Rat rhinitis

RE: Rat rhinitis

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 18:18:20 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]I quite like rats!! [/quote]

Me too! Nothing wrong with being OCD about your rats. Meet Einstein and Pi:

And their accommodation:

I spent an embarrassingly long time on my sewing machine making hammocks....

RE: Rat rhinitis

Bob Russell — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 18:09:14 GMT

Some bedding especially wood shavings of the more aromatic type may be partial culprits as well but I suspect these are more a response to irritants or even allergic in origin.

That said I will bow down to the more knowledgeable on here!

I quite like rats!!

RE: Rat rhinitis

Marie Kubiak — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 18:08:20 GMT

Unfortunately rat respiratory infections are exceedingly common and at 6m to have repeat episodes doesn't bode well for long-term control and lifespan.

Mycoplasma upper respiratory infections are primary contributors in the vast majority of cases and can increase virulence of other pathogens. Enrofloxacin is a good first option for managing this and we would tend to treat at 20mg/kg sid for a minimum for 10 days to start with, repeating the course if an incomplete response was seen. Resistance to fluoroquinones can develop especially with repeated short courses. Alternative antibiotics are doxycycline (5-10mg/kg bid) or azithromycin (10-20mg/kg bid). It is worth reviewing other influences, such as viral infections (particularly coronavirus) with serology if they are willing to pursue this further, ventilation, stressors and hygiene. Dust, ammonia, draughts or stagnant air can all exacerbate symptoms. Towelling bedding, appropriate diet, optimal ventilation and social stability can all have a positive effect on return to a stable state. Bronchodilators can also be beneficial such as bromhexine and sildanefil. Nebulisation with saline (or F10 disinfectant at a 1:250 dilution in saline) can ease symptoms and speed recovery from acute episodes.

Unfortunately once rats have demonstrated carrier state for mycoplasma then ongoing flare-ups are typical and pulse antibiotic courses are necessary.

Marie

RE: Rat rhinitis

Kate Richardson — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 18:03:33 GMT

They're my sister's rats! And she is a bit OCD about things like that So no husbandry issues I can think of, but I might tell her she needs to clean them out more anyway

RE: Rat rhinitis

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 16:51:22 GMT

Check husbandry .... A lot of the time these rats are kept in unventilated conditions, or aren't being cleaned out often enough. The ammonia etc released when rat urine mixes with faeces can cause chronic resp issues.