I recently adopted two new rats. They were feeders and I knew there was a risk they would be sick. Low and behold, both of them are sneezing, one of them is worse but I think its because he's older. Luckily we do have a vet friend, they aren't very knowledgeable but it's our best option. We have ordered a nebuilizer and plan to treat them that way, but I've ran into a problem, that being they're not ready to be handled yet. I'm afraid putting them into the nebuilizer chamber will make them afraid of me and destroy all the progress I've made taming them. Since it's going to take a few days for the nebulizer to get here I've been covering their cage with a blanket and putting a pot of hot water under the blanket to steam their cage and hopefully aid their breathing a little. I was wondering if I could do the same with the nebulizer? or is the risk of mold too high?
Help! I need to treat rats I cant hold yet
- Thread starter ma404
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If your vet friend is comfortable with treating, you can ask them to prescribe baytril. That should knock it out. If not, azithromysin is good to add to it. What's their age, weight (in grams) and symptoms? If you can, post a video to YouTube and copy and paste the link on here. Show them breathing, or whatever symptoms they have. Lilspaz can help with dosing. If they are young, the zithro may be the better choice. Show this link to your vet friend. Www.ratguide.com it has lots of good medical info on it! I hope they feel better!
lilspaz68
Well-Known Member
can you get a video of your new babies so we can hear what they and their sneezes sound like? You would need to upload the video to a site like Youtube and post the link here. Steaming with the cage and that method is fine or nebulizing saline but if you are trying to nebulize antibiotics that won't work, and using a nebulizer on unsocialized skitty babies is going to be hell for both you, them and their future trust in you. If they need to be medicated right now I would look into putting antibiotics into sweet food to get them to eat it up.
I'm having a bit of trouble getting a good recording of their sneezes, but both let out small sneezes often, and also seem to be having some sort of "sneeze attack", where they wheeze and sneeze for around 30 seconds straight which is the most concerning symptom. I can also hear a small clicking as they breath. They're not lethargic yet, though, and both seem to be eating well. We're going to get a prescription for zithro since theyre both young, along with nebulizing with saline. I dont know how to tell their exact age, but since they were feeder rats I'm guessing one was a "small" and the other was a "medium", which is so morbid to think about.
I do have a scale that would work, should I put it in their cage and try to get them to hop onto it with treats? Also, the younger one still has very soft fur so I'm guessing he's only several weeks old, I believe he was a "small" feeder rat, while the other is probably just a couple weeks older, a "medium". I'm planning on getting a prescription for zithro since they're both pretty young, and I'm also nebulizing with saline. They both let out small sneezes, along with having "sneeze attacks", where they wheeze and sneeze for about 30 seconds, I dont know the proper term. they also have a small amount of porphyrin around their noses, and i can hear clicking noises as they breath. They're both still active and pretty spunky, but the older one sleeps a bit more.
Big Schpog
Well-Known Member
That def sounds like a respiratory issue. My girl Simone was doing this sound like a pig. I took her to the ER. She's much better now. One dose of Doxy and Baytril and 24 hours and she was back to normal troublesome youngster.
Be monitoring the others b/c they can catch what others have.
In order to get my girl to take two liquid antibiotics I relied on a tested a true method of mine: homemade custard. It's easy to make and they ADORE it. I've never had a rat not devour their portion. I just squirt both medicines onto about a quarter teaspoon of custard, mix it and she downs it.
I have 2 other rats and I feed the sick one at set times all by herself. Once she takes the custard she can have her normal dinner with the rest of the mischief. I am careful not to leave food out all day so she can snack and not be hungry when it's time for her meds.
Be monitoring the others b/c they can catch what others have.
In order to get my girl to take two liquid antibiotics I relied on a tested a true method of mine: homemade custard. It's easy to make and they ADORE it. I've never had a rat not devour their portion. I just squirt both medicines onto about a quarter teaspoon of custard, mix it and she downs it.
I have 2 other rats and I feed the sick one at set times all by herself. Once she takes the custard she can have her normal dinner with the rest of the mischief. I am careful not to leave food out all day so she can snack and not be hungry when it's time for her meds.
