[Kenowhereman]

One of my new rats is sneezingly a lot and whenever she is excited she has a wheezy sound to her nasal breathing. She's definitely having some sort of breathing issue and I've seen many people talk about upper respiratory issues with rats. I spoke with Petco where I purchased her a couple of weeks ago and they are hoping to get her an appointment for tomorrow but it may not be till Thursday.

She is still super active, I haven't seen any nasal or eye discharge, and the other than the occasional sneezing fit she doesn't seem to be having any issues that are stopping her. Do you think Thursday will be soon enough?

Also, if I take one rat in for this should I take in both even though the other isn't experiencing any issues?

 

[CJMoore]

Be very careful with Petco's policy on vet visits. When I did it they forced us to leave the rat in their care for three days to, "recover." Your rats will be at risk of an accidental adoption to someone else if you leave him there. If you don't bring him when they say your time frame will expire and they won't pay for the visit. The vet my rat saw with Petco was clueless and I had to bring her to m own vet anyway.

My rat was sneezing a lot when we brought her home because the pet store she was at used pine bedding. It has been five days and she finally has stopped

 

[doctorowl]

I second CJMoore, be careful with Petco. Additionally, it could be the new home sneezes as CJ said. Does she sound dry or wet? Dry sneezing is usually allergies or dust getting in their noses. Wet sneezing and any sort of "wheezing" or "clucking" sounds is definitely a URI. When I got my girls I wasn't sure if they were having new home sneezes or the beginning of a URI, it was hard to tell, I waited a few days and then suddenly one morning Dash was making clucking sounds. One round of Baytril and she's fine. Is there any way you can take them to a regular vet and not with Petco? Getting a script for Baytril (if they do need it) is very easy and not expensive, although the appt. itself might be. Also since they are acting normal and there's no discharge you should be okay for a couple days. If the symptoms get worse suddenly, take them to the animal hospital. Sometimes they can get really, REALLY bad overnight, so keep an eye on them.