HELP!! MY TOBY'S NOSE IS FULL OF BLOOD!!!!!

[Tou_]

I was just upstairs signing off my moms computer,and I looked over to my little ratties abode only to discover my baby toby's nose was full of blood! I've noticed blood around the bottom of their house recently, but I havnt heard Toby or Rosi sneezing. I'm VERY worried because itwas so much blood! my mom has this weird sented thing in the computer room (which is the room they are in) And its new and I was thinking perhaps it was bothering her, I dont know.


Both of my rats still have a strong apitite, and neither of them seem to have any other syptoms,they sleep and eat normally. I'm thinking perhaps its because they have beenon a diet lately its making them stressed? I dont know, I'm veryvery very worried though!

 

[Godmother]

Are you sure that it is blood and not porphyrin? that is a sign of stress, though.

On www.ratguide.com I found this passage under Mycoplasma:

Clinical signs vary depending on virulence, and the site of infection. Also because the course of disease caused by mycoplasma is chronic rather than fulminant, signs of illness tend to increase as the rat ages. Any of the following clinical signs may be present:
In upper respiratory disease, signs may range from clinically silent to early signs of sneezing, snuffling, squinting, and porphyrin staining (rust colored) around eyes and nose. Inner ear infection may also be seen with signs of head tilt, rolling, and face or ear rubbing.

Porphyrin usually looks more rust than red (blood is usually bright red), but it is sometimes hard to tell them apart. Is your ratty leaking fluid right now? If so, it would more likely be blood. If you've been seeing spots in the cage for a while, it's probably porphyrin.

Hope this helps until the experts wake up and read your post.

 

[Tou_]

Itvery wellmight be porphyrin, because its kind of translucentyish. I dont know, its made me very frantic though because I've neverseen anything like that before. I was reading somewhere online that it could just be that her respatory system is getting bothered by something, like a strong smell, and my mom keeps these really strong airfresheners in that room, so I took them out and so far no more bloodyness. I think it also could be that iwear lots of flavoured/sented lipchap, and i like to kiss them on their little pink nosies! I dont know though forsure, so my mom said we can take them both to the vet tomorrow, i'm very very worried though =(

 

[lilspaz68]

It does sound like porphyryin, which can be produced in times of stress, irritation to the respiratory system (your mom's freshners), and illness.
If they are acting normally (no lethargy, funny breathing noises, etc) and the porphryin is gone, then I wouldn't worry too much.

You cannot have candles, air freshners, anything with strong smells, your rat laundry should be done with unscented detergent, etc...just to save their respiratory system.

 

[jorats]

What kind of diet are your rats on? It could be a number of factors that can bring on stress like the freshners and the diet.
But definitely should never be any kind of scented stuff or any kind of smoking around rats.

 

[Tou_]

The only dietthey are on is the LESS FOOD diet. They use to get two big bowlsof food everyday,now they just get a half a bowl whenever its empty.


I checked this morning and they both seem to be better, I'm going to keep an eye on them forsure though. Thanks everyone for the help=)

 

[Moon]

Diet doesn't necessarily mean how much you are feeding them, but what kind of food.

 

[Tou_]

Theyre food itself has stayed the same. Wheat/rice puffs, non-salted seeds, raisings, whole grain pasta, and this special vegitarian dog food is what theyre mix usually consists of.


I checked them both today, and they seem much better. Theyre eating, sleeping and bathing habits have not changed at all. But I still will keep a watchful eye

 

[Fidget]

If the bleeding problem has stopped (or there is just very little now) after removing the scented stuff (and your lip gloss) (no worry, I look like a hag all the time and my ratties love me all the same ) then he probably doesn't need to see a vet, just needs a good eye kept on him to see if he's better and that was the likely cause.
I hate to say anything reassuring on a friday tho... depending on your vet's hours the kids tend to get bad at closing time on the day before the vet is closed.

Hope all is well, it's not out of the question that with their delicate respiratory systems Toby could have just had a really bad reaction (porphyrin, not actual bleeding) to a highly scented product.