Question
scabby rat
Two months ago I went to the vet for respiratory problems/scabbyness on my old female rat. recently she started having respiratory issues for the first time in her life. Wet sneezing - a lot, so I took her to the vetbeginning of jan. 2009, got zithromax enough for 20 days but the vet failed to comment on the scabs, gave the zithro to her, she went back to occasional dry sneezes, went through a surgery to remove a 1oz tumor, her many scabs from scratching herself with massively overgrown toenails due to limited mobility because of the large tumor healed up some, but now the scabs have gotten worse despite nice short blunt nails(I learned how to keep them trim and recruited a helper) and the sneezing has come back, took her back to the vet. He basically threw up his hands and didn't know what to do and took my money and didn't give me ANYTHING. Maybe he was just having a bad day, but I really don't want to call/see him with anything other than a request for medication.
I recently added 2 ratlets, QT'ed them properly and they weren't scabby and had no internal parasites took a sample in for a float, about a week after introductions started they started getting scabby around the mouth.
One of our dogs had a fungal infection that wasn't ringworm 3 months ago right around when this started, I've been to the local shelter volunteering and I *did* scratch several cats who were in cages that said "do not open"... so I'm thinking I either brought parasites, or some sort of infection home with me, a month before that I brought home a torn open/retaped bag of carefresh and didn't notice till I got home but I stuck it in the freezer for a week before I used it.
And, one of the ratlets... I don't have much expierence and the best way I can describe it is, "she's doing a good job of pretending to be a rat who falls off flat surfaces." It's like when she's just standing, all of a sudden she looses her balance for a nanosecond, but so far always rights herself never even tips over all the way, though she does miss jumps. She's smaller, thinner, shyer with people, and more reluctant to wake up than her sister but a healthy weight for her age, her tail is nice, full and round, she's not sneezing, poofing - any other symptom except 'increased aggression' being the smaller of the ratlets she dominates everyone. Almost makes me think somehow she's in pain but I don't feel any lumps or bumps and she moves/eats/drinks/poo's/sounds normal.
I was wondering if it would be safe to try an OTC anti-fungal cream on one of the spots on my older rat, and keep her separated to see if that's the problem. Regular neosporin isn't helping, it's making things worse. Can you tell me what might be safe, I will call my vet and double check. Does the ratlet sound in serious trouble to you? What testing should I ask for if/when I go into the vet again? I've never dosed with ivermectin horse paste, it scares me more than a little, is there another med that contains ivermectin, maybe some sort of drop like revolution? What else could be causing the scabs?
Thank you!
AnswerI'm afraid I don't have much experience in this area so I can't say with confidence that I would be able to tell you what do give your rat, but I suggest you read this link in the Rat Guide about ringworm and see if that describes what you are experiencing and if that treatment may be right for you: http://ratguide.com/health/integumentary_skin/dermatophytosis.php
The rat with the balance problem could have an inner ear infection that is causing it or it could be a minor neurological problem that may or may not get worse with time. Since she isn't showing any other symptoms or becoming a danger to herself or others at this point all you can really do is wait and see.
Well I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help, I hope everything turns out for your rats!
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