Question for a friend: bad breath?

[Riana]

A friend of mine has a rat that's approaching (or is, he was a petstore rat) 2 years of age and recently he's been having some health problems. I know that he has respiratory issues, but the vet where my friend lives refuses to give him medication for him. He's been getting by with bringing him in the bathroom when he showers, etc, and he seems to be doing okay. But he had a question that he wanted me to ask here: recently his rat's breath has been very bad... like, really smelly. Anyone have any ideas as to what could have caused this?

 

[jennifervb]

A friend of mine has a rat that's approaching (or is, he was a petstore rat) 2 years of age and recently he's been having some health problems. I know that he has respiratory issues, but the vet where my friend lives refuses to give him medication for him. He's been getting by with bringing him in the bathroom when he showers, etc, and he seems to be doing okay. But he had a question that he wanted me to ask here: recently his rat's breath has been very bad... like, really smelly. Anyone have any ideas as to what could have caused this?

Riana, I have had no personal experience with bad rat breath but my rat healthcare book suggests that "chemical smelling breath" indicates that the rat either isn't eating or has metabolic problems. Ask your friend if the smell has a chemical tinge to it. The poor little rat man!

 

[Riana]

Thanks a lot for the quick reply! I'll certainly relay any news to him. I feel so bad for him, because his vet refuses to treat his rat. He's looking into switching to the vet I use, but that's well over a 40 minute drive for him, even at the closest satellite location my vet has. It's really difficult.

I'll see if I can get some more information for you guys.

 

[jennifervb]

Thanks a lot for the quick reply! I'll certainly relay any news to him. I feel so bad for him, because his vet refuses to treat his rat. He's looking into switching to the vet I use, but that's well over a 40 minute drive for him, even at the closest satellite location my vet has. It's really difficult.

I'll see if I can get some more information for you guys.

It sounds as if the vet needs to have his head examined. What a joke. If he doesn't know what he is DOING then he has NO BUSINESS taking money from your friend for care he ISN'T PROVIDING!!!!

Give me the vet's address and I will send him a nice bag of rat poop.

 

[Willow Bean]

Give me the vet's address and I will send him a nice bag of rat poop.

Same here! If he won't treat then he shouldn't be taking your friend's money. I think he would benefit from having 300 bags of poop sent to him... one from each member on the forum! Maybe even more bags from those of us with more than 5 rats! I could save up enough rat raisins in a month to fill a nice sized container! oop:

 

[SQ]

If he takes his rattie to a good vet and gets meds, the vet may renew meds if needed without seeing the rat again.

A humidifier helps as dry air makes it more difficult to breath.

Respiratory problems are usually caused by infections - the rat needs antibiotics so s/he can get better. Going in the shower isn't going to make the rattie better if it is ill.

According to Debbie D.'s Rat Health Care book -
a bad smell from the ratties nose means infection
a funny sweet smell like nail polish remover indicates ketosis (caused by diabetes or by not eating)
bad smell from ears or dark matter inside ears is a symptom of outer ear infection.

Rattie needs to go see a vet that knows something about rats asap and be put on proper meds at the correct dosages.

 

[Cityratt]

i think i missed something....

ive been reading the posts over, and from what i took it as the vet refuses to see the rat period. not take their money and refuse to treat him.

I know some vets I work with that cant see Guinea pigs because they have allergies (two vets i know actually) so maybe its not just because he's a jerk and doesn't like rats..... ?

 

[Riana]

The way I understand it is (and sorry if I wasn't clear), my friend had taken his rat to the vet for the breathing problem not too long ago (within the last two or so weeks) and the vet said that there was nothing wrong, and when my friend voiced his concern and asked for medication anyway, just to see if it would give his rat relief (because he obviously knew something wasn't right with his rat) the vet said no. He called the vet again about the same problem and he said that he would have to pay an office visit again for the same problem.

So, the situation is, my friend knows something's up with his rat, but the vet is unwilling to treat, whether from ignorance or simple lack of knowledge in the field of rats. I don't know which. He's afraid that if he takes his rat to the vet again with this new problem, he'd come out empty-handed again and with less money than he went in with, with no results.

 

[Cityratt]

ok. that is SO not cool. :cuss:
Please forgive my previous attempts at giving him the benifit of the doubt. grr

 

[jennifervb]

i think i missed something....

ive been reading the posts over, and from what i took it as the vet refuses to see the rat period. not take their money and refuse to treat him.

I know some vets I work with that cant see Guinea pigs because they have allergies (two vets i know actually) so maybe its not just because he's a jerk and doesn't like rats..... ?

I don't see where it says that the vet refuses to see the rat. Riana wrote that the vet won't give meds to the rat. Wouldn't that mean that the vet had to see the rat first?

 

[lilspaz68]

rotten teeth, absceses in his mouth or abscessed teeth are 2 things that cause bad breath.

Poor rat. Stupid vet.

 

[Riana]

So far my friend has said that none of those sound like what the rat is smelling like/doing, except the teeth suggestion. He says his rat's teeth are long, but he doesn't think they're abnormally long, but he has been chittering a fair bit, which is out of character for him.

 

[jennifervb]

Give me the vet's address and I will send him a nice bag of rat poop.

Same here! If he won't treat then he shouldn't be taking your friend's money. I think he would benefit from having 300 bags of poop sent to him... one from each member on the forum! Maybe even more bags from those of us with more than 5 rats! I could save up enough rat raisins in a month to fill a nice sized container! oop:

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

I completely forgot about that emoticon!!! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is there any way to box up one of Basil's farts?

 

[jorats]

Sounds like some type of infection. Any chance to see another vet?

 

[Riana]

I told him of the vet that I go to, and he said that if he needs to, he'll certainly take the drive out. He's just a little wary about going so far if he ends up with the same answer, though, you know what I mean?

I'll talk to him today and see if there's an update. But about his rat's breathing, do you think it'd be a good idea if he put his rat on a bit of baytril to try out for a couple days, just to see if it'd make a difference? He asked me for some of mine, but I told him I didn't feel comfortable distributing any medication. From what he's told me, his rat's breathing isn't as laboured as it has been, but he noticed that the rat passed a large plug of something out of one side of his nose the other day... whether it was phlegm or whatever, I'm not sure.

 

[jorats]

The thing is... he would need to do at least 10 days of Baytril. A couple of days can do more harm.
Most vets though, should "listen" to the owner of the animal and most likely give the meds because only the owner truly knows if their rat is "off".

 

[Riana]

alright, that's good to know. I'll be talking to him later so I'll see how things are with his rat then.