my rat has chronic fatigue and breathing problems?
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at
2:26 pm
pink_lady asked:
hello i have three rats 2 are always buzzy and curious while the other lanky looking one they are mature babies is always “jet lagged” and has upper respiratory problems and looks sick. other two sometimes have chest problems but not as much. thanx any suggestions ? Eg: herbal remedies or vet.
hello i have three rats 2 are always buzzy and curious while the other lanky looking one they are mature babies is always “jet lagged” and has upper respiratory problems and looks sick. other two sometimes have chest problems but not as much. thanx any suggestions ? Eg: herbal remedies or vet.
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Tagged with: Chronic Fatigue • Rats • Vet
Filed under: Jet Lag
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Rats have an upper respiratory virus that they carry all their lives. It will eventually kill all of them, but the ones that seem sick now probably won’t last for too long. The Vet can give them some meds to make them feel better temporarily, so if you care about your ratties a lot, go to a nice, understanding Vet.
Contrary to what the last person wrote, the virus mycoplasmosis (which virtually all domesticated rats do carry) will not eventually kill all rats. SOME rats will die of complications (bacterial infections leading to pneumonia) because they are poorly kept, not treated when they become symptomatic or because they are inherently weak.
In order to ensure that your symptomatic rat lives a good and long life it is necessary to treat the symptoms from the moment they appear, aggressively and properly. If you do not have extensive experience doing this then you need to go to the vet. But not any vet. Being “nice” is not a good enough qualification. The vet must have experience with this illness or be willing to educate themselves (an involved process). For an initial flareup Baytril is usually prescribed for a period of 20-30 days. For latter flareups an antibiotic combination will probably be prescribed (such as Baytril + Doxycyline). When giving this medications it will be important a) to not miss doses, b) to not underdose and c) to continue giving the meds for the entire period of time they prescribed.
Flareups themselves are encouraged when a rat’s environment is not hygienic or is toxic. Remember, your rats’ cages should never smell of urine or feces, but should always be clean. Never use pine or cedar either for a bedding or in their litter boxes as these contain toxic resins that irritate rats’ lungs. Make sure their cage is well ventilated (but that they are protected from cold drafts). Never keep a rat in a glass or plastic tank.
It is also important to rule out other diseases and health problems. Rats can also carry parasites or have digestive problems (caused by poor diet) that cause lethargy and make a rat appear unhealthy. There may be more than one thing wrong with your rat.