and slava gets back rom the vet.... news and a question

[sarunia]

hey ya'll

soooo i finally got my little slava into see the vet. the vet was very kind, checked him out (he must have been the finest looking manrat the'd seen for awhile :giggle: ), listend to his chest, checked his fur, etc. ht eonly down side is tht it was about twice as expensive as i thought it would be (annnnd that meant i had to enter my overdraft...)

well.... thankfully all went well. he was given baytril and doxycycline for his breathing. they wanted to take a chest x-ray as well (i couldn't afford it, so i'm going to have to hope, hope, hope that this is an infection that clears up!) for his sneezing.
the vet also said that she thought that he had mites. i have to take sashka in tomorrow to get an injection, but should i keep them quarantined?? i'm a little unsure as to how mites in ratties work, or, shall we say, spread. can you all give me some info please?? i'm keeping them in seperate cages, unfortunately i live in a studio apt so pure "quarantining" is easier said than done. how contagious are mites. and, sorry to ask this so bluntly, but i cna't think of another way, am i susceptible to get them? i hope not.

thanks guys!

best, sarah

 

[Fidget]

Mites aren't uncommon, tho god only know how they can recur like they can when you haven't even brought in any new kids or beddng????... :redhot: I've had a few bouts with them over the years and never have I ever been personally afflicted.

I don't know what you mean by quarantined as I don't know your situation with these 2. Are they new? came together? Do you have others?
Once you start the mite treatment they will be be safe pretty quick, I'd give them a week before I put them with any they hadn't been with before tho. It's very important that you clean everything they've used really well, preferably with bleach and a really good rinse, and any wood stuff should be cleaned and put in the freezer (for a couple weeks I think?)

If you have another cage of kids then definitely wash your hands between cages, and it wouldn't hurt to put on different clothes with each group if you can. (You could always cut holes in the top of green garbage bags and use a different one at each cage lol) But when I've found mites on one kids I've always treated everyone. When you have rats you need to have mite treatment on hand all the time, it's so easily & cheaply done at home - not something you want to go broke having a vet fix for you when you're gonna need that money for stuff you can't do at home..

 

[sarunia]

they live together in the same cage normally. slava went in yesterday and sashka goes in tomorrow for his ivomec treatment.... so i just put them in separate cages. tomorrow i clean their big(ger) cage with bleach and cook some sticks (i'm real broke now, so all their toys are gonna be natural for a while :nod: thankfully they like them just as much). i only have two boys, so it's pretty miserable to see them like this. my vet told me to not let them run around (they freerange when i'm home) just to keep them apart till tomorrow...

easier said than done :gaah: i might need some rattie prozac next!

thanks :heart:

 

[sarunia]

oh i forgot to mention that ever since the diagnosis, i just get this little creepy feeling whenenver i'm in my apt. i know it's all mental, but ooooohh. poor slava!!

 

[Fidget]

Well if they live together normally then if one has mites the other does too. No need to keep them apart for that! But I would take your mom's advice and not let them freerange for a while, cause you should really be doing a major carpet vaccum where they free-range. (Perhaps even treating the carpet? I don't know as I've never had freerange kids and a mite problem at the same time, I'd ask here for suggestions, but I think a vacuum and keeping them off it for a week or 2 should be good enough) before I let them out on the carpet again, or all your cage cleaning and mite treatment might be for nothing..
Having said that, mites are the least nasty problem you could come across. They are not going to affect you. They really are quite impotent (long as the kids are treated imediately) and easily killed, their only superpower is their ability to return from the bowels of oblivion even thru closed doors.

There are 2 suggested home treatments. I believe Revolution (not a substitute) from the vet is one. People here can tell you about that.
And there is Ivermectin paste (what I've always used), you buy a big tube at a horse supplies store (always checking for a long due date as it will get outdated before you use it up), you squirt the whole shot in a pill bottle, stir it up really well and put a piece of saran under the cap to help keep it airtight. and it's so easy to medicate the kids, pain-free for all of you, I just put a rice-sized bit on my finger with a toothpick, squirt on a little canned coolwhip, and mix it with the toothpick, then hope nobody nips in their greedy excitement :happydance: to lick it off. Once a week for 3 weeks.

 

[OceanEyes117]

I just finished dealing with mites. Here is what I learned. There is no point keeping them quarantined just for mites. Rats almost always a have a small amount, its just when they get sick the mites can get out of control. Mites are species specific so you wont have issues with them loving on you. I used Revolution, you get the kitten/puppy formula, and put 1 drop between the shoulders where you have, to the best of your ability, separated the fur. It is easily done with 2 ppl, one to hold the rat (who has been distracted with something yummy) and to separate fur, and one to drop the Revolution on. Keep them occupied for a min or 2, read: not grooming, and then they are good to go. If the mites are bad, then you may want to reapply in 3 weeks. In a day or two after treatment you want to thoroughly clean the cage, hammocks, fleece etc... to rid them of eggs and any fallen bodies. You should see major results in 1-2 weeks. I got mine from http://www.joespetmeds.com/ for like $24. It was awesome!!

 

[Debbie]

I definitely wouldn't bother keeping them separated. If one has lice, the other does too. They should both be treated. We use Revolution, but you do have to be careful and give them ONLY an appropriate dose, based on their weight. I'm sure there are several folks here who can help you measure the appropriate dose. If you provide their weights, I can certainly help. The problem with putting "a drop"...you don't know if you are using too much or too little. Also, you proably won't have to keep them separated while they are being treated....Revolution is NASTY stuff....they might sniff at each other, but the first lick would stop them in their tracks. :wink2: It' also dries super fast.

Revolution works for an entire month. So even if there are nits left behind, they will die as soon as they hatch and try to take a bite. You can follow up with a second dose, but I would not go sooner than 4 weeks. Some vets recommend it...but our vet holds us to a full month, and we've never had problems. I took in a rescue girl that was COVERED in lice. It was horrible. But the Revolution did an awesome job, FAST.

If your vet recommended keeping your ratties separate due to Slava's respiratory issues, I doubt that's really needed either. Rats can live together and that doesn't mean their cagemates will get ill. It can sometimes cause them more stress to be separated from their pals.

 

[jorats]

I totally agree with Debbie. I wouldn't separate either. My vet has always said, you do what would cause the least amount of stress.