Sooo Let's Get it ALL out in the Open Shall We? - Poss. SV

[trillium]

Ehh - thanks for the reminder about rooms apart Qtine and buggies, parasites -- I hadn't thought about that in awhile.

And just because a person runs a rescue and has a large quantity of animals in their homes, doesn't give them an excuse to not quarantine. It leaves all their personal pets, all their charges and all their adopters' pets open to illness and even death. A person can get away with little to no quarantine measures for only so long before something tragic happens.

I didn't think people were making excuses. From the limited background I know, I thought rescues here hadn't seen the types of deadly outbreaks that have led rescues in the States to have to set up fosters/Qtine homes for all incoming rats. Maybe I'm wrong though? When I think about it, if the rats who have been saved over the years through the actions of the rescuers on this site were balanced against those who are struggling in the current "tragic" and horrid situation, the numbers of those who benefited would overwhelm those who might potentially be lost.

If the point is that the rescues should have taken their cue from what was going on in the States and begun setting up foster/Qtine homes long ago, valid observation, but hindsight is always perfect. It is a good idea to look at where Ontario rescues will have to go from here, how to move forward and find the kinds of places that could keep rats for a Qtine period -- a hard road ahead for future rescuers maybe, and difficult when so many rats are abandoned each day. :sad3:

 

[henry's_mum]

Ehh - thanks for the reminder about rooms apart Qtine and buggies, parasites -- I hadn't thought about that in awhile.

And just because a person runs a rescue and has a large quantity of animals in their homes, doesn't give them an excuse to not quarantine. It leaves all their personal pets, all their charges and all their adopters' pets open to illness and even death. A person can get away with little to no quarantine measures for only so long before something tragic happens.

I didn't think people were making excuses. From the limited background I know, I thought rescues here hadn't seen the types of deadly outbreaks that have led rescues in the States to have to set up fosters/Qtine homes for all incoming rats. Maybe I'm wrong though? When I think about it, if the rats who have been saved over the years through the actions of the rescuers on this site were balanced against those who are struggling in the current "tragic" and horrid situation, the numbers of those who benefited would overwhelm those who might potentially be lost.

If the point is that the rescues should have taken their cue from what was going on in the States and begun setting up foster/Qtine homes long ago, valid observation, but hindsight is always perfect. It is a good idea to look at where Ontario rescues will have to go from here, how to move forward and find the kinds of places that could keep rats for a Qtine period -- a hard road ahead for future rescuers maybe, and difficult when so many rats are abandoned each day. :sad3:

No, we've been REALLY lucky in Ontario thus far. However NOW it seems to be a different story. I agree from now on, at least here at Henry's Haven, we will be going about QT VERY differently. Unfortunatly, this also means, yes, the number of rats saved may decrease...
It's osmething i've been puling myself over since this whole tragic thing happened...
and yes, this IS loooong overdue!
:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

[Rachael]

I'm sure there was one post on another forum and it was a rescue in Ontario, unsure where though, that did have sendai.
I think they sinced close but I can't be sure ;/

 

[ashana]

I understand people's fears, Illness like this can be and normally is life threatening to our fur babies.

I just have a few things i wish to say without being judged for it:
To everyone that has supported Shelagh with items to keep her going - thank you.
Chelle & Amanda - you are both awesome. What you did for Shelagh is showing more than friendship, I can only comment on how i would feel being in lockdown but it would feel like the walls were closing in. Shelagh needed someone to help with getting items into her place and people to chat with, to relax with for just a little while. You gave her back a little of her sanity.

To those worried about what this could mean in the way of QT and the rest. Definitely learn from it and reassess your QT, ask question to find out everything you can about signs and symptoms etc.

To those of you that are judging other people in this case. I do not think there is a single member here who wouldn't do anything and everything to make sure their rats were safe and happy. For you to judge people because they have helped someone in need is not showing any kind of support.
I have said it in a way before and i will say it again. We ALL have differing opinions when it comes to actions we take with our fur babies but they are our choices. Chelle and Amanda proceeded with caution and took what step they could to reduce the risk of infection in their own rats. NO ONE can ask for more than that.
Maybe walk a day in Shelagh shoe's before you judge what these girls did. Surrounded by over 40 animals all needing you, knowing that the chances are some of your beloved fur children will die or suffer scaring because of this illness, the feeling of uselessness because there is only so much you can do and not having one single person to give you a hug or a shoulder to cry on because everyone that claimed to be your friend doesn't want to help you.
YES rats lives are at risk, if it is another disease that is transmitted another way Chelle and Amanda's rats could be affected but what about the person you call a friend, what becomes of her when she falls in a pile and no one is there to pick her up.

I thank the powers that be that we do not deal with these types of illness in Western Australia but i feel for those having to fight it because it is a horrid disease that really puts everyone through the wringer when they strike.

Hang in there Shelagh *hugs*

 

[lilspaz68]

I'm sure there was one post on another forum and it was a rescue in Ontario, unsure where though, that did have sendai.
I think they sinced close but I can't be sure ;/

there are very few rescues in Ontario, and I know most of them and none have closed down to illness. Any idea how long ago this was?

 

[lilspaz68]

Maybe you should find another vet who can do bloodwork on rats and get the titer levels tested in the rat(s) that have just come down with the illness to figure out if there's an active Sendai infection?

Waiting for Dr. Munn to get back and testing for the antibodies in 2-3 weeks will only show if the one rat you're testing has ever been exposed to the virus, which is entirely possible, but doesn't necessarily mean that's the issue at hand with everyone. Until you've got a definitive test result, no one really knows why the rats are sick.

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way, you have to test the antibodies not the active infection. I am looking into other places that do the testing (not so much the vet that does the blood work) and it seems the best places are the big labs in the US. U of Guelph only does tests on dead animals, no blood essays, etc. But I have some feelers out to see if there's any other labs that might test in Ontario

 

[Cityratt]

Ive done some sifting through the literature on Sendai - and am working on summarizing. I will post in a separate thread...when im done sifting through these journal articles....
Zzzzzzzzzzz :bored:

 

[sausage4ever]

but I really don't know why its soo concerning to so many members? Its not even near them?

Sorry Shelagh but I live in SWO. And if this virus (or whatever it is) is in the pet store stock, then I have an issue.

I have been talking about anybody to anyone. I don't care that anyone came over. I don't really worry about anybody's rats catching anything from that jaunt.

However I am worried about this disease whatever it is. If it gets a real foothold in Ontario. I would seriously consider leaving rast for good.
There is a reason I like purebred cats and dogs(besides the look), they're usually health cleared. There is a reason I didn't get a ferret when I was looking for a constant, they're very likely to catch some type of cancer. I'm so paranoid I'm testing my cats for PKD when I graduate (even tho they show no signs).

I cannot have an animal whose population is not overall in good health or plagued with untreatable infectious disease. Rats only live three years as it is, they don't need to be stressed (with what maybe come an inevitable virus, like URI) in their short times with us. That's just my take on it, I'm very paranoid. And I do not live in the present so don't even try to bring that up. I live and exist very much in the future, it's how I go about everyting and how I make decisions.

 

[Rachael]

I'm sure there was one post on another forum and it was a rescue in Ontario, unsure where though, that did have sendai.
I think they sinced close but I can't be sure ;/

there are very few rescues in Ontario, and I know most of them and none have closed down to illness. Any idea how long ago this was?

Think it was 2008. I could try dig up the rescue website link, I have to ask around. It might not be Ontario, I don't know Canada well.

 

[lilspaz68]

I'm sure there was one post on another forum and it was a rescue in Ontario, unsure where though, that did have sendai.
I think they sinced close but I can't be sure ;/

there are very few rescues in Ontario, and I know most of them and none have closed down to illness. Any idea how long ago this was?

Think it was 2008. I could try dig up the rescue website link, I have to ask around. It might not be Ontario, I don't know Canada well.

2 years ago? I knew all the rescues and there were less than now. Unless it was one of those so-called "rescues". But the issue with this is it needs to be confirmed and its unlikely this was done.

 

[Rachael]

I understand people's fears, Illness like this can be and normally is life threatening to our fur babies.

I just have a few things i wish to say without being judged for it:
To everyone that has supported Shelagh with items to keep her going - thank you.
Chelle & Amanda - you are both awesome. What you did for Shelagh is showing more than friendship, I can only comment on how i would feel being in lockdown but it would feel like the walls were closing in. Shelagh needed someone to help with getting items into her place and people to chat with, to relax with for just a little while. You gave her back a little of her sanity.

To those worried about what this could mean in the way of QT and the rest. Definitely learn from it and reassess your QT, ask question to find out everything you can about signs and symptoms etc.

To those of you that are judging other people in this case. I do not think there is a single member here who wouldn't do anything and everything to make sure their rats were safe and happy. For you to judge people because they have helped someone in need is not showing any kind of support.
I have said it in a way before and i will say it again. We ALL have differing opinions when it comes to actions we take with our fur babies but they are our choices. Chelle and Amanda proceeded with caution and took what step they could to reduce the risk of infection in their own rats. NO ONE can ask for more than that.
Maybe walk a day in Shelagh shoe's before you judge what these girls did. Surrounded by over 40 animals all needing you, knowing that the chances are some of your beloved fur children will die or suffer scaring because of this illness, the feeling of uselessness because there is only so much you can do and not having one single person to give you a hug or a shoulder to cry on because everyone that claimed to be your friend doesn't want to help you.
YES rats lives are at risk, if it is another disease that is transmitted another way Chelle and Amanda's rats could be affected but what about the person you call a friend, what becomes of her when she falls in a pile and no one is there to pick her up.

I thank the powers that be that we do not deal with these types of illness in Western Australia but i feel for those having to fight it because it is a horrid disease that really puts everyone through the wringer when they strike.

Hang in there Shelagh *hugs*

My friend runs a rescue which at several points has had over 100 rats in and obviously it takes a lot. Although they had a virus at one point, proabably SDA virus, I could have went and given her "support" but she was the one to stop anybody doing so. Her view was the same as mine - why put other peoples rats at risk. It's horrible enough that one lot of ratties are going through this and their owner and we don't want more surely.

I don't want to sound rude, I know it might be horrible to be stuck in the situation you are 'isolated'. That's not something that bothers me personally though - I'd rather just nurse my own rats through it, medicate them, and not even let other rat owners come near my house. My feeling is it is just not worth that possible risk. It may not be likely to spread, but you can not say for 100% sure and although it's likely to be sendai, we do not know that for sure so who knows what we are dealing with.

Again sorry if I sound rude.

 

[Rachael]

I'm sure there was one post on another forum and it was a rescue in Ontario, unsure where though, that did have sendai.
I think they sinced close but I can't be sure ;/

there are very few rescues in Ontario, and I know most of them and none have closed down to illness. Any idea how long ago this was?

Think it was 2008. I could try dig up the rescue website link, I have to ask around. It might not be Ontario, I don't know Canada well.

2 years ago? I knew all the rescues and there were less than now. Unless it was one of those so-called "rescues". But the issue with this is it needs to be confirmed and its unlikely this was done.

I've emailed someone I know who gave this person advice when it happened. I didn't know about it until very recently.
Would you like me to pm you if I find anything out?

 

[StaceyM]

I don't want to sound rude,

But....you do, and kind of judgemental, so why not let it go?

 

[ashana]

But....you do, and kind of judgemental, so why not let it go?

uhuh :nod:

 

[Rachael]

But....you do, and kind of judgemental, so why not let it go?

uhuh :nod:

Was it me that you were quoting?

 

[Godmother]

OMG, what a lot happened on here since I last logged in!

We sure do need a group hug after all the events of the last week or so. We are all scared, many are overtaxed.

I had been thinking along the lines of Nickelrats' post, that our hard choice is always between turning away more rats in need (in order to do a real QT) or to take a risk. Rough choice, no easy answers. It is so seldom possible to do a proper QT, so I am one of the many who has taken the risk, yet without it there will be a terrible infection every once in a while wiping out a colony.

We may be coming to the point in Canada where these tragedies happen more than once in a while, especially near to the US border.

My heart goes out to Shelagh and to Chelle (and to the Jorats family for their problems of last summer).

Here's to open discussion, however painful. :thumbup:

:grouphug:

 

[Rachael]

But....you do, and kind of judgemental, so why not let it go?

uhuh :nod:

Now that I know it was me, it was just my opinion. It's sometimes hard to word things in a way that sounds acceptable, and however I put it, it's not going to sound lovely or friendly as hard as I try. I've said as much as possible, I am not trying to be hard on anybody, or harsh. But how else do you want me to word it?

 

[Rattus]

...Im confused, maybe it explains it somewhere but there are a lot of pages to read through.... what exactly is this about? what is SV???

 

[Cityratt]

...Im confused, maybe it explains it somewhere but there are a lot of pages to read through.... what exactly is this about? what is SV???

Its Sendai Virus Rattus - Im working on sifting through some journal articles to get some information to the fourm thats been peer-reviewed and published but anyhow

its a very contagious virus that affects the respiratory tract, causing respiratory distress because it causes the cells lining the lung to become swollen and they cannot work properly.

 

[Rattus]

...Im confused, maybe it explains it somewhere but there are a lot of pages to read through.... what exactly is this about? what is SV???

Its Sendai Virus Rattus - Im working on sifting through some journal articles to get some information to the fourm thats been peer-reviewed and published but anyhow

its a very contagious virus that affects the respiratory tract, causing respiratory distress because it causes the cells lining the lung to become swollen and they cannot work properly.

Do you get this virus from specific things.. or is it just like a normal very contagious respiratory infection?