Help! My pet rat has a cold :(

[pamby13]

What do i do?? i dont want to feed her to any of my snakes

[Stewart_Reptiles]

What kind of bedding are you using?

If your rat sneeze it could be due to the bedding if it is too dusty.

If not due to the bedding and your rat has a RI and this is your pet than you should do what you would do for any other pet and take it to a vet.

[pamby13]

What kind of bedding are you using?

If your rat sneeze it could be due to the bedding if it is too dusty.

If not due to the bedding and your rat has a RI and this is your pet than you should do what you would do for any other pet and take it to a vet.

using Aspen. I seperated her from my feeders... they were all together but i have decided to keep her. This is going to sound like an excuse but i recently was in a bad car accident and had to spend all of my money to get my truck out of the shop. wot have money for two weeks. any at home remedies yall can suggest to help me out til i can take her to the vet?

[Alexandra V]

X2 on the question about bedding. Often times sneezinf and runny noses are caused by dust and oils in wood or paper (that weird clumpy paper stuff) that the rat is reacting to. It is possible that your rat has either gotten a respiratory infection from dust or is having an allergic reaction to the bedding.

EDIT: i posted at the same time as you answered my question.

Aspen can have dust, and some rats are more sensitive to dust than others. What you couls do is try the rat on some of the newspaper pellet bedding which is virtually dust free, and see if that clears it up. If not, and it turns out to be an actual "cold"/RI, you can try to offer fruits and veggies to give a little vitamin C boost and hope the immune system of the rat can handle things on its own, but I agree a vet visit would be in the best interest of your rat as soon as your economic situation allows.

[pamby13]

X2 on the question about bedding. Often times sneezinf and runny noses are caused by dust and oils in wood or paper (that weird clumpy paper stuff) that the rat is reacting to. It is possible that your rat has either gotten a respiratory infection from dust or is having an allergic reaction to the bedding.

EDIT: i posted at the same time as you answered my question.

Aspen can have dust, and some rats are more sensitive to dust than others. What you couls do is try the rat on some of the newspaper pellet bedding which is virtually dust free, and see if that clears it up. If not, and it turns out to be an actual "cold"/RI, you can try to offer fruits and veggies to give a little vitamin C boost and hope the immune system of the rat can handle things on its own, but I agree a vet visit would be in the best interest of your rat as soon as your economic situation allows.

Thank you Your response was very helpful... heres to hoping she gets better!

[lk_holla]

I agree, chances are it may be your bedding you are using so change the bedding and see how it works.

If it does get worse though, you'll really need to go to a vet; its common for rats to have some inactive virus that will lead to RIs whenever it is activated (sorry i cant think of a better word to use lol). My rat came down with this and he was very lethargic, wheezing, and obviously ill. we took him to a vet and he got some medicine to put in a vaporizer if he has an attack and another oral medication. 2 weeks of treatment later and he was back to his fat and cheerful self .

I'm sure yours is fine, but he got to his condition very quickly and the vet said that he may not have made it if we didn't take him to the vet when we did. SO if your rat does get worse please seek medical help, they may be able to work with you on payment options.

[jasbus]

Here we go again....

Despite the old wives tale that pine shavings are bad for small animals, there is nothing wrong with using pine. This has been a topic of debate since before most of you were born. I've been using pine since the 80's. It's perfectly safe to use for small animals. Especially if you buy it pre-packaged from a store. 9 times out of 10, the prepack stuff is kiln-dried, thus removing the phenols contained in the pine. Cedar shavings have more than twice the phenols of pine, making it unsafe. By the time the pine is kiln-dried, there is so little phenol left, it's perfectly fine to use.
I've even used pine chips direct from saw mills with no problem...
It's all interent-hearsay. Show me one "real" scientific study that proves it...not some "do what I say internet blog".
Ask any of the big breeders what they use. Ask any of the hobby breeders what they use.
Ask me what I use! I've been breeding for almost 30 years. Both small scale and commercial scale.
I own a pet store, I breed, I recommend and use pine shavings.
Now, saying all I just said, I never use a "dusty" shaving, I do agree that too much saw dust is bad...

[Michelle.C]

its common for rats to have some inactive virus that will lead to RIs whenever it is activated (sorry i cant think of a better word to use lol).

Mycoplasma pulmonis is an organism that pretty much all pet rats carry. It can cause genital infections as well as RIs. Myco flare ups happen under stress, having poor air flow, changing habitat, chemicals, etc. their immunities are unable to fight off infection and they become ill.

http://ratguide.com/health/bacteria/...oplasmosis.php A good read on Myco.

I would suggest making a vapor box for her until you can get her to the vet. I use two tubs, one small ceramic bowl (it should take up a quarter of the floor space of the larger tub), and a towel. You need for the smaller tub to be small enough to take up less than half of the floor space. Poke holes in it to make sure the steam can enter the box. Boil the water, place the ceramic bowl to one side of the larger tub (make sure both tubs have lids and seal pretty tight), boil the water and pour it in the ceramic bowl. I then place the smaller container with the rat in the larger tub (all the way at the other end to avoid burns, etc). Place the towel between the rat container and the ceramic bowl. Place a lid on top of the larger tub and let it steam up. I do open the container every minute or two to make sure the rat doesn't overheat. Also make sure your larger tub is tall to make sure you don't overheat the rat and that the rat can not escape the smaller container and get near the hot water. But this is a great way to break up congestion and allow the rat to breathe a little better.

I would also suggest making sure he/she stays very hydrated and continues to eats. The eventual death is usually caused by malnutrition or dehydration. I usually switch them to Oatmeal, Ensure, etc. When they become ill.

You might also want to consider picking up some echinacea (I think they have children's cherry flavored syrup or just get the human supplement and mix it in can of baby food) and Goldenseal.

http://ratguide.com/meds/herbals_hea...goldenseal.php Information about Goldenseal.

http://ratguide.com/meds/herbals_hea.../echinacea.php And about Echinacea.

This will not replace the need to take your pet to the vet, but it's a start until you can get her in. Most vets won't charge very much to treat a rat for an RI. They'll probably put her on a doxy/baytril combo and it would be cleared up in a week or so. And as someone else already mentioned, most vets will do a payment plan with them if you are in good standing with the clinic or if it's an emergency.

[Valentine21]

hello,

My rat Valentine is sneezing, has red mucus, and make noises and I wanted to know if there are any home remedies I can give him that can make him feel better. He drinks, eats and goes to the bathroom without any problems but this is concerning me. :( please help!!
Please feel free to e-mail me at my personal e-mail below or just write me here.

Rosemarino_1992@hotmail.com

Thank You.:tears:

[satomi325]

hello,

My rat Valentine is sneezing, has red mucus, and make noises and I wanted to know if there are any home remedies I can give him that can make him feel better. He drinks, eats and goes to the bathroom without any problems but this is concerning me. please help!!
Please feel free to e-mail me at my personal e-mail below or just write me here.

Rosemarino_1992@hotmail.com

Thank You.

Sounds like a upper respiratory infection.

Go to the pet store and pick up a box of Tetracycline. Its a powdered antibiotic found in the fish section. It runs about 12-15$ a box of 10 packets.

Pour one pack into a 16oz water bottle and mix with water. Give this to your rat.Change water and add a new pack every day or every other day until your rat is better. It usually takes 7-14 days to clear up.

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