Why why why?

[amruiz]

So.. now Pandi's showing some signs of having an respiratory infection. It's only been a week or so after Tachi. I've already got an appointment set for Monday morning (thank god I'm off!). I'm so worried. She's still bright eyed and acting like herself. Still eating and still running about. But.. I just can't stand her being ill. She's already making light pigeon noises.

I can't help but wonder if maybe if my boyfriend going back and forth has exposed her to something my new girls have?

 

[Chevalrose]

URIs are so common...I wouldn't think that it's just from your new girls. She could have gotten it from Tachi...I've heard it can spread around. They both could have gotten it from seasonal allergies running amok also.

 

[jorats]

It sucks big time how contagious they can be. But it sounds like you've caught it early enough.

 

[SQ]

If you and your boyfriend are not following full quarantine proceedures it is certainly possible. Hopefully it is just an uri and will quickly respond to antibiotics.

 

[maria-mar]

So respiratory infections can be contagious from rat to rat?
I have a boy rat that may be with that, but i haven't separeted him from the others yet.

 

[jorats]

We never recommend separation because the stress can make it even worse.
It's a hit or miss with myco. Some will get it while others won't. If your rats have a strong immune system and are very healthy, they won't come down with it.

 

[ryelle]

if they are already together Maria-mar, then i wouldn't seperate them. The stress from being seperated would just make them more ill. The others may not even get sick

 

[maria-mar]

Yes, i see ^_^
Maybe that's why only Botão is sick, he's Fivela's brother and he was sick too some time ago. They came from a "for snake's breeder", so their genes shouldn't be that strong

 

[amruiz]

Thanks guys. Jorge repots that she's still very bright and eating well, even if a tiny bit tired. So I expect the vet visit to go well. Tomorrow morning! We've tried to follow full procedures and keep ourselves sterilized, but I can imagine with how busy we are sometimes that we can't be perfect. Still, we're doing our best!

Maria-mar, I hope your baby Botão gets well soon! :hugs: It's a horrible feeling knowing your little one isn't feeling well.

 

[maria-mar]

Best wishes for Pandi too!... :heart:
Let's hope she gets better soon ^_^

 

[amruiz]

So we just got home from the vet. He put her on baytril and gave her a shot of decongestant. She has pneumonia but the vet said it looked good for her as it just started. She's doing well now, nice and warm, curled up in her favorite blanket. She wasn't eating earlier (she stopped eating yesterday) but now she's happily taking ensure and bruxing her teeth at me.

I know she isn't out of the woods yet, but I'm glad I was at least able to do that for her. I wont give up!

 

[maria-mar]

Awww that's good news

 

[amruiz]

Btw, since Pandi has pneumonia, should I take extra precautions to watch the new girls? Is pneumonia contagious among ratties? If so, what kind of steps can I take to ensure their health? Sorry to be a pest all. I had Tachi and Pandi for a year before I became educated and now that I realize that I wasn't the best mommy, I'm trying to do the best I can to become informed and begin good habits.

I will be taking the new girlies to the vet this weekend for a check up to make sure they're okay.
Sorry and thanks again all.

 

[Chevalrose]

Pneumonia isn't contagious. It can develop from a URI traveling into the lungs...it's basically an infection in the lungs.

Heat is your best friend when it comes to pneumonia. Have a heating pad in one end of the cage to keep things warm. Also "steaming" in the shower for a few minutes a couple times a day will help loosen the mucus and get the phlegm out. Same goes for moving around...the more you can get them to move, the looser the phlegm gets. These were tips from my vet when Clooney had pneumonia and he recovered with no issues.

BTW, you don't need to remove Pandi...you should keep them together...otherwise she might get stressed.

Good luck!

 

[amruiz]

Pandi's looking a little sluggish today. She took her meds this morning and when I got home, she's also had a bit of ensure, but is still quite lethargic. Is this normal for a rat beginning meds at home? Or should I be worried? Is another trip to the vet in order or should I wait to see if the ABs "kick in"? I know her vet trip was just yesterday, but this is a first for me guys. Be gentle. ^^;;

Should I give her larger doses? Pandi weighs 250gm and he's got me giving her meds with a syringe (without needle), the dose is 0.1ml? Also the bottle was premixed, so all the label says is "give 2 drops by mouth twice daily" and he showed me to use the syringe he had me move it to 0.1.

Again, sorry for all the questions guys. All this is so new and so very scary.

Also: the bottle says: "Baytril LIQ 1/2OZ"

 

[jorats]

Pneumonia is really hard on a rat. If the Baytril concentration is 25mg/ml then the .1 twice a day should work for her. But if you don't seen an improvement in the next couple of days, I would go back and ask for Zitromax.

 

[maria-mar]

Pneumonia isn't contagious. It can develop from a URI traveling into the lungs...it's basically an infection in the lungs.

My rat has pneumonia too, and when i took him to the vet today she said it is contagious. The hospital was set at vet school and she used our case as "samples" to give a class, so either she gave me and her students wrong information or this is a discussable issue :scratch:

 

[jorats]

I'm pretty sure a rat with pneumonia is contagious but if your current rats in the cage are in good health they won't get it.
I've had plenty of rats become sick with a URI but yet the rest of the rats never got it.
When I had pneumonia a long time ago, my family doctor told me I was indeed contagious until I was taken meds.

 

[Chevalrose]

In order to figure the correct dosage we'd need the concentration of baytril. On your paperwork somewhere does it have like 22.7 or 2.27% or something?

 

[SQ]

the baytril should say the concentration as the # of mg/ml.
Dosage is 10 mg of baytril/454.4 g of rat twice a day. (from the Rat Health Care book)
As jorats said, if the baytril doesn't help, you may want to try zithromycin. Many of us have also found the combo of zithro + baytril to be helpful.
If the meds help, then you treat for at least 6 weeks.

For fluid build up in the lungs, you will want to ask your vet about a diuretic such as lasix.