Raspy Breathing?

[tjones]

Ok one of my female rats has been having raspy breathing and has been sneezing ALOT lately! What can I do to help stop this or make it better??? Does anyone have ANY advice?!?

[jglass38]

Could be an RI. What type of bedding do you use?

[tjones]

I use a mix of pine and cedar!! and i think it might be RI, how can i treat it?

[2kdime]

Vet?

I know alot of people use Baytril and Doxycycline in rats, but those are both Rx you'd get from your vet.

[jglass38]

I use a mix of pine and cedar!! and i think it might be RI, how can i treat it?

That is an issue. Cedar is not a good choice at all and certain Pines can also cause respiratory distress. First off, try getting it off of Cedar/Pine and onto Aspen. See if that relieves the symptoms.

[tjones]

I know alot of people use Baytril and Doxycycline in rats, but those are both Rx you'd get from your vet.

Would i just get the pills??? and how would i go abouts giving it to them, opening there mouth? it would be alot harder that dogs!

[cobweb2000]

Vets will generally give the medication as a liquid and will provide you with a syringe. You can either scruff the rat and inject the medicine directly into their mouths or you can just mix it with a bit of baby food and they generally will lap it up.

Rats have very delicate respitory systems and require adequate ventilation regardless of the substrate, so if your enclosures don't allow for that, consider finding a way to add more. As as been mentioned already, pine and cedar are not good for rats. They both will contribute to respitory issues and pine can cause a rise in liver enzymes in rodents.
http://www.ratfanclub.org/litters.html has more info on it.

Rats are very prone to RI's and they usually recover very well if treated early enough, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that your girl will be OK.

Good luck!

[littleindiangirl]

Vets will generally give the medication as a liquid and will provide you with a syringe. You can either scruff the rat and inject the medicine directly into their mouths or you can just mix it with a bit of baby food and they generally will lap it up.

Rats have very delicate respitory systems and require adequate ventilation regardless of the substrate, so if your enclosures don't allow for that, consider finding a way to add more. As as been mentioned already, pine and cedar are not good for rats. They both will contribute to respitory issues and pine can cause a rise in liver enzymes in rodents.
http://www.ratfanclub.org/litters.html has more info on it.

Rats are very prone to RI's and they usually recover very well if treated early enough, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that your girl will be OK.

Good luck!

She said it all.