sneezy porphy= allergies??

[Petunia]

my girl Mummas has been sneezing a bit here and there, but today she's all porphy and sneezing more

here's some (blurry) photos, I'll try to get better ones:

her breathing sounds normal, her appetite is normal, she's not acting any different from usual


she did spend part of the day yesterday and the day before in the living room where there is no air purifier (that's in the rat room)



her sneezes are like little short "snits" and I don't hear any congestion and there doesn't seem to be any nasal discharge


do you think she could have allergies?

can rats have antihistamines?

does she need to see a vet or can I try something at home and see if that helps?

 

[mamarat]

She doesn't look good. When my rats had allergies they still looked healthy, just sneezy. I would get her Baytril.

 

[Rachael]

I have to agree, she is sick, you can tell by looking at her. She has that "look". I too would start her on antibiotics.

 

[jorats]

She looks rough. Did she just wake up? If that's what she normally looks like, then I'd get her on abs. But you could definitely try an allergy elixir.

 

Looks like an illness to me. One of my girls has allergies, but she looks like all my other healthy rat's. I would go to a vet and get some medication.

 

[Petunia]

quick update, I keep forgetting that rats wake up looking er, like they just woke up LOL
she had just woken up in those photos.

I got her some benadryl and gave her some, but more importantly she's back in the room with the air purifier.

then it rained, so the pollen counts went down.
I think that helped too, because she stopped sneezing after just one dose of the antihistamine.

am keeping an eye on her of course.

If, rather, when, I move her into the living room (I have to roll the girl's cage into the LR so that the fosters can have free range time) I'll set the air purifier up in the LR too.


will let you know how she's doing, and will try to get another photo of her later today, AFTER she's woken up and "done her hair" LOL

 

[mamarat]

I'm glad she's doing better, just a bad hair day. lol

 

[Petunia]

I'm glad she's doing better, just a bad hair day. lol

:lol:

Thanks!!

yup and speaking of hair- I think she may actually be allergic to my hair conditioner, is that possible??

she definitely sneezes more when I am holding her and the only thing that I've done different recently is change to a hair conditioner I use when my hair is shorter (just cut it)

I've noticed in the past that she seemed to sneeze more when she was on my shoulder but thought, nah, I must be imagining it...

I keep thinking she's allergic to me :giggle:

but gee, I could be the conditioner. It's Finesse, which is very strongly scented, smells like some sort of flower.
I only use a tiny bit, it's so concentrated.

hmm, wonder if rinsing my hair with vinegar after using the conditioner would negate the conditioning effects?


don't want to make my girl sneezy!!

 

[mamarat]

It could very well be. I've stopped using scented deodorants for my rats and I had one allergic to new stuff from the store. Had to wash everything before giving it to him.

 

[Petunia]

It could very well be. I've stopped using scented deodorants for my rats and I had one allergic to new stuff from the store. Had to wash everything before giving it to him.

yeh, I have two cats with asthma and had to switch to as much un scented stuff as possible.