I think my rat is sick...

Question
Hello!
My pet rat is about 2 years old now and for the first time since I got her, I think she might be sick.  I have used the same bedding and food since I got her and nothing else has changed about our living situation or anything like that. I use a pine shavings bedding, but that hasnt changed since I got her.
Over the past few days, I have noticed that she seems to have lost a little bit of weight and her coat is changing color a lot faster than it used to, not in a dirty way, but her coat is going from white to brown in a lot of places.
I have however noticed that in the past few days, she doesn't seem to be cleaning herself as well on her underside (her coat is a little urine stained and matted). Lastly, at her "wrists" on her front paws, it almost looks like she has raw skin or scabs.
I'm hoping you could give me some idea what might be wrong with her and if there is anything I can do to help her.
Thank you so much!

Answer
Hello Chrissy,
it sounds like she is having a respiratory problem and bad reaction to the pine bedding. Pine bedding is known to cause liver and lung disease in small animals and even though the symptoms may take a while to show up it's still best to avoid that type of bedding. The oils in the pine can cause the rat to scratch a lot and even to the point of the skin being raw or bleeding.

The best thing to do is remove the bedding asap and use one such as Carefresh or Soft Sorbent bedding. I'd also take your rat to a vet asap so she can get looked at in case there is something that can be done. If you have a pet store nearby I'd look for some vitamin drops to give to her. They can really help boost her energy level and help her out a bit. Oasis vitamin drops is what I use and I recommend them a lot, but I've only been able to find them at PetSmart. I hope this helps.