/an/ - Animals & Nature » Thread #338502

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Anonymous Wed 12 Nov 2008 22:39:00 No.338502 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By:

Hey /an/,
I just adopted 3 female rats. The two oldest are just under a year and the youngest is 13 weeks. I put them into there habitat last night and they seemed very content. However, when I woke up this morning I heard a "whining" noise. I looked inside the box they like to sleep in, and found that one of the older females was wheezing! She had been sneezing a little last night but I thought it was from being in a new environment. Other than the wheezing she is active and is eating and drinking. Perhaps she is wheezing because she's in a different type of bedding? Or, could it be something more serious? If she's still wheezing tomorrow morning I am going to take her to the vet. In the meantime, do you have any suggestions?

TL;DR -- My new rat is wheezing but appears otherwise healthy, could this be from her new bedding? / Do you have any suggestions?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 12 Nov 2008 23:09:00 No.338509 Report

Quoted By: >>338510

What kind of bedding is it?

All rats carry Mycoplasmosis, and it can flare up when they're stressed. Take her to the vet and get her an antibiotic, it shouldn't cost much. They can still be happy and active, eating and drinking... they just can't breathe as well. If it's a strong, (otherwise) healthy rat, it's not much different for them than having a cold. Untreated, though, it can get worse.

Some rats are just more prone to flare-ups... you could end up treating her for it for the rest of her life. It's one of the big downsides to owning rats. They're worth it, though.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 12 Nov 2008 23:14:00 No.338510 Report

Quoted By: >>338518

>>338509

She was originally in a recycled paper bedding. I tried using shredded newspaper with her on the suggestion of a vet tech. I know not to use pine or cedar and I am also wary of a lot of the bedding available at the store.

I was thinking Mycoplasmosis. I heard the antibiotics cost around $20 - $25, which I can certainly afford. The trip to the vet, itself, though, should be like $100, right? I can definitely afford it and I don't want to risk her having problems down the line but I also don't want to go the vet and have them say, "LOL UR PET IS JUST STRESSED."

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 13 Nov 2008 00:02:00 No.338515 Report

Quoted By: >>338600

Well, if you don't want to be seen by the vet, you can just go in and ask for antibiotics.
Well, local law or vet-office policy might say otherwise.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 13 Nov 2008 00:13:00 No.338518 Report

Quoted By: >>338524 >>338600

>>338510
Well, I had 8 rats at one point, and I was constantly in the vets office. I don't think I was ever charged more than $30 total... it was about $20 for the visit and I usually got prescribed Baytril for respiratory infections and it was only about $10.

That was about 7 years ago, though. I have two female rats now, but they haven't been to the vet for anything yet.

I just did a quick search, and it seems that office visit charges vary wildly depending on the vet. So maybe you should call around and just ask. It can't hurt.

There is also a list of recommended rat vets here:
http://www.rmca.org/Resources/vets.htm/
just log in as "member"
I found my old vet here, although it was pretty funny because he had no idea he was a "rat" vet, but he really was good with them and he didn't charge much. So maybe you can find someone in your area that won't screw you.

Good luck!

tigerfeather !CrwtTbFNxQ

tigerfeather !CrwtTbFNxQ Thu 13 Nov 2008 00:33:00 No.338524 Report

Quoted By: >>338600

>>338518
Baytril is one of the most common treatments for small animal upper respiratory, along with vibramyacin. OP, you may be able to call around and see if any vets will let you just come pick up some Baytril or vibra. Both are pretty cheap (but the vibra is way easier to give!).

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 13 Nov 2008 02:00:00 No.338550 Report

Quoted By: >>338554 >>338600

If you can afford it, fork out the ~$20 a bag for Carefresh Ultra. Excellent bedding, and totally worth it to keep your rats nice and fresh.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 13 Nov 2008 02:19:00 No.338554 Report

Quoted By: >>338600

>>338550
Yeah, Carefresh Ultra is good. It's not dusty at all, and even though it's the most expensive, it lasts a long time. It doesn't get that wet paper smell, either.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 13 Nov 2008 05:18:00 No.338600 Report

Quoted By:

>>338515
>>338518
>>338524
>>338550
>>338554

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it. She stopped wheezing sometime between when I checked her this morning and went to class, but she and her sister are still sneezing when I pick them up. Still, no funny discoloration/discharge around the eyes.

I'm calling a few vets now to see about pricing, but I honestly don't mind forking over the money - especially if it seems like its going to be under what I thought (I'm used to paying a lot for vet care for cats/dogs/etc). We'll probably go in tomorrow morning or early afternoon. I'll make sure to ask for Baytril, too.

Also, I'm going to buy the Carefresh Ultra, now.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 13 Nov 2008 11:03:00 No.338730 Report

Quoted By: >>338776

Update:
Both the older girls have porphyrine around their noses, but no wheezing. We're going to the vet! Its going to be about $50 total, too. :D

Thanks so much for the advice, everyone!

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 13 Nov 2008 13:09:00 No.338776 Report

Quoted By: >>338916

>>338730
Good luck! You're a good pet owner and I like you.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 13 Nov 2008 13:25:00 No.338782 Report

Quoted By: >>338916

I see you're going to the vet. :) I hope everything goes well. I almost lost one of my little girls to a horrid wheeze... Would have lost her if I hadn't taken her to the vet.
Anyway, defiantly watch the bedding and anything that can agitate their nose. My girls had horrible flare ups because of the mold I had on my window! It's cleaned up now and they have been sniffle free ever since.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 13 Nov 2008 21:04:00 No.338853 Report

Quoted By:

Almost all rats carry a dormant respiratory infection, it can act up under stress, ie, environment change, being moved after the adoption, etc.

Baytril should take care of it, if you catch it when its mostly only happening while they sleep or just after they wake up, everything should be fine in one round of meds.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 14 Nov 2008 00:35:00 No.338916 Report

Quoted By:

>>338776

Thanks, but I also think I'm paranoid, to a degree. Knowing they can get URI's, I am really vigilant about making sure their environment is free of dirty bedding and that they get enough fresh air.

>>338782

Everything has gone well so far. I figured it was best to take care of it while it was still a little wheeze instead of waiting and either having to pay more in vet fees down the road, or lose her. Thankfully I am off the rest of the week so I can stay home and watch her.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 14 Nov 2008 01:29:00 No.338925 Report

Quoted By: >>338951 >>338993

What type of bedding do you have? The best thing to use in the base of the cage is cat litter mixed with a little sawdust. Rats have very sensitive noses and things can easily affect their lungs so it might just be a case of changing what you use in the cage.

Rats do generally sneeze quite a lot. Like I said, they just have sensitive snozzles!

On the other hand, rats can quite easily catch pneumonia. But if your other rats haven't picked it up yet, I doubt that's what it is.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 14 Nov 2008 03:07:00 No.338951 Report

Quoted By:

>>338925
>cat litter mixed with a little sawdust

wtf?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 14 Nov 2008 06:46:00 No.338993 Report

Quoted By:

>>338925

Right now I am using shredded paper towels until the Carefresh Ultra arrives (I bought it online). Since I switched to that from the shredded newspaper, they've been a lot better. Though Wink, the initially sick one, is still sneezing and wheezing on and off about every 4 - 6 hours for about 30 minutes.

I don't know if your suggestion will work for my girls since they seem to be VERY sensitive, but thank you anyway. :)

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