Butters, my favorite rat.

[Gabe Rienzo]

So i bought Butters a few months back as a feeder, when i opened the box he leaped out and onto my shirt climbed up my shirt and sat on my shoulder looking at me with almost a grin on his face, my ex and i fell inlove (was girlfriend at the time) he was the most awesome pet rat, he was only just weaned and was the most friendly, calm and loving rat iv ever seen or had. i would literally open his cage and he would scamper up my arm and give me a kiss then sit on my shoulder, he took naps with my ex every day and ate anything u would give him, he gave my ex half of the piece of Doritos we gave him one day while playing.

he hasnt been feeling good, he was only like 4 months old and he came down with something. we took him to the only 3 vets in a 100 mile radius that would look at rats and all said it was nothing, "hes having allergy's to something in the cage". we knew this was crap because no matter what we tried it just got worse and worse, finally fed up and $150 down the drain i took him back and demanded they take a better look at him then just saying hes "sneezing" they told me he had fluid in his lungs but it would clear up on its own in no time at all... that was a month ago, all we could do was watch as he got worse and worse, well tonight i came in and he was laying on the bottom of his cage... i scooped him up, called the ex who is otw right now /: and put him in a bag and put the bag in a mason jar... we are about to bury him out back.

so upset that all they would do was hold him for a sec and say he was fine... he came to his name and gave kisses with the sound and everything on command...

sorry for the long post but im just frustrated that we went through all that for nothing... hopefully we will find a new 1 like him some day

RIP: Butters

[DooLittle]

Poor butter, rats can be so sweet. Sorry for your loss.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

[angllady2]

Sounds to me like a classic case of Mycoplasma to me. All rats carry this bacteria, and under times of stress or improper husbandry it flares up. It can also flare up after the rat becomes chilled or sometimes for no apparent reason at all. The bacterium attack the lungs, causing severe respiratory distress, if treated with strong and specific antibiotics the rat will recover although it will always be more susceptible to recurrence.

It is a pity your vets did not see this for what it was instantly. If they have any rodent experience at all, they should have suspected Mycoplasma right away, because it is such a common problem. I am so very sorry you had to loose your baby in this painful way, especially since he didn't need to die.

If you do decide to keep another pet, ventilation is key. Make sure his cage is kept clean and has good air flow. A lot of people use aquariums, and you should know they are much more difficult to keep good air flow in. Using a wire lid will help, but of course there is always risk of a chew out. If any other rat shows similar symptoms, demand the vet treat for Mycoplasma. If they are worth anything, they'll know exactly what that is and how best to treat it. If they just hand you Baytril and say he'll be fine, look for a different vet. There are very specific drugs to treat Mycoplasma, and they do a much better job than an "all purpose" antibiotic like Baytril.

I wish you all the best.

Gale

[Gabe Rienzo]

Sounds to me like a classic case of Mycoplasma to me. All rats carry this bacteria, and under times of stress or improper husbandry it flares up. It can also flare up after the rat becomes chilled or sometimes for no apparent reason at all. The bacterium attack the lungs, causing severe respiratory distress, if treated with strong and specific antibiotics the rat will recover although it will always be more susceptible to recurrence.

It is a pity your vets did not see this for what it was instantly. If they have any rodent experience at all, they should have suspected Mycoplasma right away, because it is such a common problem. I am so very sorry you had to loose your baby in this painful way, especially since he didn't need to die.

If you do decide to keep another pet, ventilation is key. Make sure his cage is kept clean and has good air flow. A lot of people use aquariums, and you should know they are much more difficult to keep good air flow in. Using a wire lid will help, but of course there is always risk of a chew out. If any other rat shows similar symptoms, demand the vet treat for Mycoplasma. If they are worth anything, they'll know exactly what that is and how best to treat it. If they just hand you Baytril and say he'll be fine, look for a different vet. There are very specific drugs to treat Mycoplasma, and they do a much better job than an "all purpose" antibiotic like Baytril.

I wish you all the best.

Gale

i actually breed rats for pets, but started breeding for feeders. i also suspected Mycroplasma and actually asked 2 of the vets about it and they both said theres no way.... and my husbandry is kept top notch. butters was being kept alone until we could find him a companion in a wire cage with 2 levels and the floor deck. i feed mazuri 6f to all my rodents and keep them all on aspen and clean every cage every 5 days and renew everyone's water bottles before i go to sleep... everything would be considered perfect but he just got sick... i honestly dont know what caused it... maybe being alone for a bit did it idk. upsetting though.

my other rodents aside for my first 2 rats are kept in a rack. also i have a question, one of my rats has been scratching herself raw is certain places and it is definitely not lice or mites or anything visible i just noticed it like 2 days ago when i cleaned and i inspect all of them when i remove them from their enclosures for cleaning so i know it has just started this week and instead of wasting money could someone recommend medication or treatment? i trimmed her nails gave her a warm bath with baby wash when i saw it.

also if anyone is wondering how i have time to do all this i only have 10 rats and 26 babies atm. 12 of them born 4 days ago lol.

[LotusCorvus]

also i have a question, one of my rats has been scratching herself raw is certain places and it is definitely not lice or mites or anything visible i just noticed it like 2 days ago when i cleaned and i inspect all of them when i remove them from their enclosures for cleaning so i know it has just started this week and instead of wasting money could someone recommend medication or treatment? i trimmed her nails gave her a warm bath with baby wash when i saw it.

If you don't see any bugs (lice aren't too tricky to spot, mites would be tougher, check extra close around the ears), my best guess would be an allergy. 6F is the breeder feed right, with extra protein? I had a girl once who was seriously allergic to the temporary dog food I was using in between shipments or rat feed, and the protein content was high enough (even though it was the "diet/elderly" dog food) that she was always scratching and ended up with scabs all over. I separated her out since her cage mates were making the problem worse and found the lowest-protein food I could along with extra veggie treats, and she cleared up after a while. Maybe look up one of those home-made rat food mixes like the SueBee recipe, that you can modify for low protein, and see how she does on that?

Sorry about your loss, sudden myco flare-ups are really rough, especially when its nearly impossible to find vets with actual rat experience. It sounds like Butters had a great life with you at least, and you definitely did everything in your power to help.

[Flikky]

I'm sorry for your loss That's horrible about those vets. I would march in there and tell them that he died personally but it wouldn't change anything.. Just makes me mad is all.

[Gabe Rienzo]

If you don't see any bugs (lice aren't too tricky to spot, mites would be tougher, check extra close around the ears), my best guess would be an allergy. 6F is the breeder feed right, with extra protein? I had a girl once who was seriously allergic to the temporary dog food I was using in between shipments or rat feed, and the protein content was high enough (even though it was the "diet/elderly" dog food) that she was always scratching and ended up with scabs all over. I separated her out since her cage mates were making the problem worse and found the lowest-protein food I could along with extra veggie treats, and she cleared up after a while. Maybe look up one of those home-made rat food mixes like the SueBee recipe, that you can modify for low protein, and see how she does on that?

Sorry about your loss, sudden myco flare-ups are really rough, especially when its nearly impossible to find vets with actual rat experience. It sounds like Butters had a great life with you at least, and you definitely did everything in your power to help.

well it has 16% protein and none of my other rats show any signs of discomfort. but i will definitely look into it! and thanks!

[angllady2]

Well sweetie, if the vets told you no way was it Myco, they were lying. I've had a few rats come down with it, and it's awful. I was in no way implying you don't take the best care, I'm sorry if it sounded that way.

My guess is he had a multiple bacterial infection and that his poor little immune system got overwhelmed and the Myco just exploded and he couldn't get it back in check. I have no idea why the vet would tell you it couldn't be Myco. Every vet I've ever spoken to about rodents, when one experiences respiratory distress, that's the first thing they check for.

The rat you say is scratching herself raw, some stages of mites can be all but invisible, I know I've battled them. Try putting her in a small tub with paper towels in the bottom for 20 minutes, then take a flashlight and magnifying glass to the paper towels. You will be able to see it if there are tiny early stage mites. if you don't find any, my guess is she has indeed developed an allergy to something.

This is an interesting article I thought you might like to read.
http://www.afrma.org/med_scabs_diet.htm

I wish you the best with your ratties.

Gale