benadryl for sneezing rat UPDATE now he's shaking his head?

[Petunia]

I've got two sneezing rats, one is very sneezy and somewhat congested, and the other one sneezes from time to time,too, but not nearly as much, just more than what I'd consider normal

I'm going to try Benadryl to see if they have allergies

do they need the childrens or the infants and does it have to be the dye free one?

I used to have some for my cats but I can't find it, and it probably would have expired by now anyway

just need to know which one to get, thanks!!

THEN I'll need to figure out the dosing, the boy is 588grams
I gotta weigh the little girl

and get the concentration of meds from the bottle, too, right?

see, I'm learning
takes me quite a while but I eventually catch on
:giggle:

 

[jorats]

I always by the paediatric one.
As for dosing, my vet told me that a 500 gram rat could take anywhere from 0.5 ml to 1ml twice a day. I'd start small first.

 

[Petunia]

ok thanks
FINALLY found the pediatric dye free, alcohol free, sugar free benadryl!

it was at the first store I went to but they are re arranging the store and no one could find it
:roll:

ok the concentration is 12.5 mgs per 5mls

how do I figure out the dose for a 588 gram boy?

 

[jorats]

If he was my boy, I'd start with 0.5ml. And see if that helps.

 

[Petunia]

ok thanks!

he's sneezing less often, so I am going to keep him on the doxy too, how long should he take that for?

 

[jorats]

When I was doing doxy for sneezes, 2 weeks seemed good enough at the time.

 

[Petunia]

ok thanks Jo!

 

[Bundyrats]

Is this treatment something you would give long-term? I have Rose on Zithromax/Doxy for her sniffles but once we have finished the abs course if she's still sniffling I was planning on trying the benadryl. If it's just allergies and it seems permanent what is the best option for treatment?

 

[jorats]

My vet told me it was ok to do that. But my mom had a rat who sneezed all his life. She did start with Benedryl and decided to just stop and let him sneeze. He was perfectly fine and lived a long life, sneezing.

 

[mamarat]

Sven sneezed until he died at 34 months. On the other hand Jazz needed Benedryl only every 4 days to keep the sneezing under control. I guess every rat is different.

 

[Bundyrats]

Hmmm...Rose doesn't sneeze so much as snuffle. It's a real gurgling sound. I am thinking the worst

 

[Petunia]

to update, Owen has been fine with an occasional dose of benadryl

but tonight I gave him his benadryl and it's been about an hour and he's still sneezing and also shaking his head

I give a very small dose, should I up it, or should I stop it and wait to see if this is developing into something else?

I'm wondering if the head shaking is a side effect of the benadryl or does it mean he may be getting an ear infection or something?

 

[jorats]

How is he doing now? Did you end up stoping the Benedryl?
Head shaking can be for a number of reasons.

 

[hopefloats]

smell his ear and also you can rub it to see if you hear any liquid. Dopey's ear would have liquid in it and you could hear it when you rubbed it but it never had a smell.

 

[Petunia]

hi Joanne and Peggy thanks for asking

he stopped shaking his head and after a short while he stopped sneezing too, I can't figure out what it is that makes him sneeze....

I know when I get stuffed up from allergies my ears can also fill with fluid and get itchy.

next time he has a sneezing attack that lasts longer than a couple of hours I'm going to watch and see if he gets the head shaking too-

I'm thinking if the head shaking isn't from the allergy, it might have been from the benadryl,
I know it can make you feel really funky

I hate taking benadryl myself, and will only take it if nothing else is working. It has some very uncomfortable side effects


I'll keep checking his ears too
I always cuddle my guys up in my face and give them kisses and I sniff them all over then
:lol:

they aren't crazy about that but they put it up with it lol

 

[RattusNorvegicus]

Does the Benadryl contain Phenylphrine?

 

[Petunia]

Does the Benadryl contain Phenylphrine?

Nope, it's just benadryl