[Melissa]

Hello,

I spent my lunch break searching around for liquid echinacea today (it seems rather hard to find!) My newest rat (still in quarentine) has started sneezing occasionally. No other symptoms, but I don't want it to turn into anything else. From the posts I've read, it sounds like echinacea is a good idea.

So, the only echinacea I could find that wasn't in capsule form is GNC brand for about $10. And I just noticed tiny on the label it says "peppermint flavor". Yikes! Will my rat take that? Do I put it in her water, how do I give it to her?

Thanks for the advice

 

[Stephanie]

this is the stuff that I use for my rats I am unsure of wether the peppermint is bad or not. You also need to make sure that it is children's formula with no alcohol in it. I give my rats one drop on a small piece of toast once a day for two weeks. Then I take a two week break and start again so two weeks on two weeks off.

http://www.vitacost.com/Herb-Pharm-Childrens-Echinacea

 

[Melissa]

Well, it is not a children's formula...but it is alcohol free.

 

[Stephanie]

I would double check on it before you give it to the ratties. I will ask my friend who gets me all my ratties herbal stuff to see if it is ok and get back to you tomorrow if you would like me to.

 

[flyingsquid]

Whether its children's formula or adult formula is irrelevant - you're still going to have to figure out the dose. As far as Herb Pharm (owned by Ed Smith) is concerned (and I trust them myself far more than any other, the health food store where I work at have done extensive research on their company) the adult formula and children's formula is exactly the same - the difference being that the children's bottle gives you full explanation of how to figure out a dose for a child.

The stuff you have might work well - but I have no clue as to how they'll react to the peppermint. Also - keep in mind that peppermint is an herb just like echinacea, it's not just for flavor. If I where you I'd look into how the peppermint might affect the rats system. Herb Pharm's Herb manual advises against (humans) taking peppermint undiluted... so read around.

As far as the dose, here is Ed's rule for kids (which would work for rats):

"Divide the child's weight (in pounds) by 150 to get the approximate fraction of the adult dose to give to the child.

Example: For a 50 pound child give 50/150 (or 1/3) of the adult dose. Therefore if the adult dose is 30 drops taken 3 times per day, the child's dose will be 10 drops taken 3 times per day (not 30 drops taken 1 time per day)."

Also - when I give tinctures to my ratties I mix up the drops in either some yogurt and fruit, or some other wet type food. Sometimes I use Wysong canned (wet) cat food - it's super low in protein and fat, and I only use a little dollop of food... say, like a 1/4 inch in diameter. Mix it well - and they eat it happily.

Hope that helps!

 

[Stephanie]

Well I talked to my friend about the echinacea you bought and this is what she said, "well i really don't like the GNC stuff because it's filled with preservatives and it also has Stevia." then i asked what Stevia is and she said it is a sweetener that is known to give GI problems in humans. Here is a quote from wikipedia.

"Although unresolved questions remain concerning whether metabolic processes can produce a mutagen from stevia in animals, let alone in humans, the early studies nevertheless prompted the European Commission to ban stevia's use in food in the European Union pending further research. Singapore and Hong Kong have banned it also."

My view on it is that if there is controversy suurounding an ingredient why give it to your rats?

Any way I hope this was some help. Can you give a link to the product you got?

 

[lizzydeztic]

I use the same stuff Stephanie uses. Look in your phone book to see if you're anywhere near a natural foods store or a health foods store. I found mine at Outpost which is a local store similar to Whole Foods which is nation wide. With your's being in capsule form it's very hard to determine how much to give them and then measure it out accordingly. I usually just put one to two drops on a piece of wheat bread with a little bit of olive oil for their coat and skin. And I rotate it with giving them their daily dose 5 days then none for a week and ever since I started this 3 months ago they've become very healthy little critters.

EDIT: A little critique on GNC, I don't like or support their service. They sell a higher amount of unhealthy and dangerous supplements then they do good. Get the drops. Far less of an ingredient list to keep track of and less of a chance of some sort of reaction from a questionable ingredient.

(I work at Outpost now so I guess I may hold a bit of a grudge against unnatural or conventional products.)

 

[JESSU]

When ever my grams has a mint my rat always goes to her and begs for a piece.

 

[Melissa]

Hey, thanks everyone for your help. I decided not to give this to my babies and I will order some like you recommended. Thanks again!

 

[Stephanie]

No problem hope we helped!