[Mike-N-Jess]

ok we got 4 rats on a recuse and 1 die and the other ones where ok.. we didnt find out till a couple weeks ago that they might be prego.. the one that die, die givving birth none of the babies made it.. now another one gave birth to 11 and she turn really mean you cant go by here without her trieng to acttack you.. and she will jump to the top of the tank and hit her head like 20 times in a row pause for a minute and do it again.. anyone know whats wrong with her???

also the other 2 1 had babies but wasnt taking care of them so we put them in with our first rat who just got done getting rid of her litter of 8. was that a good move?? and now both of the last 2 rat out of the 4 look sick looks like they have a huchback and skin is loose.. they have water in there tank 24/7 but its not a bottle.. any help please

 

[2manyrats]

The mom who is being very aggressive is just trying to protect her nest. She probably won't ever let you touch her babies, since she doesn't know you. Pregnant and nursing females are *very* territorial.

As far as fostering the babies, that was a good move, if the mom wasn't taking care of them.

The ones with the hunched backs and loose skin - are they looking very skinny? Eating? Making noises when they breathe?

 

[OnlyOno]

even if it's a bowl of water, if they are thirsty they should be able to figure it out and drink out of it. if it makes you feel better, you could put a bottle in as well, as the bowl water may be too dirty or something that they don't want to drink it.

i agree that giving the babies to a different mom was a good idea, she should automatically take care of them as long as they aren't too old.

i also agree that the mom with babies is probably just trying to protect her babies from you, because you are a stranger to her.

good luck, let us know how the babies are doing and if you have any more specific questions!

 

[Mike-N-Jess]

ok we have another problem really bad one.. our other rats are starting to look like the rest huchback.. what is happening??? we dont want to lose our first rat she is the best i have ever seen.. and our babies are starting to die too.... we lost 2 adult rats and 4 babyies in the last 2 days what wrong.... we dont have money to take to the vet...

the babies that we took off the one mom are with our fav.. rat.... should we take the babies away from her and let those babies die?? we dont want to lose her...

they are standing on there hind feet and there falling over.. what can we do is it to late???

 

[Poppyseed]

Woah, alright what other signs do you have? Sounds like with these rescues you obtained didn't quarantine properly so brought in something really nasty like SDA O: You reallY NEED to go to the vet, and if you don't have money for a vet you shouldn't keep bringing in rats. I always find money for the vet, even though lately it's been kind of crazy here.

But yeah, that sounds horrible. If your rats are dropping like flies and getting sick your best bet is to put everyone on antibiotics. Only a vet can do that.

 

[ladylady]

The sick ones need split from the healthy ones. Try pet charities who may fund the vet care if not take them to a rescue asap

here are some ideas

Ive been looking at health care as you will see from the isurance quote, ive also been in touch with PDSA (for pets who need vets) i think you should search for a similar charity near you. Help is generally only availiable to low income families but it sounds like atthe moment you will qualify. If they refuse you you could try going to your nearest shelter and asking for help, maybe they might take them and you could have them back once you have insurance or a health care fund set up.

Subsidized and Free Veterinary Care
The Mahoney Fund realizes a dream of Jean Mahoney to ensure that all people can have the companionship of a pet regardless of their financial circumstance. Pets In Need provides assistance to low-income individuals for veterinary care, including spaying and neutering for their dogs and cats, on a funds available basis.

www.petsinneed.org/Services.html

However, a search of the Internet turned up a number of organizations that provide financial support for veterinary treatment of animals owned by the genuinely needy living in the USA. Two of these organizations also make their support available for owners living in Canada: The American Animal Hospital Association’s Helping Pets Fund, through AAHA accredited practices, and Angels4Animals, on a case-by-case basis (2,3). Both The Farley Foundation and the AAHA Helping Pets Fund limit the annual amount payable to each clinic and each pet and household.

www.pubmedcentral.nih....id=1636588

www.aahahelpingpets.org/root/

I know of a pet facing euthanasia or surrender due to financial constraints. How do I connect the owner to your program?
The “Contact Us Page” can be used to provide us with referrals. For an emergency situation, please call the phone number listed.

www.angels4animals.org...actus.html

in the UK there is PDSA, blue cross, RSPCA, SSPCA....

 

[twitch]

without vet assistance there isn't much that can be done. whatever the rats have it needs medications, it won't just go away on its own. this is one of those situations that i save money in cans for. there really isn't any of us can say other then get the rats to a vet. as for taking the babies from your fav rat, it won't make any difference now. she's already been in intimate contact with them. if they have anything then she will have it by now too.

as for what it could be my guess would be airborne virus? but i can't be sure. i've never experience SDA myself but i know the deaths are rather sudden and they act really weird right before hand. it also spreads like wildfire and is what we do QTs for. its an airborne virus so if the rats are sharing the same air space (house) then they are all contaminated with it. i know it can be treated with an aggressive medication regime but even then some will die. i'm sorry you have such a mess on your hands and no money to fix it. it must feel awful. i really hope i'm wrong and its not airborne or SDA

 

[ladylady]

How are things going?

 

[Mike-N-Jess]

not good,, what ever it was took out all of our rats.. we where able to save the babies of our first litter but the other 2 litter none of them made it.. so we are going to put the babies somewhere and let whatever this was can die out (any ideas how to do this?) of our apt before we get anymore..

 

[OnlyOno]

that's really awful that almost all your rats died. how old are the surviving babies? you might need to feed them kitten formula to keep them alive if they are really little. and where are you going to put them?

i don't think you can just let something die out on it's own time. you'll have to bleach clean anything that the rats came into contact with, like their cages, bowls, waterbottles and wheels. make sure you bleach clean tables or counters they were on. wash all towels, hammocks or anything they were on, and see if you can clean your couches if they were on them too. and then i wouldn't bring any more rats in for a month or so in case you missed something, so that any viruses/bacteria that are about will not have a ratty host to grow in and hopefully they won't do as well. do be aware that people in the house can still be a reservoir for these microbes and your new rats may still get sick because you yourself might be carrying the disease and giving it to the rats.

best option is to get the remaining rats to a vet or shelter that treats sick animals and get medication, if that's at all an option. but free healthcare should never not be an option, so look into it.

 

[lilspaz68]

The babies that you saved may end up sick at a few months old. The Mom's immunities cover them until then. Or you may experience failure to thrive.

If your rats had SDA they would have respiratory symptoms, hunched posture, some of them may have had bulging eyes, and there might have been swollen lymph nodes on their neck. Its an awful highly contagious disease that can wipe out your colony without aggressive treatment.
http://www.petratscanada.com/sda.htm
http://ratguide.com/health/viruses/sda.php

Sendai symptoms would be
# Sneezing
# Hunched posture
# Respiratory distress
# Labored breathing
# Porphyrin discharge from eyes and/or nose
# Lethargy
# Prolonged pregnancy
# Partial or full litter loss
# Failure to thrive in surviving babies and young rats
# Anorexia

http://ratguide.com/health/viruses/sendai_virus_sv.php

These are the 2 main killers but there are also very virulent forms of Myco as well, that your little colony may have never been exposed to, and they succumb.

Sorry for your losses.

 

[IceLore]

not good,, what ever it was took out all of our rats.. we where able to save the babies of our first litter but the other 2 litter none of them made it.. so we are going to put the babies somewhere and let whatever this was can die out (any ideas how to do this?) of our apt before we get anymore..

:'( You will need to sanitize everything and wait at least 3 months (to see what happens with the babies own immune systems) before getting more rats. Then you will still need to quarantine any new animals into your house after that for 3 weeks to make sure they are clean as well.

And, may I suggest, before getting more rats that you may want to check over finances to make sure you can afford them first? It would be horrible for something to happen again when you can't afford vet care.

 

[Forensic]

Oh gosh, I'm so sorry.

Definitely scour everything. The whole house. Vacuum the floors, bleach, etc.