Rat flu

Question
QUESTION: I am looking after my grandson's 2 rats who came to me today with a diagnosis of mites and rat flu. They were prescribed Baytril oral drops to be added to food.
One of the previous answers on your site said that rats cannot get flu. Who is right?

ANSWER: Hi Maureen


I am right,for most part. I should not even say I am right, rather, that Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians are right (who in turn have taught me most of what I know and share with others)

If we are going to get into this medically so it makes more sense, it would be something like this:

Rats cannot get the flu nor can they get the 200 something different viruses that cause the common cold. They are immune to these specific strains of viruses.  However, if the vet said it was the flu, this could be a generic term for virus or viral infection or mycoplasmosis, which is an organism that rats are born with that can trigger many ailments, including respiratory tract infections.


Flu is a virus, which means it cannot be treated with antibiotics.  The rat is on baytril which is a strong antibiotic. This is for infection which the vet obviously suspects he or she has, as I do.

The word "flu" is misused often. It has become a generic term to describe many illnesses and can be misleading to many people when it is not used properly to describe something, often confusing the patient, like you are now scratching your head about all of this, which I can understand why.

The word influenza loosely refers to the cause or type of a disease.

The word FLU can also mean:

1) A bad cold, often with fever, pain in the joints, and sometimes diarrhea. This is what we typically
know as the flu.


2.)Acute viral infection of the respiratory tract caused by one of three strains of influenza virus (A, B, and C).  Rats are immune to these strains.

3) WHen people throw up for a 24 hour period, they call it the stomach flu, or the 24 hour flu, but in reality, it is totally unrelated to influenza. . The real name for it is gastroenteritis. For the record, I call it the "puke flu" which is totally inappropriate and slightly unprofessional and one of the bugs I dread out of all of them!  ACK!!

I will ask, what are the rats symptoms?  Sneezing? Congestion? Lethargy? WHeezing?  If so, it is more than likely caused by mycoplasmosis, which is a very common bacteria that rats are born with. When it flares up in the respiratory tract, the rat can have one or more of the symptoms I described above.  Baytril is the drug of choice.  The problem with this is that it can come back if not treated long enough and if it keeps relapsing, it can cause scarring of the lungs and chronic lung disease.

You can read about it here on my website:

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

Also, is this vet an exotic specialist?  Putting the baytril in the food is pretty strange way to get the rat to take it unless you are only using a small amount of food and watching to make sure they eat the entire portion or they will not get all the medication in their body.  I have heard of one vet telling the person to put medication in the water and the poor rat died because in order to get the entire dose of medication he needed to drink the 8 ounce bottle of water. Problem is, the rat hated the taste of the bitter water and stopped drinking and not only did he not get the medicine in his system but he dehydrated as well.

I am wondering if the vet gave you tablets to crush up into the food?
If so let me know....and if there is  problem that the rat is not getting all of the  medicine at once like he should, I can help figure a way to be sure he gets it the right way or he will not get better. THis is why I asked about the vets credentials.  Sometimes a vet will be nice and see the rat as a patient esp if the person already brings the cat or dog in to see them, but they only know bits and pieces about rats and they dont always carry the right types of medications needed since they dont see these types of critters on a daily basis. It wouldnt be really cost effective to stock medications they rarely use and thus in turn have it expire and go to waste.

Well I have blabbed enough...just wanted to make sure it made sense to you about the flu and all.  Oh and also, dont worry about catching anything from the rat or passing anything from yourself to the rat either. I also have a bit of zoology under my belt, esp concerning rats, and they do not pass on any type of illness like this to humans.  Rats do not even carry rabies and there has never been one case reported in the US where a rat has given a human rabies. To be honest, the rat is so small, if a rabid animal did get bitten, it would not survive the attack long enough to allow the virus to incubate and thus in turn pass it on to humans.  Rats can give humans ring worm and we can give it to them, too.  Mites and lice, no, we cannot give it or get it.  The lice rats get are species specific and have no wings anyhow. Still nasty, yes, but at least we are immune to them.  Itch itch itch!!!

Let me know if this helps or not!!!

Sandra

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

QUESTION: Hi Sandra,

Thanks for your reply. My son showed me how he added the Baytril drops to a small piece of croissant for each rat, and then I watch as they each eat it. It is given to them twice a day before other food, and croissants are their favourite so no problem. Unfortunately I did not see them before they were seen by the vet, but I imagine they were sneezing etc, and they had mites which were spotted when the rats were bathed. My son was told to take all the toys etc out of the cage as they were probably harbouring more mites.
I have the rats for a week whilst everyone is on holiday, then they go home, then I have them for another week. (Together with my son's two labradors and my own border collie.) It is quite peaceful when they all go home!

Answer
Hi

Yes, mites!  YUCK!  They live on toys and among the litter/bedding rather than on the rat so this is why its good to toss and replace stuff.  ALso a good idea is to freeze the bedding for 24 hours in the freezer before using it. This kills any mites or eggs.
ALso, the baytril drops, good, that makes me feel better that its not crushed up pills on the food. This is not acceptable as I said before.

If the rats ever give you a hard time and dont want to eat the food, you can try something sweet like pancake syrup (just a small dab with a bit of water so its not so sticky) or even jam or jelly. This masks the taste too.  Some people use yogurt as well.

Doesnt rat sitting make you want to have your own? They are so sweet...they can be pretty addicting, you know! :)

I am guessing your in the UK?