Coccidia in rats - how to clean the cage page 2

[Chel]

Thanks! Will do next time!

 

[Adrienne]

. she died about 2 hours after the vet visit. :sad3:

Im sorry for your Loss

 

[shade]

wow that's really crazy. I didn't know rats could get Coccidia. I know when breeding puppies they can get it and it had this fowl smell and all the puppies were underweight and sick looking. But I didn't know rats could get it. Wow.

 

[whirlytwirly]

My rat Elliott was diagnosed with Coccidia and oh boy did it hit the fan because I was pregnant. The whole situation was incredibly frustrating as my vet couldn't tell me exactly which strain he had and my Obstetrician went off his brain that I would even have pet rats at all....

Elliott was put on meds and is totally fine...his usually moody self, and my bub is due in 5 weeks so I don't believe any harm came from it.

Sorry to hear about your little Marigold :sad3:

 

[PiedPiper]

Elliott was put on meds and is totally fine...his usually moody self, and my bub is due in 5 weeks so I don't believe any harm came from it.

:congrats!:

 

[Chel]

Elliott was put on meds and is totally fine...

What meds was he put on (do you remember?) What were the symptoms that led to you taking him to the vet?

 

[whirlytwirly]

I remember the symptoms better than the treatment..

I found Elliott lying on the floor of his cage struggling to breathe, I thought he was having a respiratory attack and after I got him to calm down enough I gave him a dose of Baytril. I sat up with him for most of the night. He was so weak I though there was no way he'd make it to morning. He also had loose stools, but I wouldn't call it diahorea.

I got him into the vet at 8.30 am the next morning, the vet felt his abdomen and you could hear the air popping around inside him. He said the breathing difficulty was because he was so full of air that it was pushing on his lungs.

He took a poo sample which he analysed and said there were Coccidia eggs present, though there were also other worms there. He said to stay on the course of Baytril to rule out any infection and to dose him with Ivermectin oral.

Maybe he just didn't get a bad strain of it like Marigold as this treatment worked and Elliott is now a big healthy boy.(I didn't have the couple of hundred dollars to figure out which Coccidia it was).

 

[Chel]

Yeah, maybe, I'm glad to hear he is well. Marigold had similar symptoms. He gave me a treatment for her and said to give it to her for 14 days but when I got home I realized tht they only gave me enough for 2 days. I guess they knew. :sad3:

 

[Chel]

Just to give you all an update, I just got off the phone with Dr. Stuart because I had a few questions about introducing a new rat and the risks with Coccidia. He said that the medicines will flush Coccidia from their body but it can remain in their environment so I should be cleaning the cage with a cleaner that has a high concentration of Ammonia, but this can be harmful to the rats so it must be rinsed really well. The alternative is to use steam to clean but I'm not really sure how to go about that. I should also be changing their litter every day. Since I started litter training them, I must wash their fleece blanket in hot water everyday. If Coccidia remains in their environment they will catch it again so I am going to be on a cleaning frenzy. I am definately going to have to get a new hammock that will ave to be washed every day too. Dr. Stuart did a lot of research and went out of his way to inform me on his findings, he is a really great vet.

 

[jorats]

That is really good to know!

 

[Godmother]

That is really useful info; thanks for posting it. I will be vigilant about diarrhea now that I know.

Yes, Dr. Stewart is a wonderful vet. He is always ready to learn new things and to teach them.

Now you will feel safe having your new ratty come home to you in a week or so!

 

[SQ]

That is really good to know.
I guess you'll have to do a through clean of their play area and your apartment too.

 

[Chel]

Yep, and today was a good day to do it! nice and warm so I could open the windows for ventilation, We are all scrubbed down I think I will do it when I get back from March break just to be sure.

 

[jorats]

I'd like to move this over into the reference area if you don't mind... this is something important and that I bet most of us never thought of.

 

[Fidget]

He sounds like a wonderful caring vet. How many make effort to learn about rats?
It's a major to have to sterilize everything they use at once, and repeatedly. I don't envy you (cause I've done it). Beats the hell out of seeing the condition go on whipping your heart with a thousand slashes every time you see a kid affected tho.