vet that would write me a prescription without me having to come in for an appointment? If not, would the vet likely be okay with seeing just the girls or just the boys but writing a prescription for all 4?
6) Do you know off the top of your head about how much the vet visit and antibiotics cost per rat or does it vary a lot from vet to vet?

Thank you so much for taking the time read this incredibly long series of questions. You have no idea how much it means to me. The more I search on the internet myself, the more anxious I get the babies might be really sick, and the more contradictory information I run into. It's difficult to sort all of this out to figure out what's going on.

Thank you again.

Answer
1) Could it be something other than myco, and if so, is it likely it is this something else?

It could be stress from moving, easily.


2) Should I wait too see if the babies get better, now that I can finally get them back on a regular schedule? If it's okay to wait, how long is too long (of course if they start getting worse I would know something is really wrong)?
I would give them time to settle down now, but if they get worse, you do need to take them in for oral medication such as baytril. You should not have to bring in all of them but explain to the vet they are all acting the same. Bring in the one that is the worst off.


3) Do you know of any good rat vets in or near Charlottesville, VA (22903-ish zip code)?


Dr. Elexis Comer
Charlottesville Veterinary Hospital    
865 Rio East Court
Charlottesville VA 22901
Phone:    434-973-4341
Website: charlottesvilleveterinaryhospital.com




4) Is there anything I can give the rats to help them get better that I can get without seeing a vet?  If you knew their weight or a good guess you can give them an antihistimine such as benadryl.


5) Is there a vet that would write me a prescription without me having to come in for an appointment? No that is illegal unless he has an established rat-Vet relationship with the rat in question.


If not, would the vet likely be okay with seeing just the girls or just the boys but writing a prescription for all 4?

You should be able to bring in one rat that is the worst of the group and know the other rats weight so he can help all of them. Most vets are good about that.



6) Do you know off the top of your head about how much the vet visit and antibiotics cost per rat or does it vary a lot from vet to vet?
It varies from vet to vet but I can give you a window of anywhere from $40 to $100.  No way should it exceed $100


Here is who I have so far as for vets that see exotics:

Dr. Elexis Comer
Charlottesville Veterinary Hospital    
865 Rio East Court
Charlottesville VA 22901
Phone:    434-973-4341
Website: charlottesvilleveterinaryhospital.com