snuffles and sneezes

[PitterPatter]

Hi everyone,
this is my first post. I live in Australia and currently have 3 soon to be 4 male ratties. They are all quite young the eldest we have is 3 months old. The older one we rescued from someone in our area that couldn't keep him and he is lovley.
Last week I picked up our 2 new boys from a breeder here in Australia. The thing is that as soon as we got them in the car one of them had the sneezes and snuffles. He is really congested and sneezes all the time. It doesn't seem to bother him at all as he just loves to play and is a real cuddely boy who just loves to be with you. but I can hear him all the time sneezing and breathing hard. I have him on echinacia at the moment and at night I put the ventelator (steam) on for him which seems to help him lots. Also when we have showers in the mornings we put him in the bathroom with us so that the steam helps him breath easier there to.
I was just wondering if it is possible for Rats to have asthma? If not has anyone else got any suggestions to help him breath easier?

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

Sounds like it might be a respiratory infection. I would take him to the vet and let the vet listen to his lungs to be on the safe side. If it is a resp infection then antibiotics are needed. We use baytril and doxy here but I'm not sure what it available to you in Australia.

 

[lizmo1221]

Sneezes are very common to have when you take rats home to a new environment. New smells, different temp/humidity, etc can irritate the resp tract slightly, causing sneezes. I wouldn't worry too much about it for now (it happens to every rat!), but if it doesn't go away within a few days to a week, or it starts getting worse (like you start hearing congestion in the chest), I would take them to a rat knowledgable vet and have them checked for a upper resp infection.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

The reason I would see a vet is not so much the sneezes, it's more the congestion and the breathing hard that concerns me. New home sneezes are common but the congestion and hard breathing isn't.

 

[PitterPatter]

Thank you so much...
He seems to of stopped the sneezes and his heavy breathing has settled right down too... still a little there but not half as bad as it was. The vapouriser on at night seems to help him so much.
I will just keep an eye on it for a little longer.
It's nice to have the support from you all

 

[jorats]

Laboured breathing is a huge concern. If you still notice it, bring them to the vet asap. But sneezes are normal for the first few weeks home but not laboured breathing.