Infection and honesty

Question
QUESTION: I've had my rat a month and he's been sneezing the whole time. I took him to my vet who said the rat looked fine but once he started sneezing the red fluid that I would need to get him on antibodies. He said to be careful, though, because giving him the medicine too soon would ruin the rat's bowels and would show up as diarriah.

Long story short I've been giving him the medicine on and off for a week. One day he's 'weezy' when breathing and sneezing red stuff so i give him the meds. The next day he has diarriah and so i stop the meds, a couple days later the cycle continues.

I can't call the vet because, though this makes me feel like a horrible ratty mother, I can't afford more appointments and I know thats what the doctor is going to suggest and then most likely tell me something more confusing or hopeless.

I have a couple of questions therefore *gulp*:

If this is really a respitory infection, how long would it take before I knew without a doubt my ratty is "beyond healing"?
(its been about a month, but I heard they succumb to the problem very quickly)

Do ratties get hiccups? Thats one symptom thats been upsetting me the most. It looks like hiccups, but I'm affraid I'm being nieve.

Should I continue or stop the meds?

Have you ever had a rat with mine's symptoms and what ended up happening??




ANSWER: Hi Gina

For starters...you have had him for a month right?  Sneezing and new rats go hand in hand.  I get letters like this every single day and its the same. The rat is new and has only one symptom of illness which is sneezing. Other than that, the rat is eating, active and no congestion.

Let me ease your mind about the red discharge that he has. This is called porphyrin and it is produced by the harderian gland located behind the eyes. Normally the porphyrin is made to lubricate the rats third eyelid but it also can be discharged from the nose and eyes when the rat is stressed or sick. However, normal discharge of porphyrin is NOT a sign of illness. Rats sneeze it out normally and they also have traces of it around their nose when they first wake up from sleeping. If you see tons of it caked around the nose and eyes and the rat is listless and wont eat etc...you know the rat is sick.  Your rat is not acting that way.
Another problem is...giving the medication off and on that way will cause tolerance to the medication and it wont work. What is it, by the way?  How old is the rat?
To help with loose stools, you can feed your rat puffed rice to help the stools form and also feed him some yogurt that will help replace the "good bacteria" and this can also help with the loose stools.
I would hold off on the medication for now unless you see other signs of illness. Also, the vet should never charge you for a re-visit for the same ailment that is being treated. He needs to get it "right" and its not your fault that he is giving him medication that doesn't agree with his system. Its probably too strong a dose or the wrong medication. My rats never have loose stools and they area always taking either baytril or Cefa drops for one thing or another.

Do you know how much the rat weighs? Is there an expiration date on the bottle of antibiotics?

Sorry for all the questions. I just want to make sure I am giving the right advice to you so I need to know about the medication, the name of it, and how much your using and how much the little guy weighs...and also his age.

Hiccups? Very common in rats and not unusual for them to do it every day.  Nothing to worry about at all.  It looks like they are having little spasms while they sit in one place...sometimes they make little odd noises when they do it,too. It is indeed hiccups so that should ease your mind.

hang in there ok?  Let me know what I asked above in a follow up. We will get him on the right track, don't worry!

thanks

Sandy

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

QUESTION: I'm devistated!! Not an hour before I recieved your reply, Demitrius stopped moving. Not all together but theres no better word then the one you picked out: Listless!! I set up 'booby traps' last night so that I would be able to tell in the morning if he had eaten, I even left our 'trust training treat' of yougurt inside the cage which I never do....

Bad news, he didn't move for at least 5 hours. I don't know if he slept, either. He keeps looking around and sniffing the air like he's curious but instead of following his curiousity, he just sits there.
I gave him a piece of food this morning and he snatched it out of muscle memory, nibbled once and then dropped it, once again curious as to where it went but not even to move.
He's even letting me rub him!!! He never did this! He'd move and groom me or run away....but now he just doesnt care

BUT NO SNEEZING OR TROUBLE BREATHING!! I'm so confused...please help

Answer
What happens when you take him out and hold him or put him down? What does he do?


There are other illnesses that can occur other than respiratory infections too so just because he isn't sneezing or having trouble breathing doesn't mean he doesn't have another problem going on.

Check to see if his belly looks distended. Let me know.