[IlikePizza]

Hi, I just bought my girlfriend two rats for her birthday. We aren't too sure what type of rats they are but they are both young(2-3 months old) female rats.

At the pet shop, after we had chosen them. My Girlfriend noticed that one of the rats had some weird lumps on her ear. The Pet Shop owner thought it had been some fighting between the rats and that if it was to get worse we should take them back for further inspection. We were also told that the other one may be allergic to aspen as she seems to sneeze when her cage is full of it.

The lumps that were on one now seem to be spreading from one to the other, they are both very itchy and lumps are appearing on their tails, feet and ear. The lumps are a pink and some of them are a brown colour.

We think it may be a parasite but can't seem to find any thing to make us certain, or any solution to where they would of got them from!

My girlfriend has now become itchy also, but if this is a mental thing we're yet to find out. You know that whole thing where you can make another yawn by yawning alot!

Does anyone have any idea what this might be? Or any solution to calm their itching until monday when we can take them to a vet.

We will be visiting the pet shop tommorow!

Thanks so much ^_^

 

[IlikePizza]

Sorry, these photos arent too great.

This is tabby, she was the rat that had the first sign of the lumps!

 

[IlikePizza]

angle 2 sorry again for quality

 

[Forensic]

I can't really tell in the pics, are they from a cell phone? If so they'll be clearer (sort of), if you shrink they down by a lot.

But have you checked their fur for scabs/lesions/buggies? They may have lice or mites. It would probably do them good to get treated with kitten Revolution of other meds (as proscribed by a vet). Allergies to aspen do exist, but they wouldn't be 'catching...'

In the meantime, give their cage a good clean and give them a good bath with puppy shampoo.

 

[lilspaz68]

Please take a look at this picture (the first one), if this is it, your rat has ear mites.

http://ratguide.com/health/figures/ectoparasites_figure_2.php

Don't worry the itching is psychosomatic...LOLOLOL...you cannot "catch" them since they are species specific. If you read the case history for Sunny you will read that it is fairly rare but I have noticed it appearing more and more.

You can do a standard treatment for lice which is Ivermectin (you can buy yourself) or Revolution (need to get from vet). I prefer the Revolution as it so easy and so effective. Its more expensive but there's no real scrubbing involved, just a tiny dose put on the parted fur on the back of the neck/between ears, distract the rat for a couple of minutes and you're done. Revolution is effective in their bloodstream for 30 days which is well beyond the lifecycle of the mite.

Ivermectin is horse de-worming paste and you have to be very careful with it as you could kill your rat if you gave too much, etc. You take the tube remove a bunch (mix it carefully with a toothpick) then feed each rat a piece the size of an uncooked grain of rice. Then you need to scrub the cages/bleach the cages, throw out all wooden toys, freeze your bedding (you can get buggy visitors hitching rides in cheap bedding), vacuum all the areas . etc. Then you get to do this 2 more times weekly after dosing your rat 3 times with Ivermectin followed by the cleanup.

Revolution is Selamectin that we use on our dogs and cats. You punch the hole in the top of the tiny tube and then put a drop on the back of the rats neck.

 

[Lise]

Don't ear mites stay in the ears?

He said the rats now have lumps on their tails and feet also...

 

[lilspaz68]

hmmm...sarcoptic mites i know will attack other parts of other animals and they do look suspiciously like that case history of Sunny. I would still say to treat for mites just in case as a first step.

 

[lizzydeztic]

on another note, when bathing the rats be sure just to bath up to the neckline, don't get their head or ears wet. i heard this can cause a lot of health issues and besides, they can clean their face on their own.

that is one scary illness. i rescued a puppy once that had his ears eaten away like this from fleas. =(

 

[IlikePizza]

Thank you so much, yor rat sunnys condition looks exactly the same to our rats.

That is such a relief, well we're taking them both to he vet tommorow to be sorted out.

I think the sneezing is part of stress of a new enviroment, both rats start to sneeze when we come in contact with them, but it will stop when they have calmed down.

They are becoming quite a custom to us handling them, although i would of liked to take my time with us handling them. I had to skip that bit to make sure they were ok, hopefully they won't be too scared of it in the future! Rats are quite agile thats for sure lol


Again, thank you so much, big relief!

 

[lilspaz68]

Thank you so much, yor rat sunnys condition looks exactly the same to our rats.

That is such a relief, well we're taking them both to he vet tommorow to be sorted out.

I think the sneezing is part of stress of a new enviroment, both rats start to sneeze when we come in contact with them, but it will stop when they have calmed down.

They are becoming quite a custom to us handling them, although i would of liked to take my time with us handling them. I had to skip that bit to make sure they were ok, hopefully they won't be too scared of it in the future! Rats are quite agile thats for sure lol


Again, thank you so much, big relief!

He's not actually mine, he's a case history on ratguide.
You might want to print the page or write down the link for your vet.

Ratguide.com is the rat owners bible.

 

[IlikePizza]

Hey! Thanx so much for your help. Our rats are now being treated for mites as they have them and they have some antibiotics to also help them, they really dont care for that much lol! Cost alot of money too!!! But worth it in the end! So hopefully see an improvement!

 

[lilspaz68]

Good news!!!!
Keep us in the loop with the ears etc? I am curious if ear mites are becoming less rare.

What treatment are you using for the mites?

 

[DonnaK]

That's great! Keep us posted!