Can URI's be prevented? What causes URI's?

[milokjd]

Hi All,
I'm new to the forum, and I am getting my ratties in a couple weeks. I was wondering if URI's are preventable, or what causes them? I hear about the URI problem a lot and it seems quite common. A mouse I had a few years back had a URI.

Are there precautions I can take to make sure they are not easily prone to getting one? Does bedding affect their breathing (I know pine is bad)? I was planning to use carefresh (the white one b/c is less dusty). And I have read that a lot of you use fleece to line the cages, so i might try that.

Are their supplements you can use to keep them from getting things like URI's?
What about giving them a little Manuka honey every once and a while?

I have learned so much so far from just looking through the forum posts. Thanks for your help!

 

[Aida]

What causes URIs is usually cages without proper ventilation(a.k.a. too much ammonia, which is also caused by a dirty cage), bad bedding(pine, cedar, or dusty beddings- some people do find carefresh a bit dusty, and supposedly some rats are allergic to it. Fleece is virtually dust less, but you do have to wash it often witch isn't an option for me. Though it is cheap. I use Ecobedding from Petsmart. It's no dust at all.) Some ratties are just naturally more prone to have respiratory issues and get them all the time.

They say that dark chocolate helps ease the symptoms, but I don't think any food will prevent it. But honey is healthy and an antioxidant, but so is garlic- and without so much sugar. So I don't recommend honey too often. But it does sound like a healthy treat- ecpecially to mask meds in.
Try not using any air freshners and keeping dust at a low level in the room they're in.

There are supplements out there, and while some people are happy with them- others say they don't do crap. I've never tried them personally, but I'd love to hear a review from you if you do decide on it. Cause, man, URIs are so expensive and way too common. o.e

Hope I could help, milokjd.

 

[milokjd]

What causes URIs is usually cages without proper ventilation(a.k.a. too much ammonia, which is also caused by a dirty cage), bad bedding(pine, cedar, or dusty beddings- some people do find carefresh a bit dusty, and supposedly some rats are allergic to it. Fleece is virtually dust less, but you do have to wash it often witch isn't an option for me. Though it is cheap. I use Ecobedding from Petsmart. It's no dust at all.) Some ratties are just naturally more prone to have respiratory issues and get them all the time.

They say that dark chocolate helps ease the symptoms, but I don't think any food will prevent it. But honey is healthy and an antioxidant, but so is garlic- and without so much sugar. So I don't recommend honey too often. But it does sound like a healthy treat- ecpecially to mask meds in.
Try not using any air freshners and keeping dust at a low level in the room they're in.

There are supplements out there, and while some people are happy with them- others say they don't do crap. I've never tried them personally, but I'd love to hear a review from you if you do decide on it. Cause, man, URIs are so expensive and way too common. o.e

Hope I could help, milokjd.

Thanks!
That does help. I'll just keep my cage as clean as I can! I'll have to keep an eye out for that ecobedding. I was thinking of just putting bedding into a litter box, and fleece everywhere else. Are there other litter box options?

Would getting an air purifier help prevent URI's?

Also, does anyone know of a kind of supplement to use with rats?

 

[leescait]

. . . I thought garlic was bad for rats?

To be honest, I think it's a bit of a toss up. I had one rat who only had the odd sneeze and died well after 2 of a mammary tumour. My two most recent rats, one was obese (I really did try to get his weight down!), slept in the litter box, :emb: and again, never heard a sneeze from him. His girlfriend, however, is really sickly and has had an URI pretty much constantly for 1.5 years, despite multiple vet trips, overly fastidious age cleaning, using bedding only in the small litter pan, and different rounds of antibiotics. She's well over 2 years old now, and still snuffles but is actually doing pretty well.

I think it's like anything health-wise. Get them the best diet you can and keep that cage CLEAN. My vet used to say, "Imagine that you're a rat and your face is right down in the ground. It might smell okay to you, but it might not smell okay to them!"

 

[milokjd]

I think it's like anything health-wise. Get them the best diet you can and keep that cage CLEAN. My vet used to say, "Imagine that you're a rat and your face is right down in the ground. It might smell okay to you, but it might not smell okay to them!"

Good point!

 

[jorats]

Genetics, food, habitat, stress... all are factors.
My vet told me that the best way to keep rats healthy is do the best care possible and above all do not expose them to any other rats.