please help!! :( pleassee answer.

Question
QUESTION: Hi! I have two pet rats named Gwen and Duckie and I love them very much. However, the smaller one, Duckie, cannot stop sneezing. She sneezing almost every second and I'm afraid it might be getting worse. My other rat sneezes a little but not as much as little duck. I know I will have to take them to a vet but is there anything else I can do? I realize they most likely have a respitory infection. Also, I read that raw garlic is good for their health. Is this true? This is my first set of rats so any advice would be so greatly appreciated. Ive written to you before without a response. Please help! thank you

ANSWER: Hi Erin

I am sorry your rat is sick. I do want to let you know that I never received a message from you before and we are not allowed to ignore messages when they come and leave them without a response. We have 3 days to respond and if we dont, we get suspended from this site. Your message may have never reached me because I always respond to my messages. I am real sorry you wrote and never got a response. Thats a pretty big mystery unless for some reason it went to another category like mice or something?  :-O


As for your sneezing rats, not all rats that sneeze have a respiratory infection. Sometimes it has alot to do with their surroundings. Other times they sneeze during stimulation such as excitement during play time, and they begin to sneeze due to the rise in histamine levels.
Allergies can also cause sneezing.
I have a few things to ask first so I can get a better understanding as to what is going on with them.


What type of bedding/litter do you use?

What is their main diet?

How old are they?

Are they in a cage or tank?

Hope to hear back from you soon and we can figure this out and help to the sneezing little darlings :)

Sandra

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

QUESTION: Sorry about that, I must have sent it to a different person, but hank you very much for responding! :) I have them on carefresh but I also use old towels. They are in a cage and the younger sicker one can't be very old because she is no larger than a baby hamster or a gerbil. The other one is about 3 months old I would say, unfortunately the people at the pet sore couldn't give me any information on either little one. I did buy them at seprate times, about 2 weeks apart but at the same pet store. They get along great though! They are eating a brand of food called Hartz designed for pet rats. Other than that, every now and then I let them have a piece of fruit, but I've done a lot of reading and I know what they aren't allowed to have. I have fed them garlic because I was told it helps keep them from getting sick! Thank you so much!
Erin

ANSWER: Hi Erin

Garlic doesnt do much to help build the immune system, but instead, it
has been documented to carry some antibiotic properties, which means if you give it to the rat when it is ill, it can also help fight infection during active infection, along with regular antibiotics. Garlic alone does not kill bacteria.  

It keeps vampires away, too, so they say :) LOL!

I also forgot to ask you how long you have had the little girls also because often, new rats into the home also go through a period of sneezing while they adjust to all the new surroundings and smells etc...
Also, do they tend to sneeze more when they are being held or out playing? Sometimes, over excitement can cause histamine levels to rise as well which causes sneezing. Once the rats adjust to their surroundings and to being handled etc...the sneezing usually subsides.
Also, some bedding is dusty like carefresh, which can also trigger sneezing.  Its not a bad litter, mind you, but to some rats it is irritating to their nose.

Do you have a vet that sees rats ?

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

QUESTION: Yes, I do have a vet for them, one of my friends actually. I'm just not sure if they need to go yet. But I know it definitely couldn't hurt. Duckies breathing is a lot worse now, shes not sneezing as often but every now and then while shes in her cage i hear her make a strange wheezing noise that definitely concerns me. I would also just like to say how appreciative I am that you are offering free help and advice to fellow rat lovers. I never thought I could love a little rodent this much but I find they're just like little dogs and they want nothing more than to be with me. They hate being put back in their cage ahah. I've had them for about 3 weeks now. Do you think I should make an appointment for the vet yet? Thanks :)

Answer
Hi Erin

Yes, it is vet time for sure now. Any time you have any concerns like this, go with your gut.  There are only a few sounds rats should make and that is the bruxing they do when happy, squeaking or squealing during playtime when they play wrestle their cagemate, and of course the sneezing you may hear. ALso, they get hiccups alot which stirs up some concerns for rat owners. They often write in describing what their rat is doing and say it resembles hiccups, and that is why it is, which is normal as well.  Other than that, you should not hear congestion in the nose or chest and often it sounds like a monkey, an owl making a HOOT HOOT sound, honking like a goose...people have descrbed these sounds in millions of different ways and I never have really found a truly accurate sound for what they do but it can vary. Sometimes a good sneeze and the noise is gone for a while which proves they have mucus in their nose and the sneezing helped for a bit, but it returns.  You dont want this to end up a secondary infection so its best to get on it now.

Few things to keep in mind about treating this. First of all, it is probably mycoplasmosis causing this, which is very common. It needs treated properly and with aggressive antibiotics. I have extensive training in mycoplasmosis treatment and the main course of treatment is to use an antibiotic that works to treat organisms without a cell wall. Mycoplasma bacteria does not have a cell wall. Only a handful of drugs that are available to vets will work on myco, which is baytril, zithromax, and chloramphenicol,  However, a secondary infection is always common too so a back up antibiotic such as amoxil or cefa drops are warranted. Treatment for the second antibiotic should be a full 14 days but treatment for myco, using the baytril should be 21 to 30 days. This is because myco is hard to destroy and comes back right away, with the second attack more brutal than the first, often causing scarring or blistering of the lungs.
Also, never put the medication in the rats water. It never works and only makes the process of getting the medication to work in the rats system longer. In other words its a waste of time. It could also cause problems due to the rat not wanting water at all because it tastes funny and this can lead to dehydration.  
I am sure your vet knows all of this is the vet is indeed an exotics specialist and is well versed in rat care but it doesnt hurt to arm yourself with all of the knowledge you can when your a rat owner!

Check out my website for all things rat! I am always updating it and adding new articles with the most recent I am working on will be about rat teeth (so many people ask why they are yellowish orange!  LOL!!) and I will be adding info about rat and their poor vision too.

Here is the url to Critter city for rat lovers!!:)
http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/allaboutratcare.htm




Feel free to reach me anytime and I will be more than happy to help. I love rats and want to help educate rat owners as much as possible. There are only 130 certified exotic specialist in the world alone with only 47 states in the US that have certified exotic vets. Its sad :(