[erikablanchettexo]

My rat has had very minor crusties of porphorin in the corners of one of her eyes and both nostrils. It's nothing major though and she's been sneezing from time to time. My main concern is I heard her do a weird almost coughing sneeze when she first got out of her hammock when I greeted good morning to both of my rats. I've been keeping an eye on her because of the sneezing so it freaked me out. I immediately separated her from her cage mate and brought her to my bedroom to keep a closer eye on her behaviour. She honestly sneezed 2 times in the hour and a half that I had her out. She's been running around on my bed and sniffing everything out. She's been quite hyper.

Thinking it might have been a build up of porphorin in her nose or something blocking her breathing somehow I put her in the carrying case I have for them and set it on the toilet seat while I had a hot shower. I kept checking on her every so often and she was fine except near the end of my shower she was digging at the kid of the carrying cage so I stopped the shower and opened the bathroom door and she was totally fine.

She's still crawling around my bed without making that sound I first heard. It's super weird. It's like you'd never know she even made it if you hadn't have been there because she seems to be 99%.

What should I do? Should I make an appointment with a vet to get her checked out (it's almost impossible here as no vet feels "comfortable" performing an examination on a rat.

I've been giving her oregano oil twice a day (just a few drops) but I think I'll stop for today and see if that's what's making her do that funny sound? Could just be having a weird effect on her maybe? I moreso did it when I first got her to boost her immune system and continued it to be on the safe side. It's been exactly 2 weeks that I've been giving it to her. But only 2 days ago I started doing it day and night.

Hopefully someone can offer some advice on what to do or has had experience with weird symptoms such as the one I've mentioned. Sorry this post is so long. I wanted to give a good description so someone can help me better

 

[Mrs.Brisby]

I don't really think the symptoms you described are weird. Two of my girls are from pet stores and they have a very persistent myco infection. Occasionally, like before a cage cleaning, the infection will act up and there will be an increase in sneezing and porphyrin around the nose but it never lasts very long. I would just watch her and if she starts to display a loss in appetite, lathargy, puffed fur or a dramatic increase in sneezes/cooing noises that don't go away then I would look into a vet visit.

 

[erikablanchettexo]

I don't really think the symptoms you described are weird. Two of my girls are from pet stores and they have a very persistent myco infection. Occasionally, like before a cage cleaning, the infection will act up and there will be an increase in sneezing and porphyrin around the nose but it never lasts very long. I would just watch her and if she starts to display a loss in appetite, lathargy, puffed fur or a dramatic increase in sneezes/cooing noises that don't go away then I would look into a vet visit.

Are there any home remedies that you do to help them with the cooing noise? I wouldn't say that's what it was. More so sounded like a cough with like water ish sound if that makes sense?

 

[Mrs.Brisby]

A sneeze can sound 'wet' if the rat is congested which it sounds like yours was because she stopped making noises after the hot shower. Could you find a video that sounds similar or maybe post one if it happens again? What type of bedding do you use? I switched to fleece and noticed a decrease in myco symptoms. You could buy a humidifier also. Increasing cage cleanings also helps for me if their infections start to act up. I get a holistic remedy from my vet that the rats are on for life. You could use other remedies like Echinacea though http://ratguide.com/meds/herbals_health_supplements/echinacea.php . Feed them veggies high in vitamin C and keep stress levels low.If you can find it powdered colostrum is good to have around as is immugen.

 

[Mrs.Brisby]

https://shop.thorne.com/immugen-reg. These are all preventative measures though, not cures. If she gets really sick she'll need antibiotics.

 

[erikablanchettexo]

A sneeze can sound 'wet' if the rat is congested which it sounds like yours was because she stopped making noises after the hot shower. Could you find a video that sounds similar or maybe post one if it happens again? What type of bedding do you use? I switched to fleece and noticed a decrease in myco symptoms. You could buy a humidifier also. Increasing cage cleanings also helps for me if their infections start to act up. I get a holistic remedy from my vet that the rats are on for life. You could use other remedies like Echinacea though http://ratguide.com/meds/herbals_health_supplements/echinacea.php . Feed them veggies high in vitamin C and keep stress levels low.If you can find it powdered colostrum is good to have around as is immugen.

She actually stopped as soon as I took her out of the cage and had her in my bedroom to observe her closer. It may have sounded wet but I'm not entirely sure. It almost sounded like it came from her throat instead of nose but I can't be 100% because she wasn't facing me when she did it.

I use Kaytee brand paper bedding which is 99.9% dust free and the top of their cage is done in fleece.

 

[erikablanchettexo]

A sneeze can sound 'wet' if the rat is congested which it sounds like yours was because she stopped making noises after the hot shower. Could you find a video that sounds similar or maybe post one if it happens again? What type of bedding do you use? I switched to fleece and noticed a decrease in myco symptoms. You could buy a humidifier also. Increasing cage cleanings also helps for me if their infections start to act up. I get a holistic remedy from my vet that the rats are on for life. You could use other remedies like Echinacea though http://ratguide.com/meds/herbals_health_supplements/echinacea.php . Feed them veggies high in vitamin C and keep stress levels low.If you can find it powdered colostrum is good to have around as is immugen.

What types of foods would you suggest to give that are high in vitamin c? Are clementines okay to give ?

 

[Mrs.Brisby]

Bell peppers. Citrus isn't too great for rats.

 

[erikablanchettexo]

Bell peppers. Citrus isn't too great for rats.

They both hate peppers sadly . Any other suggestions?

 

[Mrs.Brisby]

Kale, broccoli and strawberries

 

[erikablanchettexo]

Kale, broccoli and strawberries

Thank you!

 

[erikablanchettexo]

A sneeze can sound 'wet' if the rat is congested which it sounds like yours was because she stopped making noises after the hot shower. Could you find a video that sounds similar or maybe post one if it happens again? What type of bedding do you use? I switched to fleece and noticed a decrease in myco symptoms. You could buy a humidifier also. Increasing cage cleanings also helps for me if their infections start to act up. I get a holistic remedy from my vet that the rats are on for life. You could use other remedies like Echinacea though http://ratguide.com/meds/herbals_health_supplements/echinacea.php . Feed them veggies high in vitamin C and keep stress levels low.If you can find it powdered colostrum is good to have around as is immugen.

I managed to get a video of her doing it! She did it 3 times within the 2 min clip .

 

[erikablanchettexo]

I don't know how to upload videos

 

[erikablanchettexo]

http://instagram.com/p/wZ42FWjF91/

Hopefully that worked?

 

[erikablanchettexo]

http://instagram.com/p/waAiW4DF32/